Thank you to all who attended my “Applications at Scale” session at Cloud Connect!
In the session, I introduced a number of application scalability concepts. Those concepts map really well to cloud computing and scalable public cloud platforms like Windows Azure. The following are links to additional resources on architecting and developing scalable applications. If you know of other great resources, feel free to comment and add them to the discussion on this post.
High Scalability web site
Eric Brewer’s Principles of Distributed Computing Keynote
Julian Browne’s article on Brewer’s CAP Theorem
Werner Vogels article on Eventual Consistentcy
If you need to build applications that can scale up or down on-demand, while serving users globally regardless of device or platform, Windows Azure is worth checking out. Here are some useful links to get you started.
First, you need the Windows Azure SDK and Tools to get started developing applications for Windows Azure. The SDK includes an emulator for Windows Azure compute and storage. This will enable you to develop on your machine without having to deploy to the cloud. This capability reduces your development time and cost associated with deploying to Windows Azure for development.
Azure SDK Download
At some point, you will want to deploy your application to the Windows Azure cloud and there are a couple of ways to get development time and resources for Windows Azure. If you are an MSDN subscriber, you can get up to $3,700 a year in free Windows Azure resources. For more information, check out MSDN Windows Azure Benefits. If you don’t have an MSDN subscription, you can get a free 90-day trial at FREE 90-day Windows Azure Trial.
The Windows Azure Training Kit is loaded with helpful presentations, demos and hands-on labs for working with Windows Azure.
Get the Windows Azure Training Kit
In addition, I’ve got lots of great resources and tips for you on developing for
Windows Azure. Visit my Toolbox page to find out more.
More Windows Azure Resources
If you’d like personalized, one-on-one guidance or consulting, Centare helps organizations move to and take advantage of the cloud. To learn more about Centare and how we help customers with software development and cloud computing. Check out Centare’s Cloud Services.