[This is preliminary documentation and is subject to change.]

The Windows Azure Platform is an Internet-scale cloud computing and services platform hosted in Microsoft data centers. The Windows Azure Platform includes the foundation layer of Windows Azure as well as a set of developer services which can be used individually or together.

The Windows Azure Platform comprises the following developer services:

Windows Azure

Windows Azure is the cloud services operating system that serves as the development, service hosting, and service management environment for the Windows Azure Platform. Windows Azure provides you on-demand compute & storage to host, scale, and manage web applications and services on the internet in Microsoft data centers.

Microsoft .NET Services

Microsoft .NET Services are a set of Microsoft-hosted, highly scalable, developer-oriented services that provide key building blocks required by many cloud-based and cloud-aware applications. Much like the .NET Framework provides higher-level class libraries that make developers more productive, Microsoft .NET Services enables a developer to focus on their application logic rather than building and deploying their own cloud-based infrastructure services.

SQL Azure

Microsoft SQL Azure extends SQL Server capabilities to the cloud. SQL Azure offers a relational database service called Microsoft SQL Azure Database, currently in Community Technology Preview 1 (CTP1). Using SQL Azure, you can easily provision and deploy relational database solutions. Benefits include manageability, high availability, scalability, a familiar development model, and a relational data model. Additional SQL Azure services are planned.