This is the second part in a multi-part blog series about securing your connection string in Windows Azure. In the first blog post ( ) a technique was discussed for creating a public/private key pair, using the to store and decrypt the secure connection string. In this blog posts we are going to cover how to import the private key to Windows Azure. .. more »

One of the challenges you face in running a highly secure SQL Azure environment is too keep your connection string to SQL Azure secure. If you are running Windows Azure you need to provide this connection string to your Windows Azure code, however you might not want to provide the production database password to the development staff creating the .. more »

To prevent your Windows Azure applications from potentially experiencing a loss of availability during platform upgrades, we recommend deploying more than one instance of your web-facing roles. Doing so also enforces the Windows Azure Compute Service Level Agreement (SLA), which guarantees 99.95% external connectivity for Internet-facing roles when .. more »

Check out the new post, "Cloud Computing a Catalyst for Server Growth? to read a good commentary in response to yesterday's Cloud computing by the numbers: What do all the statistics mean?" asks the question "if virtualization is growing and cloud computing is growing, how can the market for private enterprise servers also be growing?" He describes .. more »

We are happy to announce that two additional nodes for the Windows Azure Content Delivery Network are now live in Seoul, Korea and Taipei, Taiwan. These two new nodes bring the total number of CDN physical nodes available globally to 22, with six of these nodes available in the Asia-Pacific region. These two new locations expand our service in the .. more »

0); } } } } } } For a comparison, the compression built into an on-premise SQL Server is transparent to the application and benefits much wider range of types like all the way to larger types because it scopes to the row to the page. In other words it can use the repetition dictionary in compression across all the columns in the page. You can read .. more »

As part of the Real World Windows Azure series, we talked to Melvin Greer, Chief Strategist of Cloud Computing, Information Systems, and Global Solutions at platform to develop the company's Thundercloud design pattern. Here's what he had to say: MSDN: Tell us about Lockheed Martin and the services you offer. Lockheed Martin is well known as a .. more »

Liam Cavanagh has posted a webcast to Channel 9 that shows you how to extend the capabilities of SQL Azure Data Sync by writing a custom sync applications to enable bi-directional data synchronization between SQL Server and SQL Azure.  This enables you to add customization to your synchronization process such as custom business logic or custom c.. more »

You may have seen a letter in this morning suggesting that customers evaluating a licensing agreement with VMWare talk to Microsoft to learn more about how products and services such as the platform can enable a complete cloud-computing environment. We posted this letter because we feel that cloud computing represents the biggest opportunity in .. more »

I covered how to calculate the cost of a covered index, allowing you to evaluate if the performance of the covered index was worth its monthly cost. In this blog post I am going to use Transact-SQL to calculate the average cost of a row in a table. Imagine that you are running a web site that reviews restaurants and you sell advertising space on .. more »

State and local governments evaluating a move to the cloud should have a central location where they can find partners and solutions with the right cloud-based solutions to meet their business needs.  To meet this need, the Public Sector team just Microsoft Government Cloud Applications Center to provide government customers with a centralized p.. more »

Imagine that you are an Independent Software Vendor (ISV), have a purchaser for your Windows Azure application and you want to transfer a copy of the starter database to the customer. However, you don’t want to give them the Administrative login and password from the SQL Azure portal. Or perhaps you want the test team to be able to copy the pr.. more »

In this example application, I am going to build a Bing Maps tile server using Windows Azure that draws push pins on the tiles based on coordinates stored as spatial data in SQL Azure. Bing Maps allows you to draw over their maps with custom tiles; these tiles can be generated dynamically from a Windows Azure server. The overlay that this example .. more »

As part of the Real World Windows Azure series, we talked to Juan Carlos Robles Navarro, Senior Software Engineer at to deliver the insurance company's claims-management system. Here's what he had to say: MSDN: Tell us about AXA Seguros and the services you offer. AXA Seguros in Mexico is part of the AXA Group, which offers insurance solutions to .. more »

With the release of Service Update 4 for SQL Azure you now have the ability to make a snapshot of your running database on SQL Azure. This allows you to quickly create a backup before you implement changes to your production database, or to create a test database that resembles your production database. The backup is performed in the SQL Azure .. more »

Microsoft Project Code-Named “Houston” is a lightweight and easy to use database management tool for SQL Azure databases. It is designed specifically for Web developers and other technology professionals seeking a straightforward solution to quickly develop, deploy, and manage their data-driven applications in the cloud. Project “Houston” provides.. more »

Service Update 4 is now live with database copy, improved help system, and deployment of Microsoft Project Code-Named “Houston” to multiple data centers. 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 Azur.. more »

The new version (v4.2) of SQL Server Migration Assistant that came out on August 12 You can download and install the SQL Server Migration Assistant for free from , note that you will want the 2008 version of the download that aligns with SQL Azure which is built upon the SQL Server 2008 code base. Once you have it downloaded and installed, start it .. more »

David Robinson will be in New Zealand this month for . If you are interested in SQL Azure make sure to attend his presentations. COS209 Migrating Applications to Microsoft SQL Azure Are you looking to migrate your on-premise applications and database from MySql or other RDBMs to SQL Azure? Or are you simply focused on the easiest ways to get your .. more »

A wide variety of resources are available to help you understand and leverage the security features available in Windows Azure.  If you're looking for a way to stay on top of the content that's available, you'll want to check out "Security Resources for Windows Azure", which lists the latest white papers, articles and webcasts that address how you c.. more »