Azure Coming Right Along on Hybrid Cloud Path

A consistent increase is noted in the number of enterprises investing in hybrid cloud technology to avail a number of benefits. In addition to being flexible, low cost and easy-to-control, the hybrid Cloud platforms also offer the security benefits of the conventional on-premises platforms. A number of reports have highlighted a steady increase in the popularity of Windows Azure for building hybrid solutions. According to a report posted on Bloomberg, “The sales milestone for Azure -- which stores business information and programs on remote servers and lets customers access them over the Web -- was reached in the past 12 months, said Curt Anderson, finance chief for Microsoft’s server and tools unit.” These figures clearly indicate that Azure is coming right along on hybrid cloud path, along giving stiff competition to Amazon.

What Makes Azure a Force to Reckon with in the World of Cloud Computing

1) Loads of Open Source Applications: Microsoft has collaborated with a large open source community to develop a variety of applications for Azure. The collaboration resulted in large number of open source languages, applications and frameworks available for this technology. Each enterprise needs customized applications and tools to smoothly migrate to cloud computing. So these applications make it easier for businesses to adopt Windows Azure without hiring skilled developers. At the same time, the open source community further provides several technologies to help programmers in building hybrid application on Windows Azure.

2) Compatible with Multiple Technologies: The popularity of a cloud computing technology also depends on its compatibility with conventional on-premises platforms. The Java, PHP, .NET, Python and Node.js developers can easily avail the Windows Azure services simply by using the free SDK for these languages. Similarly, the developers working with other programming languages can avail Windows Azure services by using several established and emerging standards like HTTP, REST, OData and AMQP. The support for a large number of programming languages and standards make Azure popular for businesses of all sizes.

3) Support for Windows Server 2012 R2: Microsoft has released Windows Server 2012 R2 with loads of innovative and enhanced features. The update to Windows Server is also supported on the Windows Azure. So the users now have option to launch their own Windows Server 2012 R2 instance by availing the hybrid cloud computing services. A user can simply create a new Windows Server 2012 R2 instance by choosing New->Compute->Virtual Machine within the Windows Azure Management Portal. Also, he can use the Quick Create options to create a new Virtual Machine. The seamless integration of Windows Server 2012 R2 and Azure will encourage many enterprises to simultaneously adopt the updated version of Windows Server and cloud computing.

4) Expanded Support for Linux: In addition to Windows Server 2012 R2, Microsoft has further updated Windows Azure with extended support for Linux. Thus, Azure now has both IaaS and PaaS capabilities to support all operating systems and development platforms. These capabilities further enable developers to use robust hybrid applications by using technologies like Ubuntu 12.04, OpenSuse 12.1, CentOS 6.2, and Suse Linux Enterprise 11 SP2. The updated Windows Azure SDK released by Microsoft also includes command-line tools for developers working on Mac or Linux. At the same time, the programmers can also avail MongoDB integration, Eclipse plug-in for Java and Memcached using non-.Net languages. The support for non-Microsoft technologies will make Azure popular from all developers regardless of their choice of programming language and platform.

5) Lucrative Offers and Price Cuts: Microsoft has already launched a comprehensive marketing campaign to enhance the market share of Windows Azure in the cloud computing industry. According to an AssociationsNow report, “Microsoft announced a broader offering for Windows Azure in an effort to compete with Amazon. The platform will now offer service-level agreements for guaranteed 99.95 percent uptime and 24/7 support. The servers are also getting a boost and can now have as much as 56 gigabytes of memory. With the enhanced offering, Microsoft will also try to match Amazon’s prices on its most popular services, leading to price cuts of 21 percent to 33 percent. That move could take away one of Amazon’s biggest advantages.”

However, an enterprise has to consider several factors before migrating to Azure. But it can always avail the Windows Azure software and related programs provided by Microsoft to make the transition quick and hassle-free. This would help leverage the benefits of asp.net web development.

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Interesting, and Open Source - Overview of Features of WebAPI 2

Microsoft has released Visual Studio 2013 with a set of innovative features and enhancements. Along with a single UI to access multiple ASP.NET frameworks, smart options to sync information and data to Cloud, and social authenticator, the upgraded version of Visual Studio also comes with a completely revamped WebAPI 2. The second version of ASP.NET WebAPI also comes with a set of features to complement the latest trends in web development. If you are planning to migrate to Visual Studio 2013, it is time to understand some of these new and exciting features.

5 Exciting New Features in ASP.NET WebAPI 2

1) Attribute Routing: The WebAPI 2 supports both conventional and attribute routing. While using convention routing, programmers are required to define multiple route templates. So each user request is matched against a predefined route template, and then the route template forwards the specific controller action. On the other hand, the routing approach enables programmers to define multiple routing templates at a common location for specific URI patterns. But each developer has to write lengthy code earlier to support the routing templates. The innovative attribute routing feature in ASP.NET WebAPI 2 now enables programmers to support the complex URI pattern without writing any lengthy and complex coding.

2) Open Web Interface for .NET (OWIN) Self Hosting: The WebAPI 2 also comes with a fresh self-hosting package called Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi. OwinSelfHost. OWIN provides a standard interface to facilitate efficient interaction between .NET web servers and web application. Along with decoupling the web server and application, the interface also aims to encourage programmers to build simple .NET modules by availing the open source .NET web development tools and frameworks. So OWIN provides a more efficient self hosting option in comparison to IIS.

3) IhttpActionResult: The WebAPI allowed programmers to create server response in two distinct ways. They have option to return a specific object instance that will be subsequently changed by the Web API pipeline into an HttpResponseMessage. Also, they have option to return a response directly as a raw HttpResponseMessage without any further processing or conversion. But the second version of WebAPI enables programmers to create the response in a more innovative way through the IHttpActionResult. The IHttpActionResult allow HTTP message to be returned from the controller efficiently, and thus makes it easier for web developers to reuse and test their code.

4) Cross Origin Resource Sharing (CORS): Despite being compliant with W3C standards, most browsers still do not support resource sharing or communication across multiple domains. So developers use the cross origin resource sharing (CORS) mechanism to make an AJAX call to an outside domain that generate the specific web page in actual. In other words, CORS supports cross-domain cells that allow web pages to make an AJAX call to an external domain. The ASP.NET WebAPI 2 makes it easier for programmers to make AJAX calls by supporting cross origin resource sharing.

5) WebAPI Odata: As a web protocol, Open Data Protocol (OData) is used widely for updating and querying data. The ASP.NET WebAPI 2 supports three OData options, i.e., select, expand and value. The Select option can be used to generate response by including a specific property of the entity in the response. But the Expand option allows inclusion of the related entity in the response. At the same time, the Value option allows users to dine the raw value of the property. These three options now enable developers to control the representation returned from the server without putting any extra effort.

Microsoft has further made ASP.NET WebAPI 2 more significant by allowing developers to secure communications, while protecting the sensitive operations and data unexposed. Each .net web developer can simply protect the WebAPI by using ASP.NET tooling and security middleware. At the same time, he also has option to configure the WebAPI projects by using several ASP.NET tools and templates.

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Dot Net- Importance and Demand in IT Market in 2013

The Dot Net framework leads to the creation of an environment which enables programs to run in a language and platform independent manner. It incorporates a vast library and renders support to a number of programming languages that make adequate room for interoperability, since each language is capable of making use of code composed in some other language. The main languages running across this platform are J#.NET, VB.NET and C#.NET. ASP.NET application development constitutes of the technology for development of the web while ADO.NET comprises a group of classes leveraged for database connectivity.

In order to cater to the ever increasing demand in the domain of technologies and programming, Microsoft initiated development across the Dot Net framework during the late 90’s bearing the name NGWS or Next Generation Windows Services. By the end of the year 2000, the initial beta versions of .Net 1.0 were launched. The release of .NET Framework 4 and Visual Studio 2010 took place almost simultaneously.

Instead of compelling developers to make use of any specific programming language, this platform enables developers to create application in any language. The aim is to pave way for globally distributed systems, leveraging XML as the common connector. This facilitates the running of functions across an array of computers within a company or around the globe while operating within a single operation.

This framework renders a common environment for developing, deploying as well as running web applications and services. This architecture can operate across manifold platforms, further rendering portability to the .Net programs. Again the software environment includes a new process for program development which has the capability of changing the manner in which programs are written and executed. This results in improved productivity. The most important constituent of this framework is web services, which indicates the applications which can be utilized across the internet.

Universal data access constitutes another vital concept regarding this technology. Users are capable of accessing the data irrespective of the place where they are located. In case there are two copies of a file, for instance a company computer as well as a personal computer, the version that is less recent is required to be regularly updated. Microsoft has come up with innovative technologies like DCOM, COM+ and COM that ensure reuse of the software. Although these technologies are quite powerful, there are certain issues that often crop up. Because of this, Microsoft felt the need to develop a new technology or framework that would allow easy accomplishment of all the programming tasks.

The technology is in great demand so far as the IT market of 2013 is concerned, because of the plethora of productive and unique applications and features. Let us discuss two of the major benefits in a nutshell:

1. Simultaneous Code Execution: Since this architecture supports side by side code execution, versioning problems can be resolved. Overwriting of any shared component can be avoided by facilitating the installation of multiple versions and running them concurrently across the same computer. In such a case, .Net developers do not need to maintain any kind of backward compatibility since diverse applications can make use of diverse editions of a shared component.

2. Decentralized Component Registration: Issues that crop up due to centralized registration are done away with Dot Net. For component registration, the Registry is not used, but this framework stores information regarding the components and the same is retrieved at runtime straight from the files. When a new component is instantiated by an application, scanning of predefined locations including the application directory takes place. To make available for future use, the information regarding the components is subjected to caching once the component is traced. Such decentralized registration almost does away with chances of application interference.

Thus, by leveraging the .Net platform, developers can make use of integrated tools in order to build web services cost-effectively and quickly. Scalable solutions can be created that are functional across a range of computing devices.

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