Windows Azure is an internet-scale cloud computing and services platform hosted in Microsoft data centers, which provides an operating system and a set of developer services which can be used individually or together. It gives developers the choice to build web applications; applications running on connected devices, PCs, or servers; or hybrid solutions offering the best of both worlds. New or enhanced applications can be built using existing skills with the Visual Studio development environment and the .NET Framework. With its standards-based and interoperable approach, the services platform supports multiple internet protocols, including HTTP, REST, SOAP, and plain XML
- Introduction to Windows Azure
In this hands-on lab, you will explore the basic elements of a Windows Azure service by creating a simple GuestBook application that demonstrates many features of Windows Azure, including web and worker roles, blob storage, table storage, and queues.
- Building ASP.NET Applications with Windows Azure
In this brief lab, you will learn how to build ASP.NET applications that use the ASP.NET Azure Providers and explore Windows Live authentication in Windows Azure. You will be able to choose between MVC or Web Forms.
- Exploring Windows Azure Storage
In this lab, examine each of the foundation storage capabilities of Windows Azure, Blobs, Tables and Queues. Discover how to create storage accounts; upload and retrieve blobs and blob metadata; create, update and query tables; and create a simple service that uses a message queue for communication. Explore the use of Windows Azure Drives.
- Deploying Applications in Windows Azure
In this hands-on lab, you will learn how to deploy your first application in Windows Azure. The lab walks through the process using a simple application named myTODO, which is a simple list creation and management application built using ASP.NET MVC. The lab shows the steps required for provisioning the required components in the Windows Azure Developer Portal, uploading the service package, and configuring the service. You will see how you can test your application in a staging environment and then promote it to production once you are satisfied that it is operating according to your expectations.
- Windows Azure CDN
In this lab, you will learn how to scale your static blob content out to the Content Distribution Network (CDN) available in Windows Azure.
- Worker Role Communication
In this hands-on lab, you will explore internal and external endpoints by implementing a WCF chat service and host it in a Windows Azure worker role.
- Debugging Applications in Windows Azure
In this lab, you will explore some simple techniques for debugging applications deployed in Windows Azure; and you will learn what features and techniques are available in Visual Studio and Windows Azure to debug applications once deployed to Windows Azure.
- Federated Authentication in a Windows Azure Web Role Application
This hands-on lab provides step-by-step guides for hosting in Windows Azure (WAZ) a Web application accepting identities from an external identity provider: with the authentication functions being performed by an external identity provider, you are now free to focus on the business function of your application instead of worrying of low level details. As you will learn while you go though the lab, this is easily accomplished by taking advantage of Windows Identity Foundation (WIF), formerly known as Geneva, for enhancing your web site.
- Web Services and Identity in Windows Azure
This lab is a step by step guide that will help you to use claims-based identity for handling authentication and access management for your WCF services hosted in Windows Azure; it will show you how you can still take advantage of local identities for authenticating your users, despite the fact that your services are now hosted in the cloud. The lab will walk you through all the practicalities of taking advantage of the unique characteristics of the Windows Azure environment from your Windows Identity Foundation settings.
- Windows Azure Native Code
Learn how to enable full trust support in Windows Azure. In this lab, you will create a simple native C++ dll and invoke it from an ASP.NET web role.
- Advanced Web and Worker Roles
This lab introduces these new capabilities that are unlocked in Windows Azure and allow more advanced application scenarios.
- Connecting Apps with Windows Azure Connect
Windows Azure Connect's primary scenario is enabling IP-level network connectivity between Azure services and external resources. The underlying connectivity model that supports this is quite flexible. For example, you can use Sydney to setup networking between arbitrary groups of machines that are distributed across the internet in a very controlled and secure manner.
- Virtual Machine Role
Windows Azure Virtual Machine Roles allow you to run a customized instance of Windows Server 2008 R2 in Windows Azure, making it easier to move applications to the cloud. In this hands-on lab, you will explore Virtual Machine roles and you will learn how to create custom OS images that you deploy to Windows Azure.
- Windows Phone 7 And The Cloud
This hands-on lab introduces you to the tools and the steps required to build an small Silverlight Windows Phone 7 application that consumes a WCF Data Services from an application hosted in Windows Azure.
- Windows Azure Traffic Manager
Windows Azure Traffic Manager enables you to manage and distribute incoming traffic to your Windows Azure hosted services whether they are deployed in the same data center or in different centers across the world. In this hands-on lab, you will explore different load balancing policies available in Traffic Manager and how you can use them to enhance performance, increase availability, and balance traffic to your hosted services.
- Building a Social Game with Windows Azure
In this lab, you will learn how to add Social Gaming features to your applications such as inviting friends using ACS and Social Providers, allow multi-players using both Storage Polling and NodeJs approaches and generate a leaderboard to show the top users' scores.
