The title of the following video might be misleading, this video actually showcases the change in 19 years of IT and productivity at an imaginary company and the implementation of Microsoft productivity solutions. The video glimpses the possibilities and evolution of Microsoft technologies in productivity.
[via istartedsomething]
Windows Azure is a very sophisticated cloud computing platform. I first tired Windows Azure when it was in CTP, and after a long time I tried it again and was impressed by the improvements. The Windows Azure SDK 1.3 enables you to use Remote Desktop Services to access your Windows Azure roles that gives the access to the configuration of virtual machine. You can install apps on your cloud VM via remote desktop.
How about installing SQL Server on your Windows Azure VM Role and using it instead of Azure Table and SQL Azure to store data? Not really a good idea but in my opinion, it can be a good idea for the temporary storage of data.
In the last MIX, Microsoft demoed the possibilities of Windows Azure that included the support for PHP and MySQL.
The CheezeBurgerNetwork (icanhascheezburger.com) was the first one to officially appear in MIX and announce the shift to Windows Azure for hosting their WordPress blogs.
Companies opt cloud computing because of what it offers but putting sensitive information off-site may not be suitable for many.At Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) Microsoft has announced the Windows Azure Platform Appliance allowing enterprises to buy pre-configured datacenter containers powered by Windows Azure.
Image: Windows Azure Data Container at PDC (source)
Partnering with Dell, Fujitsu and Hewlett Packard, Microsoft says it will be primarily housed their partner’s data centers.
Thuzi in collaboration with Microsoft, has developed a Toolkit that enables rapid facebook application development on Windows Azure.
Checkout this MIX Session on Building facebook apps with Microsoft .NET and deploying to Windows Azure to see the Windows Azure Toolkit in action. The Outback Steakhouse and CloudPoll applications that were showcased are using Windows Azure Toolkit
