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

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

The Azure Services Platform comprises the following developer services:

Windows Azure is the cloud services operating system that serves as the development, service hosting, and service management environment for the Azure Services 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.

Microsoft SQL Data Services

Microsoft SQL Data Services (SDS) are highly scalable, on-demand data storage and query processing utility services. Built on robust SQL Server technologies and Windows Server, SDS provides highly available, secure, standards based web services that are easy to program and provision.

Live Services

Live Services is a set of building blocks within the Azure Services platform for handling user data and application resources. Live Services provides developers with an easy on-ramp to build rich social applications and experiences that can connect with over 450 million Windows Live users. Live Services includes Mesh technologies for synchronizing user’s data and extending web applications across multiple devices.