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Cloud Security Links from TechEd North America

theDavidAiken — Thu, 19 May 2011 15:58:26 +0000

Yesterday I had the pleasure of being the person at the front in a discussion of Cloud Security at Microsoft’s TechEd conference. Big thanks to those who came along to the last session of the day. During the discussion, I was asked for a list of links to find out more information about Microsoft’s cloud security. This probably isn’t exhaustive, but here goes:

General Cloud Security including data center security:

Office 365 Security

Office 365 Security Service Description

Windows Azure Platform Security

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Updated Windows Azure Training Kit

theDavidAiken — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 15:15:03 +0000

Yesterday my old team (yes I’ve changed jobs), released the latest version of the Windows Azure platform training kit. The kit is now in 2 versions, one for vs2008 developers and one for 2010 developers. You can download the kit from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=413E88F8-5966-4A83-B309-53B7B77EDF78&displaylang=en.

Here is what is new in the training kit:

Updated all hands-on labs and demo scripts for Visual Studio 2010, the .NET Framework 4, and the Windows Azure Tools for Visual Studio version 1.2 release
Added a new hands-on lab titled "Introduction to the AppFabric Access Control Service (September 2010 Labs Release)"
Added a new hands-on lab "Debugging Applications in Windows Azure"
Added a new hands-on lab "Asynchronous Workload Handling"
Added a new exercise to the "Deploying Applications in Windows Azure" hands-on lab to show how to use the new tools to directly deploy from Visual Studio 2010.
Added a new exercise to the "Introduction to the AppFabric Service Bus" hands-on lab to show how to connect a WCF Service in IIS 7.5 to the Service Bus
Updated the "Introduction to AppFabric Service Bus" hands-on lab based on feedback and split the lab into 2 parts
All of the presentations have also been updated and refactored to provide content for a 3 day training workshop.
Updated the training kit navigation pages to include a 3 day agenda, a change log, and an improved setup process for hands-on labs.

So go download the kit right now and keep your skills sharp.

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Windows Azure Architecture Guide – Part 1

theDavidAiken — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:38:44 +0000

The Patterns & Practices team have just released the first part of the Windows Azure Architecture guide.

This book is the first volume in a planned series about the Windows® Azure™ platform and focuses on a migration scenario. It introduces a fictitious company named Adatum which step-by-step modifies its expense tracking and reimbursement system, aExpense, so that it can be deployed to Windows Azure. Each chapter explores different considerations: authentication and authorization, data access, session management, deployment, development life cycle and cost analysis.

You can view the guide online at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff728592.aspx.

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Windows Azure Firestarter on Channel 9

theDavidAiken — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:44:52 +0000

A few weeks back there was a Windows Azure Firestarter event in Redmond, which I had the pleasure of speaking at. If you are after a short look at the platform, then this is a great place to start, with speakers such as Brad Calder and David Robinson. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like the lap around Steve Marx did is actually available yet, but I’ll update this post when it is.

The videos are now available for consumption on Channel 9. You can watch or click to the videos below.

Windows Azure FireStarter- Windows Azure Storage with Brad Calder

Windows Azure FireStarter- SQL Azure with David Robinson

Windows Azure FireStarter- Bui…for the Cloud with David Aiken

Windows Azure FireStarter- Migrating Applications to the Cloud with Mark Kottke

Windows Azure FireStarter- Panel Q&A

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My Windows Azure Service Instance status – 1 liner

theDavidAiken — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 23:19:04 +0000

A long time ago, before the cloud, I did a whole bunch of work with the PowerShell team. The “in” thing to do when working on PowerShell is to solve IT problems with just 1 line of PowerShell. Ok sometimes this one line could be huge, but 1 line nevertheless.

A few weeks back when getting ready for the 1st cloud cover show, we (Steve Marx, Ryan and I) wanted to show how you could use the Windows Azure Management PowerShell Cmdlets to get the current service status, and show it in a chart. The solution never made the show, but here it is in all of its single line glory (i included the line number for fun)

   1:   (get-deployment -Slot Production -Servicename 'myapp' -Certificate (Get-Item cert:\CurrentUser\My\4445574B0BADAEAA6433E7A5A6169AF9D3136234) -subscriptionId 87654387-9876-9876-9867-987656543482).RoleInstanceList | group-object InstanceStatus | Select Name, Count | out-chart -gallery Lines -DataGrid_Visible true -refresh 0:1:0 -Glass -Title ‘MyApp Instances'

So take a minute to digest that.

Yes, there are a few things you need to setup before this 1 liner works:

Install the Windows Azure Management PowerShell Cmdlets.
Create a certificate to manage your service and install into your subscription at the portal.
Download and install a trial of PowerGadgets from http://www.softwarefx.com/sfxSqlProducts/powerGadgets/ (if you want the graphs)

Yes – the graph is refreshed every minute.

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Cloud Cover on C9

theDavidAiken — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:29:01 +0000

Last week, Ryan & Steve launched the new weekly show about the cloud on C9 called Cloud Cover. The show takes a look at what is happening with the Microsoft Cloud, discusses hot topics and new features. If you haven’t already – take a look at http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/Cloud+Cover/Cloud-Cover-Episode-1/

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Windows Azure Platform Status

theDavidAiken — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:32:03 +0000

If you need to find out if Windows Azure, SQL Azure or AppFabric is in good shape – check out http://www.microsoft.com/windowsazure/support/status/servicedashboard.aspx.

Note: I’m posting this so I remember the link too

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Captain Identity – Vittorio Bertocci on .NET Rocks

theDavidAiken — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:19:55 +0000

Ever had trouble with Identity? SAML, WIF and ADFS all just too confusing. Catch Vittorio on .NET Rocks as he wades through all that is Windows Identity Foundation (Geneva) from a developers perspective.

Catch the show at http://www.dotnetrocks.com/default.aspx?showNum=495, and read the blog on http://blogs.msdn.com/vbertocci/.

Want to work with Vittorio? We’re hiring….

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Job in the clouds?

theDavidAiken — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:35:21 +0000

Is your head in the clouds? Do you see the vision and potential for Microsoft with the Windows Azure Platform? Can you articulate the value to senior executives, yet role up your selves and write code for developers? Do you have the intellectual horsepower and technical depth to make a positive impact in the cloud? If so, we might just have a dream role for you!

I’m hiring – think you can handle the cloud? Apply here https://careers.microsoft.com/JobDetails.aspx?ss=&pg=0&so=&rw=8&jid=8084&jlang=EN.

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Sorry if its broke :(

theDavidAiken — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:12:55 +0000

I must apologize to everyone who finds a broken link on this blog. Previously I was running Graffiti CMS, however the product has not been touched in over as year, and it apparently has no future if you read the forums. I’ve just switched across to WordPress, and whilst things appear to be working, i think I may have broken the permalinks. I may try to fix that, but in the mean time sorry for breaking.

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