I have written a blog post on beyondrelational site about a SQL Azure DMV – sys.dm_db_partition_stats that can be used to extract information about database size and size of each individual database object. To read the article please go to: http://beyondrelational.com/blogs/parasdoshi/archive/2011/05/30/sys-dm-db-partition-stats-a-sql-azure-dynamic-management-view-dmv-to-calculate-database-size.aspx
Go to http://beyondrelational.com/whatisnew/sqlserver/azure/default.aspx to explore the features being added with each release of SQL Azure. You will be interested to know that unlike other products, the release cycles of SQL Azure is rapid and in a year you can expect 4-6 service updates (releases). On http://beyondrelational.com/whatisnew/sqlserver/azure/default.aspx , you will find the information about past releases organized in a list format and also information about latest releases of SQL Azure.
I would like to thank Jacob sir for his encouragement and support! Thanks sir!
I have written a step by step guide on how to install Adventure works LT DB, a sample database available on codeplex, at my beyondrelational site. here is the link to the article: http://beyondrelational.com/blogs/parasdoshi/archive/2011/05/27/let-s-install-an-adventure-works-lt-database-on-sql-azure.aspx
I have written a blogpsot on my beyondrelational site about how to configure SQL Azure firewall from Azure management portal. Have a look at the article – click here
As of now, SQL Azure only supports one account administrator and one service administrator. So if there is a need to have a need for more people to manage the SQL Azure service, then go and vote for the feature ‘ability to have more than one account administrator and/or service administrator’ @ http://uservoice.com/a/kcZVd
Also you may want to read a related blogpost on MSDN blog: “Co administrator doesn’t see SQL Azure in Portal”
Earlier, i had logged in the idea “multiple servers (located in different data center) under single subscription” @http://uservoice.com/a/amp50 which got completed and it shows that team is actively monitroing this forum – so if you have any idea on SQL Azure, go and share your idea on mygreatsqlazureidea.com
I have a written a step by step guide on how to import data from SQL Azure to PowerPivot. In the article, i have also discussed couple of considerations while entering the SQL Azure credentials using the ‘SQL server native client 10.0’.
you can read the guide here:
In this blog post, i will tell you why you should not use following query structure with SQL Azure:
select * from [tablename]
1) ‘ * ‘ is bad for performance. This is the fact that is pointed out in most of the performance tuning learning series. It is a good practice to retrieve only the columns that are required.
Apart from this – there is one more reason.
2) If you look at the contemporary pricing model of SQL Azure, you will notice that with SQL Azure, we are charged with the data transfer that takes place with the SQL Azure database. The cost is directly proportional to the amount of data that is transferred in and out of the data center. Note that if we have our app on Azure platform and it is hosted in the same data center as that of our SQL Azure database, then no cost will be applied but in other scenario’s, data transfer cost apply.
So, if you retrieve column that is not used then you will be unnecessarily wasting money. Thus avoid using ‘select * ‘ wherever possible!
Earlier, with a SQL Azure subscription, we were allowed to provision a single server only. But now with May 2011 SQL Azure release, we now have the facility to have multiple servers under a single subscription.
couple of months back, i had this need to check SQL Azure performance for data that i stored in different data centers. But back then, i was allowed to provision a single server with a subscription. So i had got myself multiple subscription so that i could create SQL Azure servers in different data centers. But fortunately now I will not have to manage multiple subscription just to provision databases in different data centers.
I have written an article on beyondrelational.com about the step by step guide to provision multiple servers under a single subscription from the New Azure management portal. Click me to read the artcile.
On MSDN SQL Azure Forum, a user profile of MS TECH TALK exists which posts internal discussions of Microsoft employees on Azure. In this blog post, I have collected discussions that are specific to SQL Azure. Here they are:
1. If my Web Edition Database grows beyond 5 GB, will it be automatically upgraded to Business Edition?
2. Is there a hardware difference between a 10GB and 50GB SQL Azure database?
3. How do we encrypt data between client and SQL azure?
4. Number of SQL Azure database limit?
5. Does SQL Azure support full text search like SQL 2008?
6. Is there a good tool for monitoring SQL Azure?
7. Does SQL Azure support the same backup and restore functionality as SQL Server?
8. SQL Azure co-administrator permissions?
9. SQL Azure index rebuild?
10. Freeing up space in SQL Azure?
Also, i will keep on updating this post as and when new talks are published on the forum.
If any of the link is not working, kindly comment below – I’ll try and fix it.
Also you may be interested to read about SQL Azure FAQ.
30 Apr, 2011: It was time for Azure boot camp in Ahmedabad and I was looking forward to learn more about Azure from Mahesh Dhola, President of Ahmedabad user group and Gaurav Mantri, Azure MVP and Founder of Cerebrata.
The event started with Mahesh Dhola delineating event plan which seemed very interesting. He also informed the audience about an amazing windows competition (http://www.microsoft.com/india/azurecontest/ ) which is specifically for Indian developers.
Mahesh Dhola informing participants about an Azure contest!
Now, it was time for the session ‘Introduction to cloud computing and windows Azure’ to be delivered by Gaurav Mantri. He began by outlining the benefits of cloud computing in general. He compared traditional hosting methods with cloud hosting by giving thought provoking examples.
Gaurav Mantri presenting on 'Introduction to cloud computing and Azure'
For instance, he took a scenario for gaming Industry. Let me try and describe the scenario for you, so that you also can appreciate the beauty of windows Azure. Suppose a startup plans to roll out a Game. Now first let’s see the traditional on premise hosting model. Here, the challenge that they face is the upfront cost on infrastructure to deploy the Game. Now assume that the game becomes a decent hit and there is increase in demand but unfortunately the available infrastructure is not able to accommodate growing demand. So the startup purchases required infrastructure and sets it up. But the process is not instantaneous as the company has undergo the process of buying infrastructure, setting up network, installing required software’s and deploying application. Now, say the demand for the Game suddenly decreases because a rival firm has rolled out a similar but better game. So now, the startup is now sitting on an Infrastructure that is worthless to them now.
Now alternatively say, that the startup had decided to host the application on Window Azure. With the pay as you go model, there is no upfront cost. You pay for what you use. Also, Azure provides the elasticity to rapidly scale up and down. Here, in our example, the startup could just provision new instances as demand rises. Moreover, since Azure is a PaaS, the startup does not have to carry out tasks like OS patch, network administration and they can focus on things that they do best that is Build applications! And if unfortunately, the game does not take off, the startup could just decide pull the plug and delete all the provisioned instances. Thus opting for Azure makes sense when the load is unpredictable. He also described other load patterns for which Azure fits perfectly. But at the same time, it is very crucial to evaluate whether the cloud hosting model suits your needs.
After the excellent introduction to world of Azure, he shifted his focus to second session ‘Deep dive into windows Azure compute and storage’. Here he talked specifically two key components of Azure that are compute and storage. He described three components of Azure compute that are Web role, Worker role and the VM role (Beta). He differentiated each of the roles by giving their use cases which really helped better understand the need of each role. Next, he talked about the Azure storage which also has three components that are blobs, tables and queues. Each of the option was discussed in detail with code examples. Also different use cases were discussed which really help better understand each of the components. Thanks!
Now, Post lunch, we had a session from Mahesh Dhola. He took a session on ‘End to End application development with windows Azure storage and compute’. He started by summarizing the Azure stack and then moved on to describe the new Azure management portal. After that he showcased the application that he had built and deployed on Azure specifically for this session. He had used different components of Azure stack like web role, Azure tables, Azure queues to build his application. I learned a lot as he painstakingly explained how each and every code piece formed an Azure application! Thanks!
Mahesh Dhola presenting on 'End to End application development with Azure storage and compute'
Thanks for such a wonderful event! I learned a lot!
Thanks to Jalpesh Vadgama for images! URL: http://weblogs.asp.net/jalpeshpvadgama/archive/2011/05/05/windows-azure-camp-at-ahmedabad-overview-a-great-event.aspx