RSSPDC 2008: More details on Windows Azure, the Internet operating system
By Nate Mook | Published October 27, 2008, 9:10 PM
BetaNews sat down Monday afternoon with Amitabh Srivastava, the corporate vice president and distinguished engineer who heads up Windows Azure, to find out more details on Microsoft's new operating system for the cloud.
Srivastava's could hardly contain his excitement for finally being able to talk about his project -- one that has been oft-rumored but never publicly disclosed during the past two years of development. And it's not surprising why: if Windows Azure succeeds, it could define computing for the next decade.
Just as it has done for mobile devices and PCs, Microsoft has built a new operating system for the Internet (hence the "Windows" name). It wants developers to write applications that run in the cloud, just as they do for PCs, and in turn engender the same partner ecosystem that has helped to establish the dominance of Windows.
The value proposition is hard to deny: using the same tools they know intimately, developers can port or design applications for the cloud. Microsoft takes care of the rest: hosting with guaranteed uptime (SLAs will be offered), deploying updates, and additional frameworks bringing new features. Moreover, these applications can communicate with software running on the PC or other devices through Microsoft frameworks.
Surprisingly, Microsoft isn't using its existing virtual machine Hyper-V technology from Windows Server for Azure. The company has developed a completely new hypervisor that is faster because it can rely on a completely homogeneous datacenter environment (Srivastava did say that some of the work done for Azure may make it to Hyper-V). The Azure hypervisor will allocate resources on the fly, depending on an application's requirements.
Sure, Google and Amazon can offer the same hosting, storage and even cloud-based computing capabilities, but they lack the cohesion and tools necessary to promote development. That's what's new about Windows Azure Srivastava says, explaining that it's a "level above" everything else.
Srivastava told us that Azure has been architected from the ground up to be simple and fast, but most importantly: modular. Windows Azure is simply the core of Azure Platform Services, which is what developers and users will actually interact with. Developers can pick and choose the features they need from a second layer, such as a database, business tools, or even functionality provided by a third-party application.
But despite the promise of Azure, there are a number of roadblocks standing in Microsoft's way of making Windows the standard for application development on the Web as it is on PCs.
First of all, Microsoft doesn't have the greatest track record on the Internet, and it's not clear that developers will jump onto the Windows Azure bandwagon. Will businesses be willing to commit to a proprietary platform and lock their cloud applications to Microsoft's datacenters?
There are also a number of things Microsoft hasn't yet decided about Windows Azure that could lead to a tepid response. Pricing hasn't been set, and likely won't be until later next year. Even the features of Azure could change, potentially rendering initial applications incompatible with future updates.
Still, Srivastava is extremely upbeat about the potential. He wants feedback to guide the future of Windows Azure and is confident Microsoft can provide a solution that will forever change the way businesses operate on the Web. Cloud computing appears to be an inevitable future, and with its development acumen, Microsoft could very well be in the best position to lead it.
I wonder how this will impact medium to large IT business environments, i.e. IT Staff. Outsourcing, and outward development seem so popular right now. I've yet to see outward development directly impact smaller jobs, but it seems we're headed that way...
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|hmmm they control pc's now they want to take over the internet?
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|What a waste of time and money....
Microsoft has no clue anymore!
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|The larger your borders, the more difficult they are to defend. If our monoplistic laws hadn't been degraded so fervently by greed, Microsoft and others would have been split up long ago. They are indefensible now.
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|Sigh... Well, who to blame for such a perception of true borders and allegiance based on one tribe raping another some Million years ago. After all it has been conditioned for the same amount of time and is difficult to see beyond.
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|Cloud computing is certainly where everything is headed. I'm curious to seeing how Microsoft will manage to botch this one up.
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|Microsoft needs to go back to Windows, dump DOS and go UNIX, then go open source with an Internet OS because the world is not going to develop for Microsoft.
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|The world develops for whatever pays the bills. That is almost always what it comes down to. Even most successful OSS products have the dollar sign as an ulterior motive.
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|Wow.
I know you're trolling, but I'll bite anyway.
Microsoft needs to go back to Windows, dump DOS and go UNIX
There's plenty of choices out there for anyone who wants a UNIX-like OS. As a matter of fact, Windows is one of the only remaining *non* UNIX0-like OSes out there.
the world is not going to develop for Microsoft.
You're right. The majority of the "world" is going to develop for money. They have, and will continue to do so very easily for the Windows platform.
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|Microsoft did dump DOS. Go learn about a subject before sprouting off on it.
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|Cloud Computing is definitely the wave of the future. What Microsoft is doing is trying to position itself for not only the OS that runs inside of a company, but the apps and functions in the cloud, and everything in between. I believe that Microsoft sees the future and realizes that mobile, seamless applications will dominate - and they want a large piece of that pie! Much of the MS revenue will go away if other vendors host all of the data in the cloud, and neither the OS nor the locally installed application are important to running the SW and services that drive a business and a lifestyle. It makes sense for MS to come online at this time with this offering - before any more of their market share (and reputation) are eroded by other online offerings. Where the wheels will probably come off is in the pricing and licensing. Pricing and licensing are Microsoft's soft spot, as competing/confusing structures make 'buying in' an untenable mess.
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|Any business and developer worth their salt needs to pay attention to this. If Microsoft can roll this out effectively with some good pricing, this will really jump start cloud computing.
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|Microsoft can't even design a decent OS for a desktop, what makes ANYONE think that they'll be able to "trade up"? LOL
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|Well that's the most ignorant comment I've seen in a long time.
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|Lol sadly for me it's not. Ive seen worse.
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|The one above about "Microsoft dumping DOS" has to be one of them.
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|You are new here?
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|*laughs*
Yeah, you're not a troll...
*yawn*
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|Yet again sadly I have seen worse. I think the current prize winner is probably any post by internetworld7.
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|You do realize he's *not* actually an Apple fanboy, right? If you look *way* back when he first started posting, he was much more lucid. He got bored, apparently, and decided to play a role.
Now he got even more bored and is playing two... (or someone else got bored and is playing the opposite role)
Usually amusing. I wouldn't call it ignorant, though. He's playing, he doesn't actually believe or live the BS he posts.
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|Hence why I call him a farce.
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