Azure: Using Dreamspark Azure & Free tools to build your design team!

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If you are a student, or still have an email account that has the extension of .EDU, you have the ability to get access to the Azure Cloud.  Now you can get access to other clouds, and you should definitely use those cloud products as well.  And the free tools shown below will also work with those clouds!

This blog is about you.  If you are thinking about creating wealth by designing an amazing online tool or site, then you will need to understand the various clouds, and Microsoft offers Azure for everyone.  The Dreamspark Azure allows you the student  to have a long term relationship with Azure to test ideas and use some of the powerful tools from Microsoft!

What tools are available to work with Dreamspark Azure?  Quite a few, because there are a number of free tools that are available from Microsoft that are not included in the Dreamspark Azure offering, but work with Dreamspark Azure!

  • Dreamspark Azure
  • WebMatrix 3
  • Machine Learning
    • https://studio.azureml.net/
    • Reuse your “R” code from that computational statistics class with Machine Learning on Azure
    • Works with Windows, Apple and Linux
  • Visual Studio Online
    • https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/products/what-is-visual-studio-online-vs.aspx
    • Use this to track your team using the latest production systems
    • Uses GIT, as in GitHub!  And it’s free.  Also, if you use the Visual Studio versioning and tracking system your project is private for FREE!  So use Git for public and Visual Studio versioning and tracking system together!
    • Works on Windows, Linux, and Apple!
    • This is a best and most insane offer from Microsoft, if you miss out on this, you miss out big time
    • Show off your project management chops!
  • Visual Studio Code
  • GitHub Education, Student Developer Pack
    • Available through the Dreamspark site when you get signed up
  • OneNote
    • Ok, not a design tool, or is it?  Share design ideas via Office 365 on the cloud
    • Available from the Dreamspark.com site once you have signed in!

Conclusion

If you are thinking about building a wealth creating online tool, web site or web app, then you will need to demonstrate your abilities to future employers!  Amazon, Google, IBM, Microsoft and Salesforce (Heroku) all provide a cloud.  As a student, you likely need to touch each of these clouds to prove your value to a future employer.  This blog should help you get started with the Microsoft version of the cloud, keep in mind that the Azure cloud is Linux and MySQL friendly!