
Git Rid of Windows Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) SDKs with .NET + Git + AppHarbor Deployment Revolution
I’ve been wanting to do a quick write up on the state of cloud apps from my perspective. What’s my perspective? Well I’m keeping up with the SDKs from the big players; AWS and Windows Azure. I’m also working on several cloud applications and providing consulting for some people and companies when approached related to […]

Windows Azure SDK Unit Testing Dilemma — F5DD Plz K Thx Bye
I’m a huge advocate for high quality code. I will admit I don’t always get to write, or am always able to write high quality code. But day in and out I make my best effort at figuring out the best way to write solid, high quality, easy to maintain, easy to read code. Over […]

Gritty Technical Info on Windows Azure Web Roles
This is a follow up to the previous blog entry I wrote pertaining to Windows Azure Roles. I wanted to cover the bases on the various technical aspects of creating a Windows Azure Web Role & Worker Role in Visual Studio 2010. Without interruption let’s just dive right in. Start Visual Studio 2010 and initiate a new […]

Windows Azure Web, Worker, and CGI Roles – How They Work
This is a write up I’ve put together of how the roles in Windows Azure work. As far as I know, this is all correct – but if there are any Windows Azure Team Members out there that wouldn’t mind providing some feedback about specifics or adding to the details I have here – please […]

Windows Azure and the PaaS Context
PaaS stands for Platform as a Service. The new concept around Devops* (Developer + Operations) has allowed cloud computing to reach an apex of agility for business. For developers PaaS provides an ultimately clean and agile experience around staging and deployment. PaaS is also the highest level of cost savings for most prospective enterprise and […]

Windows Azure and the IaaS Context (or lack thereof)
Windows Azure has several primary competitors in the IaaS Realm, even though they aren’t technically an IaaS Cloud Provider at all. Some of these competitors in this space are Amazon Web Services (AWS), Rackspace, GoGrid and VMWare. Each of these providers offer virtual machines with either Windows or Linux Operating Systems, multiple data centers for […]

Cloud Throw Down: Part 4 – Perspectives on PaaS
Alright, time for the battle o’ clouds to roll on. In this throw down I’m going to compare platforms from the infrastructure and platform perspective. Windows Azure takes a very distinctive, and unique, Platform as a Service (PaaS) model and Amazon Web Services takes a very Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) model. Each of these […]

Cloud Throw Down: Part 3 – Relational Databases and Instance Prices
Amazon Web Services Windows Azure Previous Throw Down… Now we’re going to throw down on something that I’ve had more than a few requests for. I’m going to break out and get some charts, graphs, and price differentials on AWS and Windows Azure. This throw down entry is going to be nothing but money, money, […]

Cloud Throw Down: Part 2 – Deployments and Instance Options
Amazon Web Services Windows Azure Previous Throw Down… Ok, in this edition the fight gets graphic! Let’s jump right into the bout. (I’ve also been thinking about adding Rackspace or another cloud provider in the future.) Deploying .NET Web Application Code into AWS and Windows Azure is done in some distinctly different ways. There are […]

Cloud Throw Down: Part 1 – Operating Systems & Languages
Amazon Web Services Windows Azure The clouds available from Amazon Web Services, Windows Azure, Rackspace and others have a few things in common. They’re all providing storage, APIs, and other bits around the premise of the cloud. They all also run on virtualized operating systems. This blog entry I’m going to focus on some key […]

Top 10 Cloud Predictions by…
Time for a lunch time blog entry… Information Management recently put together some cloud predictions for the cloud industry. Here’s my 2 cents for the key points I picked out. You will build a private cloud, and it will fail. Thank goodness. Get rid of the whole premise, it’s kind of stupid. The basis of […]

Microsoft and Cloud – they just don’t get it, do they?
On Twitter, Jon Reed pointed me to a Microsoft commercial for Cloud. I checked it out, but low and behold: the above picture is what I got. I’d like to draw attention to the fine print there: To view this video, download the free Microsoft Silverlight plug-in (install Microsoft Silverlight) I myself think it is […]

Microsoft Is Serious To Take On Amazon Web Services
Today at PDC, Microsoft has made some announcements which brings Microsoft up to the speed with Amazon’s offerings. Though Amazon still has the upper hand in the cloud market, Microsoft has clearly shown that they are serious about capturing the cloud market. Since I am still in the PDC Keynote and watching their demo, I […]

AWS Free Offering: Not Enough
On Thursday, Amazon Web Services announced their free cloud offering for developers and this news sent many in the cloud community dizzy. Whether AWS expected such a round of free marketing or not, the tech media gave them a round of applause for this move. As far as I am concerned, this fell in the […]

Rackspace Cloud Makes It Easy For .Net Developers
After releasing Windows Cloud Servers last month, Rackspace is now focussing on getting .NET developers use their cloud. When they released their Windows cloud servers, I was skeptical of developers moving to their servers instead of using Azure platform. In my opinion, their Windows based offerings may fill the gap in catering to their existing […]