At a simple level, Windows Azure runs Windows applications and stores data in the cloud. Windows Azure is a scalable cloud computing operating system that serves as the development, hosting and management system for the Windows Azure Platform. It provides on-demand compute and storage to allow developers to develop, host, scale and manage web applications in the cloud through Microsoft datacentres. Windows Azure is a flexible platform that supports multiple languages and integrates with your existing on-premises environment.
Windows Azure Compute
The core of any application is its computing resources. Azure provides these in the form of three roles, Web Roles that support web applications through IIS 7, Worker Roles that support background processes, and Virtual Machine Roles based on virtual machine images created on premises and then uploaded on to the Azure platform.
Your application is comprised of one or more of these role types, typically a combination of web roles for your web front end application, and worker roles to perform more complex or time consuming background tasks such as image resizing, business process workflows, credit card verification, data manipulation, and video compression. Your application scales to meet demand when you configure more web roles and worker roles as required, and these additional compute resources are managed automatically by Azure.
For customers with complex or difficult to migrate applications, the Virtual Machine role is there to provide a highly compatible compute resource based on virtual machines created and configured on premise. Once created, this customised virtual machine image can be run like web and worker roles, and can be scaled out to meet increased demand as required. To read more about Windows Azure Computer click here.
Windows Azure Storage
Azure Storage is designed to provide affordable and reliable storage at massive scale. Using a combination of Blob storage for files and documents, Table storage for semi-structured information, and Queues for connecting your application components together, Azure Storage can manage huge amounts of data while meeting the scalability demands of internet scale applications.
Blob storage can also be used to support delivery of content on a region by region basis using the Azure Content Delivery Network. This ensures that large files such as images, documents and videos can be located geographically closer to the users delivering improved performance and lower latency. Read more about Windows Azure Storage here.
Download the 'Introducing Windows Azure' whitepaper.