I was the guest speaker at the May 25th meeting of the New Hampshire .NET (NHDN) user group in Concord, NH at the New Hampshire Technical Institute.
Here is the slide deck I used for the talk: Demystifying Cloud Computing and the Windows Azure Platform.
Today at TechEd in Atlanta, I served as discussion leader for a Birds of a Feather (BOF) session on Scaling Cloud Applications. The session had around 20 people in the room, and an unknown number watching the live stream, some of whom actively participated over Twitter.
"Bird's Nest" Panel
Some of the topics discussed:
Many thanks to all who participated, including:
The BOF events were very well run by the INETA team (Chris Pels and a few others).
If you want a more structured treatment of some of the same scalability concepts, feel free to check out my talk on Cloud Scalability Patterns coming on June 1/June 2 via the GITCA “24 Hours in the Cloud” event. Here is the generic event description – follow the link to find out when my talk is slotted in.
Come and get your Cloud geek on! On 1st June, 2011 GITCA and Microsoft are running an event called “24 Hours in the Cloud”. There will be 24 one hour sessions around the world covering a wide range of Cloud Computing topics. The presenters will be live on twitter to answer your questions. I will be one among them. There is something for everybody, developer, IT pro and SQL enthusiast. There is no question that Cloud Computing is here to stay and this is a unique opportunity to be educated and gain an insight as to where Cloud Computing is going. Stay tuned for more details, such as how to join the “Cloud 24 hour party”, as the event date approaches.
If you have more questions on the topic, feel free to put in on twitter (@codingoutloud), you can comment on this blog post, or you can email me (coding out loud at gmail). And, finally, below you can find the Twitter stream from the live event – latest on top, earliest on bottom – (which I salvaged via research.ly). Scale on!
@techedbof20117 hrs ago BOF12-DEV on Cloud Computing is now coming to an end. #bofdev #msteched @techedbof20118 hrs ago Mobile apps are a big area for growth in the cloud computing area. #bofdev #msteched @techedbof20118 hrs ago Talking about moving existing apps to the cloud as we near the session conclusion. #bofdev #msteched @techedbof20118 hrs ago When you scale you can select the instance size in Azure. #bofdev #msteched @techedbof20118 hrs ago Decoupling front end from back end processing is an important concept. #bofdev #msteched @techedbof20118 hrs ago For scaling, one experience is knowing how much work to do and how much an instance can process in an hour. #bofdev #msteched @techedbof20118 hrs ago Would be nice if the Azure platform would monitor and scale for you. #bofdev #msteched @techedbof20118 hrs ago @itagsubbu Great to have you join us. #bofdev #msteched @itagsubbu8 hrs ago @techedbof2011 Thanks for asking my question. I am watching this live event. #bofdev #msteched @techedbof20118 hrs ago @itagsubbu Yes you can scale either on a scheduled basis or in a programmatically #bofdev #msteched @itagsubbu8 hrs ago @techedbof2011 #bofdev #msteched Can we scale up for certain period in an year? @rileybeebs8 hrs ago RT @jmilgram: Getting ready to attend Bill Wilder @codingoutloud Designing Scalable Cloud Applications #bofdev session at TechEd #mstech ... @techedbof20118 hrs ago Gmail is an example of SaaS #bofdev #msteched @techedbof20118 hrs ago How do you get resources to the cloud platform? #bofdev #msteched @techedbof20118 hrs ago IaaS eliminates the infrastructure but you admin, for PaaS both roles are eliminated #bofdev @techedbof20118 hrs ago As you scale out across geographically dispersed data centers what is the impact on SQL Aszure costs? #bofdev @jimoneil8 hrs ago blurring of IaaS and PaaS is something interesting as well... becoming less of a differentiator? #bofdev @techedbof20119 hrs ago Silverlight app has 50K updates/sec #bofdev @techedbof20119 hrs ago Silverlight app that was not designed for the cloud. What to do? #bofdev @techedbof20119 hrs ago Thoughts on WPF app w/ Azure backend? Are you doing that? #bofdev #msteched @techedbof20119 hrs ago BOF12-DEV on designing scalable cloud applications is getting started #bofdev #msteched @TashasEv9 hrs ago RT @jmilgram: Getting ready to attend Bill Wilder @codingoutloud Designing Scalable Cloud Applications #bofdev session at TechEd #mstech @TashasEv9 hrs ago @rileybeebs I haven't forgotten about you! just haven't been able to leave the #BOFDEV sessions at all yet! @TashasEv9 hrs ago The next #MSTechEd #BOFDEV : Designing Scalable Cloud Applications lead by @codingoutloud @techedbof20119 hrs ago The next #MSTechEd #BOFDEV : Designing Scalable Cloud Applications lead by @codingoutloud @techedbof20119 hrs ago RT @jimoneil: RT @codingoutloud my 1:30 TechEd session on Designing Scalable Cloud applications #msteched #bofdev << will be heckling from afar! @jimoneil9 hrs ago RT @codingoutloud my 1:30 TechEd session on Designing Scalable Cloud applications #msteched #bofdev << will be heckling from afar!
Find out why on Monday May 16 @ TechEd in Atlanta – at the FREE After-Hours Dinner-Included Hackathon!
Windows Phone 7 Unleashed Hackathon
Monday, May 16, 2011
6:00 PM to 11:00 PM
Register: http://bit.ly/RegWP7HackathonDon’t miss this opportunity to get hands-on help with your Windows Phone 7 app, from the experts!
This is a “hands on” hackathon where you will learn from Windows Phone 7, XNA and Azure experts how to build, scale and publish your Windows Phone 7 app or game. If you are just a beginner, or already have apps in the Marketplace this event should not be missed.
Come hear about new developments that will help you combine the power of the Windows Phone with the Windows Azure cloud platform.
BYO Laptop! And prepare yourself for an energetic evening of fun, learning, and accomplishment!
RSVP early, as space is limited to 300 attendees: http://bit.ly/RegWP7Hackathon
Food, beverages and refreshments will be provided.
I attended New England Code Camp 15 today and attended a bunch of interesting talks, and I also gave a couple of talks myself. (Links to my slide decks are included below.)
At my talks, I mentioned the Windows Azure Pass – a 30 day FREE pass for using Windows Azure Compute (IIS or Worker Roles), SQL Azure, Azure Blobs/Tables/Queues, etc. If you didn’t get a handout at talk, no worries! – You can still access the offer: Go here and use Promo Code BILLONAZURE. Let me know if you have any questions or if you use the promotion.
Talks I attended:
My presentations (including links to the PowerPoint slide decks):
Many thanks to Chris Pels, Chris Bowen, and especially Patrick Hynes for such a great event! Thanks also to Telerik and Wintellect for sponsoring our food!
Also enjoying hanging out afterwards at Uno’s with Maura, Joan, George Babey, John Garland, Jesse Liberty, Pat Tormey, Chris, Veronica and Shawn Robichaud, Ron, and several other folks I didn’t get to say hello to…
Are you interested in Cloud Computing generally, or specifically Cloud Computing using the Windows Azure Platform? Listed below are the upcoming Azure-related events in the Greater Boston area which you can attend in person and for FREE (or at least inexpensively).
They are listed in the order in which they will occur.
Know of any more cloud events of interest to the Windows Azure community? Have any more information or corrections on the events listed? Please let us know in the comments.
I spoke today at SQL Saturday #71 where I gave a talk on “Storing Data in the Cloud: Beyond SQL Azure” where I talk about the following:
There were many interesting questions from the audience of 20 or so people – One asked (paraphrasing here..) “Are the Microsoft Data Centers resilient to the radiation expected from a nuke” to which I did not have a good answer. To another question, Jeff Mlakar (@JeffMlakar) offered helpfully that the SQL Azure Data Sync service is an option for SQL Azure backups to on-prem and with geo-replicating SQL Azure across data centers.
We didn’t get to the end of the material due to lots of discussion… but we did get through the most critical concepts.
Are you interested in Cloud Computing generally, or specifically Cloud Computing using the Windows Azure Platform? Listed below are the upcoming Azure-related events in the Boston/Cambridge area which you can attend in person and for FREE (or at least inexpensive).
They are listed in the order in which they will occur.
Know of any more cloud events of interest to the Windows Azure community? Have any more information or corrections on the events listed? Please let us know in the comments.
1. SQL Saturday #71
Recently the nice folks at Boston User Groups offered to feature the Boston Azure User Group as a “user group of the month” on their home page. Since we put some real thought into how to describe what we do, I decided it was worth posting here as well. Comments on this post are welcome.
You’ve no doubt been hearing a lot about “the cloud” these days. The cloud is a big topic, with many vendors vying for attention. Not only does Microsoft have many of its own applications running in the cloud – Microsoft also offers a modern, robust platform on which developers and IT Pros can build and deploy cloud applications. This is known as the Windows Azure Platform.
The Boston Azure User Group is a community with a common interest: learning about cloud computing, especially focused on the Windows Azure Platform. This community has been holding regular, in-person meetings with talks, discussions, and hands-on sessions since October 2009.
Most meetings include an invited expert speaker or two and usually span multiple Azure-related topics. We also get together sometimes to develop software – what better way to learn about Windows Azure than to write code for a real solution?
What topics do we cover? Anything related to the Windows Azure Platform is fair game – from how it works (Blobs, Queues, Roles, SQL Azure, Service Bus, AppFabric, .NET, Java, PHP, … on and on) – to how real applications use it (which were some of our best talks: from a university research project needing massive scale out to run a simulation, to real businesses running on the platform today) – to announcements, demos, tools, related technologies, and business scenarios.
We welcome new members – whether you are new to the cloud or new to Windows Azure, want to hear some advanced talks on specific topics, or want to join us for some coding or hackathons – anyone interested in welcome. We also try to reserve a little time at meetings for mingling and everyone is invited to meet up afterwards for a cold beverage at a nearby (walking distance) location.
If you’d like to check us out, visit the user group’s web site – which is itself a Windows Azure application (the source code is on CodePlex).
Please feel free to join our (low volume) mailing list (http://bit.ly/bostonazuremail), follow us on twitter (@bostonazure), or join us for the next meeting (details at www.bostonazure.org).
Meetings are held at the Microsoft NERD Center, in Kendall Square, Cambridge. There is a parking garage in the building, free parking nearby, and is only a short walk from the Red Line train stop.
Meetings are free. Pizza is provided. An RSVP is appreciated.
Want to bring a Windows Azure talk to your user group members? Feel free to contact Boston Azure user group leader Bill Wilder (@codingoutloud or codingoutloud2011@gmail.com) to set up a talk for the user group you run, or a user group you think would be interested. Topics are flexible – what is different about your software architecture in the cloud, what’s new in data storage in Azure, introduction to the Cloud and Azure, or others – let’s talk.
Are you interested in Cloud Computing generally, or specifically Cloud Computing using the Windows Azure Platform? Listed below are the upcoming Azure-related events in the Boston/Cambridge area which you can attend in person and for FREE.
They are listed in the order in which they will occur.
Know of any more cloud events of interest to the Windows Azure community? Have any more information or corrections on the events listed? Please let us know in the comments.
1. TechNet Events Presents: Transforming IT with Cloud Computing Firestarter
Do you know about the Boston Azure Hackathon to be held at NERD on Wed Feb 16, 2011?
Yes, a Hackathon. This is in-person event where folks show up and hack (write code). In our case, we will meet at Microsoft NERD Center in Cambridge, MA, and our hacking will be on Windows Azure-related code.
(Did you say Windows Azure? Yes, Windows Azure is Microsoft’s platform for writing applications that will run in the cloud.)
A code base that we expect will get a lot of attention is www.bostonazure.org, which is the community’s web site, but is also a real honest-to-goodness-in-production Azure application using features like Web Role, Blob Storage, Table Storage, SQL Azure (with OData), and Azure Diagnostics. (And also an open source project on CodePlex.)
We will break up into small teams based on which subprojects people want to work on and… get coding.
Here’s the approx schedule:
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Location: Microsoft NERD Center in Cambridge, MA. Parking available in the building (costs money), or take the T, or find on-street parking.
When: Wednesday February 16, 2011 from 4:00-9:00 PM. If you are late, that’s life, but something we can live with.
Food: Pizza will be provided.
What happens if I come late? Join a team when you get here. You will be “just in time” for something.
A few things:
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE YOUR OWN AZURE-CAPABLE DEV LAPTOP, then plan to pair up with someone who does…
Here’s the rule: You can hack on anything you want that is either related to Windows Azure or related to the Boston Azure Community. The discussion thread mentioned above has some ideas. Add your ideas too.
This will break into three broad areas:
Use your imagination.
Yes, that’s okay. We will have some folks in the room who do understand Azure, so we will help you. However, of course, it is better if you get warmed up in advance. Install the Azure dev environment. Learn a bit about Azure in advance. Download the code from bostonazure.codeplex.com to see the code for the site.
Yes: #bostonazurehack.
The Boston Azure User Group has a twitter handle: @bostonazure. My personal twitter handle is @codingoutloud.
Microsoft NERD Center provides the space and the food (thanks Leah!).
Microsoft people help make it happen (thanks Jim O’Neil and Mark Eisenberg – each is a friend of ours!).
And the following sponsors are providing software and books for prizes:
The event is organized by folks from the Boston Azure User Group. 
Coding Out Loud 
