Microsoft Attack strategy: is Windows Server 8 and Azure cloud powerful together?

If the Windows store's IT managers were previously skeptical about Windows Server 8 and Azure as the basic building blocks of the corporate cloud strategy, the suspicion should now be eliminated.

At last week's build meeting, Microsoft's top brass released the explosive message that Server 8 and Azure will have a close relationship that will stabilise most companies ' corporate platforms and applications.

They also consistently launch cloud platforms as scalable and highly available options for developers and it stores, emphasizing that Microsoft also creates features in server products that are notified by the Enterprise engine and manage managed services.

IDC analyst Al Gillen advises on the enhanced relationship between Azure and Windows Server 8.

"We want customers to increase their use of Windows Azure as a result of Microsoft's merging of the two products, and to be more receptive to the hybrid computing model," Gillen said. ”

According to Microsoft, Azure has the hope of becoming a platform for providing data and services for Windows applications, as well as an identity manager that can help federated identities across multiple Web services.

Satya Nadella, head of Microsoft's server and tools business, said many new releases were available, including Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows 8, the September version of Service Bus, and Windows Azure Storage. He added that they were all updated once a month.

The Azure Toolkit of Windows 8 includes code samples, files, and widgets for creating Metro style applications that use Windows Azure to connect and notify.

At the build convention, Microsoft's Azure technician Mark Russinovich demonstrated the basic Azure platform, the service (PaaS) model, and how it best coordinated to create applications in the cloud. Because Azure handles resource management, provisioning, and monitoring, developers and it people only need to worry about what they produce, he says.

Russinovich also notes the nature of the azure storage to be durable, scalable, and highly reliable. The data is replicated three times and is reflected through "geo-replication" to multiple data centers, so even if a data center is down, the data is replicated elsewhere.

about how much cloud computing will affect its business, says Steve Ballmer, president and CEO of Microsoft's big Business division, that all business will be restructured to better integrate with the cloud.

"You (Windows developers) need to think about the business opportunities that the cloud can offer," Ballmer said, "Windows Azure, Windows Live and cloud work together, which is an area where developers can add value." ”

(Responsible editor: Lu Guang)