September, 2011

A number of our SQL Azure Federation product evaluation customers have been inquiring about the typical how-to’s for using Entity Framework with this new SQL Azure capability. After providing guidance to a number of these customers it was apparent that … More » Blog Post by: James Podgorski

In a previous blog posting here I ran through a typical first blocker when using the code-first feature of Entity Framework (EF) with SQL Azure Federations. That first blocker was understanding the correct procedure to submit the USE FEDERATION statement … More » Blog Post by: James Podgorski

This article offers practical guidance for developers working with the brokered messaging .NET managed API in the Windows Azure Service Bus. The recommendations supplied in this article come directly from recent customer projects. While building real-world solutions with the Service … More » Blog Post by: Valery Mizonov

The following is a great compilation of Azure sessions that were presented at //BUILD. I’m not sure who put this together originally (I suspect OakLeaf Systems), but it’s making the rounds and I thought I’d post it here for public consumption. Enjoy! Windows Azure and Cloud Session Content from the //BUILD/ Windows Conference 2011 Following are full descriptions and links to slide decks and video archives of sessions in the Windows Azure and Cloud Computing tracks presented at the //BUILD/ Windows...

I am proud to say that BizTalk Server 2010 Unleashed has finally shipped. This is my eighth book. It never ceases to amaze me how long this process can take when you’re working with a bunch of highly-skilled super-busy individuals. This book is actually the second BizTalk “Unleashed” book I have done. The first was back in the days when BizTalk Server 2004 was released, where I had the honor of working with Scott Woodgate (that name means something to longtime BizTalkers) and Stephen Mohr on BizTalk...

I love building keynote applications! I had the great fortune to work with John Shewchuk – Technical Fellow at Microsoft – as he demonstrated a vision for how identity in Windows Azure can enable great experiences in Windows 8. I wanted to quickly provide some background on the components of the sample application he showed [...] Blog Post by: Wade

Yesterday we released the Window Azure Platform Training Kit – September 2011 Release. You can get the content here: Windows Azure Platform Training Kit (offline) Windows Azure Platform Training Courses (online) The September 2011 release of the training kit includes the following updates: [New Hands-On Lab] Service Bus Messaging [Updated] Labs and Demos to leverage [...] Blog Post by: Wade

During the last //build/ conference a number of new WF4, or should I now say WF4.5, features where announced. While the list of new features isn’t earth shattering long some of the most annoying shortcomings where addressed.   Designer enhancements As a developer I spend a lot of time in the designer so any improvements there are going to make me happy. And I am very happy to see some of the new features.   Auto surround with a Sequence. This seemingly small feature is a real time saver...

If you need a quick and simple way to manually test your WorkflowService the WCF Test Client makes it simple but there are a few tips that will make your life much easier. Tip: Add the WCF Test Client to your Visual Studio Tools menu Select Tools / External Tools Add the WCF Test Client tool.  The path is C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE\WcfTestClient.exe Tip: Get the URI for your service by viewing in the browser The WCF Test Client will ask for the URI of your...

If you install the Visual Studio 11 Preview release on a machine that has .NET 4 Platform Update 1 installed you will find that projects targeting .NET 4 Platform Update 1 will fail to build properly.  The error you will get is 'System.Activities.XamlIntegration.ActivityXamlServices' does not contain a definition for 'InitializeComponent' The bug has been fixed and will not be a problem in the Visual Studio 11 Beta release but until then you should not install the Visual Studio...

In deze podcast spreekt Maurice de Beijer met Andre Obelink en Sander Gerz over de //build/ conferentie. Tijdens de //build/ heeft Microsoft voor het eerst laten zien hoe Windows 8 er uit gaat zien en hoe we hier software voor moeten ontwikkelen. Andre en Sander waren beide bij deze conferentie aanwezig en delen hun indrukken.   Link   Enjoy!   www.TheProblemSolver.nl www.dotnetevents.nl Blog Post by: Maurice

Yesterday at  BUILD , Microsoft Server and Tools Business President, Satya Nadella made two announcements around the Windows Azure Marketplace and shared details on how Ford Motor Company and eBay are using the Marketplace to add further value to their business.  This post will dive deeper into both of these announcements. International Availability Microsoft announced the upcoming availability of the Windows Azure Marketplace in 25 new markets around the world, including: Austria, Belgium...

At Build we announced support for geo replication which I think is the key differentiator in the industry. You want to store you data in the cloud and make sure it will be highly available and we now geo replicate your data for disaster recovery scenarios. More details below… During the BUILD Day two keynote, we announced the release of geo-replication and a new version of the REST API to enable functionality improvements for Windows Azure Blobs, Tables, and Queues.  At this time we are now...

Now that we can get our hands on the Windows Developer Preview of Windows 8, I’m sure everyone is excited to start building applications! For many of us, this means that we’ll want to install all of the great Windows Azure tools on our Windows Developer Preview machine – especially if we plan to take [...] Blog Post by: Wade