maor.Blogging();

Visual Studio LightSwitch Beta Was Released

Maor David-Pur — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:17:42 +0000

The beta of Visual Studio LightSwitch was released today. Microsoft Visual Studio LightSwitch gives you a simpler and faster way to create professional-quality business applications for the desktop, the web, and the cloud. LightSwitch is a new addition to the Visual Studio family.

With LightSwitch, you can build custom applications that rival off-the-shelf solutions. Get a head start by using pre-configured screen templates that give your application a familiar look and feel. LightSwitch also provides prewritten code and other reusable components to handle routine application tasks, along with helpful step-by-step guidance. However, if you need to write custom code, you can use Visual Basic .NET or C#. You can deploy to the desktop, browser, or cloud (post-Beta) to share your application with others more easily without the cumbersome installation processes.

The process of creating an application resembles other development tools: connect to data, create a form and bind the data to the controls, add some validation based on business logic, and then test and deploy. The difference with LightSwitch is that each one of those steps is simplified.

Download Visual Studio LightSwitch Beta 1.

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SQL Azure Now Supports Database Copy

Maor David-Pur — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:02:12 +0000

SQL Azure now supports Database copy.

This update is part of SQL Azure Service Update 4. Also, this service update includes:

Development: How-to Topics (SQL Azure Database) on MSDN Development Center.
Microsoft project Microsoft Project Code-Named “Houston” (Houston), a light weight web-based database management tool for SQL Azure.

Database copy allows you to make a real-time complete snapshot of your database into a different server in the data center. This new copy feature is the first step in backup support for SQL Azure, allowing you to get a complete backup of any SQL Azure database before making schema or database changes to the source database.

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Windows Azure Training Kit Updated for Visual Studio 2010

Maor David-Pur — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 05:21:05 +0000

The Windows Azure Platform Training Kit has been updated. The kit includes a comprehensive set of technical content including hands-on labs, presentations, and demos that are designed to help you learn how to use the Windows Azure platform including: Windows Azure, SQL Azure and AppFabric. The June release includes new and updated labs for Visual Studio 2010.

Get the kit from Microsoft Download at Windows Azure Platform Training Kit – June Update.

Here is what is new in the kit:

Introduction to Windows Azure – VS2010 version
Introduction To SQL Azure – VS2010 version
Introduction to the Windows Azure Platform AppFabric Service Bus – VS2010 version
Introduction to Dallas – VS2010 version
Introduction to the Windows Azure Platform AppFabric Access Control Service – VS2010 version
Web Services and Identity in the Cloud
Exploring Windows Azure Storage VS2010 version + new Exercise: “Working with Drives”
Windows Azure Deployment VS2010 version + new Exercise: “Securing Windows Azure with SSL”
Minor fixes to presentations – mainly timelines, pricing, new features etc.

This training kit now contains the following content:
Hands On Labs

Introduction to Windows Azure
Exploring Windows Azure Storage
Deploying and Monitoring Applications in Windows Azure
Windows Azure: Worker Role Communication
Federated Authentication in a Windows Azure Web Role Application
Web Services and Identity in the Cloud
Building ASP.NET Web Form Applications with Windows Azure
Introduction to SQL Azure
Migrating Databases to SQL Azure
SQL Azure: Tips and Tricks
Intro to Dallas
Introduction to the .NET Service Bus
Introduction to the .NET Access Control Service
Service Remoting with Service Bus
Eventing with the Service Bus

Presentations and Videos

Windows Azure Platform Overview (C9 – VIDEO)
What is Windows Azure? (C9 – VIDEO)
Windows Azure Storage Overview (C9 – VIDEO)
Deploying Applications on Windows Azure (C9 – VIDEO)
Windows Azure Compute (C9 – VIDEO)
Introduction to Windows Azure (PPTX)
Building Services with Windows Azure (PPTX)
What is SQL Azure? (C9 – VIDEO)
Introduction to SQL Azure (PPTX)
Building Applications using SQL Azure (PPTX)
Scaling out with SQL Azure
What is Microsoft Codename "Dallas"? (C9 – VIDEO)
Introduction to Microsoft Codename "Dallas" (PPTX)
What is the Access Control Service (C9 – VIDEO)
Introduction to the Service Bus (C9 – VIDEO)

Demos

Deploying Windows Azure Services
Hello Windows Azure
Windows Azure Guestbook Demo
Windows Azure Logging and Configuration Demo
Windows Azure using Blobs Demo
Windows Azure Worker Role Demo
Windows Azure Using Queues Demo
Windows Azure Using Tables Demo
Preparing your SQL Azure Account
Connecting to SQL Azure
Managing Logins and Security in SQL Azure
Creating Objects in SQL Azure
Migrating a Database Schema to SQL Azure
Moving Data Into and Out Of SQL Azure using SSIS
Building a Simple SQL Azure App
Scaling Out SQL Azure with Database Sharding
AppFabric Service Bus Direct Connection Demo
AppFabric Service Bus webHttpRelayBinding
AppFabric Service Bus Publish and Subscribe
AppFabric Service Bus Service Registry
AppFabric Service Bus NetOneWayRelayBinding

Samples and Tools

Windows Azure MMC
Windows Azure Service Management CmdLets
PhluffyFotos

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Updates to SQL Azure

Maor David-Pur — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:09:38 +0000

SQL Azure news were announced today at TechED North America.

Microsoft announced it will offer spatial data support and access to 50GB of SQL Azure Database capacity allowing for higher scalability, flexibility and easier management of applications and services. Further enhancements to management capabilities include the public preview of SQL Azure Data Sync Service, which provides more flexible control over where and how data is distributed and synced across multiple datacenters, and Microsoft SQL Server Web Manager, a lightweight and easy to use tool to help develop, deploy, and manage data-driven applications on the cloud.

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Windows Azure News

Maor David-Pur — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 18:51:17 +0000

Windows Azure news were announced today at TechED North America.

This includes an updated Windows Azure Software Development Kit with support for .NET Framework 4, which enables developers to build more connected applications in the cloud, and support for Visual Studio 2010 IntelliTrace, which simplifies the process of debugging services in the cloud. In addition, the Windows Azure platform Content Delivery Network will move from community technology preview to general availability, enabling improved end-user performance and delivery of content stored in Windows Azure.

More information and downloads are available at http://www.windowsazure.com.

New Windows Azure Tools + SDK

The June 2010 release of the Windows Azure Tools + SDK will include:

Full support for Visual Studio 2010 RTM
.NET 4 support to provide developers with the flexibility to build services targeting either the .NET 3.5 or .NET 4 framework
Cloud storage explorer to make it easier for developers to build compelling services by displaying a read-only view of Windows Azure tables and blob containers through the Visual Studio Server Explorer
Integrated deployment, which will enable developers to deploy services directly from Visual Studio by selecting ‘Publish’ from the Solution Explorer
Service monitoring to help developers track and manage the state of their services through the ‘compute’ node in Server Explorer
IntelliTrace support for services running in the cloud to simplify the process of debugging services in the cloud through the Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate IntelliTrace feature. For more information see this post.

To download the new Tools + SDK, please click here.

OS Auto-upgrade Feature

The OS-auto upgrade feature provides developers the flexibility to have the Guest OS for their service deployment automatically upgrade to the latest available release. Developers will continue to retain the ability to manually upgrade to a specific release of the Guest OS as well. Developers can enable the OS auto-upgrade feature either through the Service Management API or through the developer portal. The list of OS releases can be found here.

Production Launch of the Windows Azure CDN

With 19 locations globally (United States, Europe, Asia, Australia and South America), the Windows Azure CDN offers developers a global solution for delivering high-bandwidth content, enhancing end user performance and reliability by placing copies of data, at various points in a network, so that they are distributed closer to the user. Content types supported by the Windows Azure CDN include web objects (e.g. JPG, CSS, and JavaScript), downloadable objects (media files, software, documents) and other components for Internet delivery. The Windows Azure CDN supports HTTP delivery of public content stored in Windows Azure storage.

The billing of the Windows Azure CDN will begin after June 30, 2010.

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How To Determine Status Of a Service Within The Dev Fabric?

Maor David-Pur — Sun, 30 May 2010 18:28:05 +0000

We can use the CSRun command-line tool (CSRun.exe) which deploys a service to the development fabric and manages the running service. The CSRun tool can be found at C:\Program Files\Windows Azure SDK\v1.0\bin\csrun.exe.

For example, to determine the service endpoint and port I can run:

[c]:\Program Files\Windows Azure SDK\v1.1\bin\csrun.exe /status and get the status information about the running deployments to standard output.

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What Happens When I reach the allocated level (1 GB or 10 GB) in SQL Azure?

Maor David-Pur — Tue, 25 May 2010 20:20:55 +0000

Many times I am asked “When I reach the allocated level (1 GB or 10 GB) in SQL Azure, what happens?”

The answer: only SELECTs and DELETEs will be supported. UPDATEs and INSERTs will throw an error.

Any workaround? yes.

Because of above size constraints, one of the recommendations is to partition the data across databases. Creating multiple databases will allow you take maximum advantage of the computing power of multiple nodes. The biggest value in the Azure model is the elasticity of being able to create as many databases as you need, when your demand peaks and delete/drop the databases as your demand subsides.

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Microsoft Robotics Studio is Now Free

Maor David-Pur — Tue, 25 May 2010 18:21:51 +0000

Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 R3 is now a freely available .NET-based programming environment for building robotics applications.

Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 R3 (Microsoft RDS) provides a wide range of support to make it easy to develop robot applications. Microsoft RDS includes a programming model that makes it easy to develop asynchronous, state-driven applications. Microsoft RDS provides a common programming framework that can be applied to support a wide variety of robots, enabling code and skill transfer.

Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio can support a broad set of robotics platforms by either running directly on the platform (if it has an embedded PC running Windows) or controlling it from a Windows PC through a communication channel such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth®.
In addition to providing support for Microsoft Visual Studio 2010, Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 R3 provides a Visual Programming Language (VPL) which allows developers to create applications simply by dragging and dropping components onto a canvas and wiring them together.

To learn more and get started, see Microsoft Robotics Studio.

The R3 release is a minor update that has the functionality of the previous Standard Edition, but is now available at no cost to all users. As of the R3 release there are no separate Editions and only a single download.

The announcement was made on the Robotics team blog at Microsoft Announces Robotics Developer Studio 2008 R3.

You can get Robotics Studio from http://www.microsoft.com/robotics/#GetIt

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Ford, Microsoft Showing Cars With Custom App Plat Running Win7, Robotics Studio

Maor David-Pur — Tue, 25 May 2010 06:13:20 +0000

"Wait – this car tweets? " Yes – and checks in on FourSquare, plus a lot more!

As part of a program called American Journey 2.0, Ford and Microsoft ran a course at the University of Michigan this Spring that taught students to build apps on the Fiestaware platform. The platform itself — called "Fiestaware" — is built on top of Windows 7 and Robotics Developer Studio, and includes components optimized to work with Windows Azure. Ford, Microsoft, and UofM are showed the Fiestaware application platform at Maker Faire weekend (May 22-23rd) in San Mateo, CA, running inside of two Ford Fiestas, along with apps built on the platform by Ford and by students at the University of Michigan.

Microsoft Technology Components for the "Fiestaware" platform used in the Ford Fiesta as part of American Journey 2.0:

Provides new capabilities for application developers to build compelling, safe, and natural user experiences that span from the embedded vehicle network to the cloud
Fiestaware platform technology components:
- Built on Windows 7
- Supports natural user interfaces, such as touch and speech interaction
- User interface is built with .NET (Windows Presentation Foundation)
- Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio used to manage access and coordinate use of resources on the embedded vehicle network (e.g., vehicle sensor data) and in Windows 7 (e.g., Windows 7 Speech API).
- Platform supports using SQL CE on the PC in the vehicle to cache/synchronize with SQL Azure in order to handle intermittent connectivity gracefully
- Application development environment is Visual Studio 2008 with Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio
Ford, with assistance from Microsoft and our partner Cumulux, have built a set of customer Distributed System Services with Robotics Development Studio that pull these Microsoft platform technologies into a specialized automotive computing application platform. The net effect is to make 3rd party application development for the in-vehicle environment dramatically more accessible to the vast pool of application developers in the Microsoft ecosystem.

Why did Ford choose Windows 7 for this program instead of Windows Embedded? Ford carefully evaluated whether to use Windows 7 or Windows Embedded Standard 7 for the Fiestaware platform, and selected Windows 7 to ensure that both the platform and communications about the platform would come across as accessible as possible to a broad audience of automotive and technology enthusiasts. Ford recognizes that Windows Embedded Standard 7 offers features and capabilities that would be very valuable in a supported production deployment.

Additional Resources:

Official University of Michigan course link: http://pervasive.eecs.umich.edu/498poster.pdf
John Mullinax’s Blog w/ continuing coverage: http://blogs.msdn.com/johnmullinax/archive/tags/American+Journey+2.0/default.aspx
ReadWriteWeb Coverage: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/apps_on_wheels_making_the_internet_work_at_70mph.php#_login
MIT Technology Review: http://www.technologyreview.com/communications/24824/page1/
DailyTech: http://www.dailytech.com/Ford+Takes+American+Journey+to+Promote+2011+Fiesta+Windows+Apps/article18410c.htm
Mashable: http://mashable.com/2010/05/12/ford-fiesta-american-journey/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29
CNET: http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-20004062-76.html?tag=mncol

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Data Security On Windows Azure

Maor David-Pur — Fri, 21 May 2010 19:58:12 +0000

The patterns & practices team is writing Azure Security Guidance as a series of application scenarios and solutions. The goal is to show the most common application scenarios on the Microsoft Azure platform.

Patterns that described in the article include:

ASP.NET to Azure Storage
ASP.NET to SQL Azure
ASP.NET On-Site to SQL Azure Through WCF

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