Windows Azure in Australia: Facts and Rumours

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Today, Microsoft has made the long-awaited announcement that Windows Azure is coming to Australia! Of course it’s been possible for Aussies to deploy and use applications in Windows Azure for some time, but this has always required deploying to overseas data centres. This announcement is about the upcoming availability of two new Windows Azure sub-regions in New South Wales and Victoria, complete with data geo-replication between the sub-regions. This is big news for many Australian customers, as it will mean lower latency when accessing Windows Azure infrastructure, as well as increased flexibility for customers with specific compliance and data sovereignty concerns.

While we’re very excited to be able to finally confirm this news, there are a number of rumours surrounding this announcement which we are not able to confirm or deny at this time:

  • We have no comment on whether these new sub-regions will be deployed in the Sydney Opera House and on a Melbourne tram
  • We have no comment on whether we will be employing a “Star Wars” defence mechanism to protect the infrastructure against attacks from crocodiles, funnel web spiders and drop bears
  • We have no comment on whether the fans in the servers will spin in the opposite direction to those in our northern hemisphere servers
  • We have no comment on whether the new servers will play a “Crikey!” sound when they boot
  • We have no comment about whether the backup generators will be powered by beer (however, if this were true, we can confirm that it would not be Fosters).

I’m sorry I can’t put any of these rumours to bed just now, but in the meantime I hope the news that Windows Azure is coming to town is exciting enough to keep you going for a while. If you’re already using Windows Azure, we look forward to seeing your apps deployed to the Aussie regions soon! And if you’re not… well what are you waiting for?