Windows Azure Solutions with VSTS

Cloud Computing

• Define cloud computing.
• Learn the benefits of cloud computing.
• Understand the different types of cloud computing services.
• Explore where computing clouds might exist.
• Hear about potential concerns with cloud computing.
• Learn where cloud computing can and cannot be applied.
• Place Windows Azure in light of general cloud computing.
• Know how Windows Azure compares to other cloud environments.

Lab :

• Windows Azure Account Setup (Optional)
• Understand how to create a Windows Azure account.
• Explore the types of Windows Azure accounts.
• Learn how to access and use the Windows Azure Developer Portal.
• Examine the Windows Azure Developer Portal.

Windows Azure Architecture

• See a simple Windows Azure application
• Learn about the Microsoft data centers.
• Explore the hardware, servers and virtualization (the Fabric) that host cloud applications and data.
• Understand the role of the Fabric Controller in managing the Windows Azure cloud.
• Know the general architecture and components of the Windows Azure Platform.
• Understand the tools used to create and deploy Windows Azure services and data stores.
• Understand the different types of roles in Windows Azure (Web,worker, VM).
• Understand the types of storages provided by the Windows Azure Platform (Azure Storage, SQL Azure, etc.)

Lab :

• Introduction to Windows Azure
• Explore your first Windows Azure project in Visual Studio.
• See how to test a cloud application in Visual Studio.
• Learn how to publish a cloud application.
• Examine the process of deploying an application via the Developer Portal.
• Learn how to remove a service from the cloud.

Windows Azure Web Roles

• Explore the purpose of Windows Azure Web roles.
• Understand how to create Web roles in a cloud service project.
• See how to configure a Web role.
• Learn how to test Web roles run in the Compute Emulator.
• Start exploring the Windows Azure API.
• Examine how to build Web roles with multiple Web sites.

Lab : 

• Building a Web Role
• Create a Cloud Application using Windows Azure Tools for Visual Studio.
• Explore the Web role project.
• Configure a Web role project.
• See a multi-instance role running in the Compute Emulator.
• Modify the application to use a custom configuration setting.
• Optionally, see a Web role cloud project deployed to Windows Azure.

Local Storage

• Examine Windows Azure local storage.
• See how local storage differs from normal server file systems.
• Learn how to configure local storage.
• Understand the limitations of local storage and where/when to use it.
• Explore the API to access local storage.
• Learn about Windows Azure Drive (formerly X-Drive).

Lab : 

• Using Local Storage
• Configure a Web Role to have local storage.
• Alter the Web role code to read and write to local storage.
• Explore the relationship of local storage to roles and role instances.
• Explore how to clean local storage on role instance recycling.
• Optionally, deploy the local storage using cloud project to the Windows Azure cloud.

Windows Azure Administration

• Explore the various Windows Azure subscription administrators.
• Understand Windows Azure OS Families and Guest OS Versions.
• See how to Remote Desktop to a Windows Azure virtual machine.
• Learn how to define a startup task for a role.

Lab : 

• Configuring and Using Remote Desktop
• Learn how to create a new hosted service without deploying code.
• See how to create and add a PFX certificate to a hosted service.
• Publish and deploy a Windows Azure project configured for Remote Desktop connections.
• Optionally learn how to configure remote access through the Portal.
• Optionally setup a co-administrator for your subscription.

Windows Azure Storage and Queues

• Understand the purpose of Windows Azure Storage.
• Learn how to create a Windows Azure Storage account.
• Explore Windows Azure Storage costs.
• Understand the Storage Emulator, how to use it, and how it is different from Windows Azure Storage.
• See how to access Windows Azure Storage using both the REST API and the Storage Client Library.
• Examine Windows Azure Storage Queues.
• Learn how to get messages in and out of Windows Azure Queues.

Lab : 

• Learning Windows Azure Storage and Queues
• Use a Web role to create a queue and add messages to the queue.
• Learn how to add another Web role to your cloud service project.
• Use a Web role to read and display messages in the queue.
• Observe the difference between getting and peeking at messages in a queue.
• Optionally, see how to create a Storage Account service.
• Optionally, examine how to create an Affinity Group.
• Optionally, learn where to find storage account URLs and access keys.
• Optionally, deploy the cloud service project to the Windows Azure cloud.
• Explore Windows Azure Storage with external utilities.

Blob Storage

• Understand the rationale for using blob storage.Learn about the different types of blobs: block and page blobs.
• Examine blob storage containers and how they are used to organize and control access to blobs.
• Explore how to access blob storage with both the Storage Client and REST API.

Lab :

• Using Blob Storage
• Use a Web role to create a blob container and set permissions on the container.
• Learn how to upload blobs into a container.
• Use a Web role to retrieve a blob by its name (reference).
• Work with blob metadata.
• Explore the REST API used to access blob storage.

Table Storage

• Explore Windows Azure Storage's structural data service.
• Understand the reason for table storage.
• Examine the differences between table storage and traditional relational databases (as exhibited by SQL Azure).
• Learn how to access table storage with both the Storage Client and REST API.
• Understand entities as they relate to table storage.
• Examine how to save and retrieve entities in table storage.

Lab : 

• Using Table Storage
• Define an entity class.
• Build a TableServiceContext object to negotiate data in and out of table storage.
• Learn how to save entity data to table storage.
• Explore queries to fetch entity data from table storage.

Worker Roles

• Explore the purpose of Windows Azure worker roles.
• Understand how to create worker roles in a cloud service project.
• See how to configure a worker role.
• Learn how to test worker roles run in the Compute Emulator.
• Learn how to use Windows Azure Storage queues and messages to communicate with worker roles.
• Explore how to setup worker role endpoints.
• Learn how to communicate with worker role internal and input endpoints.
• Hosting services in Windows Azure

Lab : 

• Building a Worker Role
• Create a worker role and add it to your cloud project.
• Explore the contents of a worker role project.
• Configure a worker role to monitor a queue for messages.
• Re-explore the use of queue storage in role-to-role communications.
• Re-explore table storage.

SQL Azure Introduction

• Learn what SQL Azure is and why you want to use it.
• Understand SQL Azure in comparison to SQL Server and Windows Azure table storage.
• Learn how to provision a SQL Azure server and databases.
• Examine costs associated with SQL Azure.
• See how to use familiar tools and APIs to work in SQL Azure.
• Explore how to create and manage database objects in SQL Azure.
• Know how to limit SQL Azure access.
• Understand options for performing database backups.
• See how to migrate data to SQL Azure.

Lab :

• Introduction to SQL Azure
• Add a SQL Azure subscription to your current Windows Azure account subscription
• Create a SQL Azure server and administrator.
• Create a database in SQL Azure.
• Add a table to the SQL Azure database.
• Explore Database Manager for accessing and managing SQL Azure databases and tables.

Diagnostics

• Learn how to accomplish debugging and logging in Windows Azure.
• Examine Windows Azure Diagnostic Service.
• Understand the role of the Diagnostic Agent process in the diagnostic service.
• Learn how to configure the diagnostic service.
• See how to transfer diagnostic data to Windows Azure Storage.

Lab :

• Diagnostics
• See how Visual Studio cloud templates provide default diagnostic monitoring setup.
• Add trace statements to cloud code.
• Learn how to schedule diagnostic data to be transferred to Windows Azure Storage.
• Learn how to perform an on-demand transfer of diagnostic data to storage.