Posted 10/29/08 at 02:49:54 PM by Mark Edward Soper

It was called "Project Red Dog" during development, but this week Microsoft revealed its favorite color for its cloud computing development platform is actually blue - Azure, in fact.

Windows Azure Services Platform was introduced at this week's PDC, and includes the following key components, according to eWeek:

• Windows Azure (service hosting, management, low-level scalable storage, computation and networking)
• Microsoft SQL Services (databases and reporting)
• Microsoft .NET Services (.NET Framework workflow, access control, and so forth)
• Live Services (file and media synchronization between PCs, phones, apps and website)
• Microsoft SharePoint Services and CRN Services (business content, collaboration, and rapid solution development)

To learn more about the Azure platform, and what it might mean for the future of Microsoft, join us after the break.

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microsoft, Software, developer, cloud computing, SQL Server, Windows Azure, .NET Framework, CRN Services, SharePoint Services, Live Services

Posted 10/03/08 at 09:42:30 AM by Mark Edward Soper

Amazon's much more than the "world's biggest bookstore" - its Amazon Web Services division has been offering flexible hosted application development for some time. And this week, Amazon Web Services launched what ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley calls a "pre-emptive strike" against Microsoft's forthcoming "Windows Cloud" operating system by adding Windows Server and Microsoft SQL Server to its product portfolio.

Amazon's move to provide access to Windows Server and SQL Server is significant because it enables developers to have their choice of Linux-based or Windows-based development resources on what Amazon calls its "cost-effective, pay-as-you-go pricing model." Essentially, Amazon's Elastic Computing Cloud service (also known as Amazon EC2) lets developers rent a virtual machine with varying amounts of disk space and transfer capabilities on an as-needed basis without the need to carve out space in a crowded server room or spend long-term dollars on a short-term requirement.

To learn more about why Amazon Web Services has added Microsoft vehicles to its "rental fleet," join us after the jump.

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microsoft, operating system, amazon, cloud computing, Windows Server, Amazon Web Services, Elastic Compute Cloud, EC2, SQL Server