OpsanBlog

Windows Azure and Parallel Computing (HPC)

I had the opportunity to do some research the Windows Azure High-Performance Computing (HPC) / Parallel Computing scenario earlier today. In my travels, I encountered (and want to share):

• Windows Azure Parallel Scenario Page
• Windows HPC Server and Windows Azure: High performance computing in the cloud (Word Document)
• Deploying Windows Azure Worker Nodes in Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 Step-by-Step Guide

Jumping into the deep end of the pool:

• Windows Azure Message Passing Interface (includes a spiffy lab / demo on calculating pi)
• Windows Azure Parametric Sweep (the famous “embarrassingly parallel” problem-solver)
• Windows HPC Burst to Windows Azure: Application Models and Data Considerations

How do you get started on all this good stuff? Well if you have the need (or want to get your developers started), point them to:

• Building a Windows Azure Development Environment
• Windows Azure Learning Plan: Getting Started

With the Windows Azure Training Kit installed, your HPC developers will want to review the following labs within:

• Running a parametric sweep application with the Windows Azure HPC Scheduler
• Running SOA Services with the Windows Azure HPC Scheduler
• Running MPI Applications with the Windows Azure HPC Scheduler

Yes: HPC / Parallel Computing is in the cloud. In these interesting financial times, who needs:

• Massive data centers
• The cost for infrastructure, maintenance and upgrades to the above, year after year
• Wasted capacity

The Cloud IS the place for HPC, and with a bit of work on your part, you’re ready to join in.

I’ll see you there.

Windows Azure and Node.js

In essence, Node.js is a server-side JavaScript environment that uses an asynchronous event-driven model to communicate between components. The intent is to create highly-scalable interactive applications. It has been compared to the Ruby Event machine but supports interaction as a language construct.

Although (as of this writing) fairly new, Node.js has been embraced by the developer community who have written thousands of modules to do common tasks.

Is it supported in Windows Azure? Why yes it is!

• Windows Azure Node.js Developer Center
• Windows Azure PowerShell Cmdlets for Node.js
• Windows Azure Node.js SDK
• Peter Laudati posts “Get Started with Node.js + Windows Azure: Resources”
• Dhananjay Kumar posts: “Creating Hello World Windows Azure Node.js Web Application”

Other online resources for Node.js include:

• Node on Azure blog
• Node.js home page
• Node.js Manual
• The Node Beginner Book

Keen to hear your experiences installing and configuring on the platform. Please send me your experiences.

Windows Azure Learning Plan: Getting Started

Now that you’ve built your Windows Azure Development Environment, you might ask: what’s next?

If you’re new to Windows Azure and keen to get started on the right foot, your next step is to get some hands-on experience developing and deploying on the platform, and the Windows Azure Training Kit is here to help. In it, you’ll find a rich set of documentation, information and to my point: Hands-on Labs. So once you install the Windows Azure Platform Training Kit .. what’s first?

The WATK installs in the C:\WATK folder by default and creates a desktop default.htm icon. Double-clicking on the icon will open the home page with the links to the documents and labs.

So. Let’s get started:

• Virtually all coding projects have a “hello world” application, and the WATK is no exception. If you’re new to Visual Studio 2010 as well as Windows Azure, start with “Introduction to Windows Azure”. In it, you’ll explore basic elements of a Windows Azure application.
• Next, spin through “Building ASP.NET Applications with Windows Azure“, which has examples of MVC and Web Form applications.
• Once your site is built, how do you get it into the cloud? The WATK provides a lab for this, called “Deploying Applications in Windows Azure”. In it, you’ll see how to deploy an ASP.NET MVC application three different ways.
• Web sites and web applications hosted in Windows Azure are a little different than sites hosted on physical servers, in that local binary storage may not be attached to a physical drive (unless you include it in your project, which isn’t always practical if you have large, static binary assets). Windows Azure uses three types of storage: blobs, tables and queues, with which you can master in the “Exploring Windows Azure Storage” lab. Blobs are for binary data, tables are for structured (but not relational) data (rows and columns) and queues support application elasticity by providing a place to collect messages (transactions) quickly in times of high load.
• Many sites are data-driven, and Windows Azure supports this with SQL Azure: database services in the cloud. To help you learn about SQL Azure, the WATK has a lab: “Introduction to SQL Azure”. Want to go deeper? You can, with the “SQL Azure Tips and Tricks” lab.
• One of the keys to working with data in SQL Azure is getting data into SQL Azure. There are several ways to do this (although some may seem non-conventional at the start). For this you can review the “Migrating Databases to SQL Azure” lab.

A little midnight oil, a little sweat equity, and you’ll be well on your way to to the Cloud!

I’ll see you there.

WAISG: Windows Azure Enablement Resources

So. Where have I been this past TWO months?

I am pleased to explain my whereabouts: I’ve joined the Windows Azure  Inside Solution Group. The WAISG is a business and technology enablement team devoted to accelerating the velocity of Windows Azure deployments worldwide.

Whew. Quite a mouthful, that. The program statement is worse .. but contains only one comma.

Our team supports 35 countries in 7 languages and will get you to the next step of your Windows Azure deployments. In a lot of cases, we’ll point you to public resources; in others, we’ll emulate and escalate as we need to get the job done with you.

We’re easy to reach: navigate to the Windows Azure home page at http://windowsazure.com and select the ‘Click to Chat’ bubble. We’ll pick up.

The best part: I get to work with some amazingly talented people, all of whom subscribe to my favorite quote: “When you stop learning, you stop growing”.

Let me tell you: this team is growing like mad .. collective brains learning from our customers and each other .. every day. It’s a great group, and one with whom I am proud to be guiding, mentoring and growing my own knowledge.

You’ll be hearing from us.