Less than 75 days left until Commerical Launch of Windows Azure at PDC 2009

Zero Wait for Windows Azure Tokens

Now when you sign into Connect for Windows Azure, you can obtain a token for Windows Azure without ANY wait. Tokens are issued immediately for Windows Azure! Note: You do not need tokens for .Net Services, however SQL Azure still have a short wait while you are being on-boarded.

Windows Azure Platform Training Kit August Update

In addition to new and updated Windows Azure and .NET Services material, there is a host of new content for SQL Azure in this release of the Windows Azure Platform Training Kit (formerly Azure Services Training Kit). Download the training kit from https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=130354

New Channel 9 Videos on Azure

As we move towards commercial availability at PDC 2009, the Evangelism team has started to release the next round of training & readiness materials onto Channel 9. The following screencasts and videos are available:

Ø What is Windows Azure - https://channel9.msdn.com/posts/dunnry/What-is-Windows-Azure/

Ø Windows Azure Storage Overview - https://channel9.msdn.com/posts/dunnry/Windows-Azure-Storage-Overview/

Ø Deploying Applications on Windows Azure - https://channel9.msdn.com/posts/dunnry/Deploying-Applications-on-Windows-Azure/

Ø Doug Hauger: Insider the Windows Azure Platform Business Model - https://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Charles/Doug-Hauger-Inside-the-Windows-Azure-Platform-Business-Model/

Make sure you visit and bookmark https://channel9.msdn.com/azure/ to get started on your journey.

Interested in our Data Centers?

Windows Azure provides developers with on-demand compute and storage to host, scale, and to manage web applications in Microsoft data centers. Understanding our data centers a bit better will give you more information on our Defense-In-Depth security and global “smart-growth” strategy. You can find out much more, including downloads of key security and relevant materials, here at the Global Foundation Services site.

The Microsoft Data Center Strategy

Our strategy is focused on smart growth, measurable efficiency and global trust.

· Smart Growth: Smart growth means judiciously adding data centers and capacity within those data centers when and where we need them based on the demands of the customers of our online services. One of the ways we do this is by using new technology that enables us to scale quickly as needed. The technology we’re focused on for flexible growth right now is containers.

· Measurable Efficiency: When you’re managing an infrastructure of hundreds of thousands of servers it is essential that you run it efficiently. The first thing you need to do in this regard is to constantly measure, and then with that data make sure you make the right power and performance tradeoffs as you focus on uptime, availability, performance, and power usage. Everything has to be manageable – from the supply chain to the servers to the network -- and it has to be built to operate with great processes every day. Furthermore, you need to apply technology for efficiency both in architecting services to run efficiently and in applying breakthrough technologies such as virtualization.

· Global Trust: When customers think about trust, they tend to think security and privacy. But Microsoft thinks of trust more broadly: Our goal is to keep our customers’ data and our sites secure from attack and also safeguard our customers’ personally identifiable information. We must be available and reliable when customers need us, providing performance they can count on. And we need to deliver our products in the language they want, with special market considerations when appropriate – (e.g. mobile).

If you’re in the USA, have a great Labor Day Weekend!

-Eric