Microsoft To Preview Windows Azure, "Cloud Computing" Initiative

[engine]

Microsoft To Preview Windows Azure, "Cloud Computing" [uk.reuters.com] Initiative

Microsoft Corp took the wraps off a new computing service that allows companies to use its data centres to run their Web applications in a bid to become a player in the so-called "cloud computing" trend.

Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's chief software architect, said on Monday it will start previewing "Windows Azure," a platform that allows third-party Web developers to host, manage, calculate and store data for applications running on the Internet.

"It's a transformation of our software. It's a transformation of our strategy," Ozzie said at the Professional Developer's Conference, Microsoft's annual gathering of third-party engineers to detail the company's future plans.

[AlienDev211]

Fun times. I would defiantly like to see how that pans out for them. I am tired of seeing them and closed source. They would be so much better if they opened up to the open source market.

[bill]

I get the feeling that Steve Ballmer started babbling about this new "Cloud OS [webmasterworld.com]" way before he was supposed to. They usually try to keep these sorts of announcements under wraps until the conference.

According to some the Azure announcement will be fleshed out during tomorrow's sessions. The details of this new OS are still not very clear to me.

[amznVibe]

I *still* don't get the benefits of third party cloud computing.

Why enjoy the low latency, higher security and better control of your own local group of servers when you can throw your data all over the web with response delays?

Practical examples please...?

[rich_b]

Cost - Buying servers is relatively cheap but once you have them servers are expensive to own. You have the capital costs of the buildings, you have to secure and monitor them, install and maintain halon fire supression systems, run air con, maintain and regularly test backup generators, and then.. do all that for a second site if you want any sort of DR capability. That's not including support, patching, administration, etc etc. All those costs continue even when you aren't using your servers.

If you use someone else's servers then it's going to be a lot cheaper because you're not paying for under-utilised capacity. They can host multiple clients and use the capacity more efficiently.

[supermighty]

I understand what you are saying about the cost, but the lack of control is what will prevent me from using the 'cloud'. I want to control my own servers and have controled access to my data. I don't want to rely on the good will of Microsoft, or Google, to not peak at my data.