Introduction to Windows Azure: an introduction to cloud computing using Microsoft Windows Azure

354 Pages·2009·15.48 MB·English

by  Henry Li

cYAn YeLLOW
MAGenTA BLAcK
PAnTOne 123 c
BOOKs fOR PROfessIOnALs BY PROfessIOnALs® The eXPeRT’s VOIce® In .neT
Companion
eBook Available
Introducing Windows Azure
I
n
Dear Reader, t
r
Now is the time for you to learn the fundamentals of Windows Azure program- o
ming, and this book gives you a first look at this exciting new cloud platform d
Introducing
from Microsoft.
u
Whenever a new technology is introduced, I find that the quickest way to get
c
ahead is to study code examples that demonstrate the core details of that tech-
i
Henry Li nology. So I have written Introducing Windows Azure to provide you with a rich n Windows
set of example projects that cover the core skills you must learn to be a Windows
g
Azure developer.
In this book I also provide you with plenty of tools and re-useable compo-
W
nents for Azure development, such as a tool to work with large amounts of data
in cloud storage, and a tool to access SQL Azure services - which I found extreme-
ly useful while writing this book. These tools will help not only your own Azure
work, but also your understanding of the Azure platform. These practical appli- i
cations give you all you need to dive straight into Azure development and write
n Azure
production-ready applications.
I wrote this book to give you confidence and experience as a Windows Azure
d
developer. Most importantly, I wrote it so that you can get ready for the next big
wave in our industry: cloud computing. I am sure that you will be as excited and
impressed as I am with the many innovational features introduced by Windows o
Azure after reading through this book.
w
Enjoy your Azure developing and happy reading.
Henry Y.H. Li s

A
THE APRESS ROADMAP
Learn Windows Azure to create next-generation,
Introducing
Companion eBook
Windows Azure
z cloud-based applications
Pro
Beginning C#
Pro Silverlight 3 in C# Silverlight for the Enterprise
u
Illustrated WPF Pro
Soene l$a1s0t peaBgoeo kfo vre drseitoanils Illustrated C# Azure Services Platform r
Pro C# and the e
.NET Platform
Henry Li
SOURCE CODE ONLINE
www.apress.com ISBN 978-1-4302-2469-3
53999
US $39.99
Shelve in:
Programming Languages / C#
User level:
9 781430 224693
Intermediate
this print for content only—size & color not accurate 7.5 x 9.25 spine = x.xxx" xxx page count
cYAn YeLLOW
MAGenTA BLAcK
PAnTOne 123 c
BOOKs fOR PROfessIOnALs BY PROfessIOnALs® The eXPeRT’s VOIce® In .neT
Companion
eBook Available
Introducing Windows Azure
I
n
Dear Reader, t
r
Now is the time for you to learn the fundamentals of Windows Azure program- o
ming, and this book gives you a first look at this exciting new cloud platform d
Introducing
from Microsoft.
u
Whenever a new technology is introduced, I find that the quickest way to get
c
ahead is to study code examples that demonstrate the core details of that tech-
i
Henry Li nology. So I have written Introducing Windows Azure to provide you with a rich n Windows
set of example projects that cover the core skills you must learn to be a Windows
g
Azure developer.
In this book I also provide you with plenty of tools and re-useable compo-
W
nents for Azure development, such as a tool to work with large amounts of data
in cloud storage, and a tool to access SQL Azure services - which I found extreme-
ly useful while writing this book. These tools will help not only your own Azure
work, but also your understanding of the Azure platform. These practical appli- i
cations give you all you need to dive straight into Azure development and write
n Azure
production-ready applications.
I wrote this book to give you confidence and experience as a Windows Azure
d
developer. Most importantly, I wrote it so that you can get ready for the next big
wave in our industry: cloud computing. I am sure that you will be as excited and
impressed as I am with the many innovational features introduced by Windows o
Azure after reading through this book.
w
Enjoy your Azure developing and happy reading.
Henry Y.H. Li s

A
THE APRESS ROADMAP
Learn Windows Azure to create next-generation,
Introducing
Companion eBook
Windows Azure
z cloud-based applications
Pro
Beginning C#
Pro Silverlight 3 in C# Silverlight for the Enterprise
u
Illustrated WPF Pro
Soene l$a1s0t peaBgoeo kfo vre drseitoanils Illustrated C# Azure Services Platform r
Pro C# and the e
.NET Platform
Henry Li
SOURCE CODE ONLINE
www.apress.com ISBN 978-1-4302-2469-3
53999 Li
US $39.99
Shelve in:
Programming Languages / C#
User level:
9 781430 224693
Intermediate
this print for content only—size & color not accurate 7.5 x 9.25 spine = x.xxx" xxx page count
Introduction to
Windows Azure
An Introduction to Cloud Computing
Using Microsoft Windows Azure

(cid:132) (cid:132) (cid:132)
Henry Li

i
Introduction to Windows Azure
Copyright © 2009 by Henry Li
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ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-4302-2469-3
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ii
This book is dedicated to my dear father, math Professor Rondong Li, who is always my source
of spiritual encouragement, and my mother, who was my first math teacher at primary school.

iii
Contents at a Glance

■ Contents ............................................................................................................................ v
■ Foreword ........................................................................................................................... x
■ About the Author ............................................................................................................ xiii
■ About the Technical Reviewer ........................................................................................ xiv
■ Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................... xv
■ Introduction .................................................................................................................... xvi
■ Chapter 1: Create Cloud Table Storage .............................................................................. 1
■ Chapter 2: Access Cloud Table Storage ........................................................................... 25
■ Chapter 3: Working with Cloud Queue and Blob Storage ................................................ 67
■ Chapter 4: Windows Azure Application Integration Using WCF ..................................... 113
■ Chapter 5: Azure .NET Services—Access Control ......................................................... 129
■ Chapter 6: Azure .NET Services— Service Bus ............................................................. 171
■ Chapter 7: Azure .NET Services—Workflows ................................................................ 211
■ Chapter 8: SQL Azure .................................................................................................... 243
■ Chapter 9: Deploy Applications and Production Maintenance ...................................... 297
■ Appendix ....................................................................................................................... 313
■ Index ............................................................................................................................. 315

iv
■ CONTENTS
Contents
■ Foreword ........................................................................................................................... x
■ About the Author ............................................................................................................ xiii
■ About the Technical Reviewer ........................................................................................ xiv
■ Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................... xv
■ Introduction .................................................................................................................... xvi
Windows Azure Essentials .......................................................................................................................... xvi
Web Role ............................................................................................................................................... xix
Worker Role ........................................................................................................................................... xix
Azure Fabric .......................................................................................................................................... xix
Who This Book Is For ................................................................................................................................... xx
Prerequisites .............................................................................................................................................. xxi
How This Book Is Structured ...................................................................................................................... xxii
Chapter 1: Create Cloud Table Storage .................................................................................................. xxii
Chapter 2: Access Cloud Table Storage ................................................................................................ xxiii
Chapter 3: Working with Cloud Queue and Blob Storage ...................................................................... xxiii
Chapter 4: Windows Azure Application Integration Using WCF .............................................................. xxiii
Chapter 5: Windows Azure .NET Services—Access Control .................................................................. xxiii
Chapter 6: Windows Azure .NET Services—Service Bus ...................................................................... xxiii
Chapter 7: Windows Azure .NET Services—Workflows ........................................................................ xxiv
Chapter 8: SQL Azure ........................................................................................................................... xxiv
Chapter 9: Deploy Windows Azure Applications to Production .............................................................. xxiv
Appendix A: Resources ........................................................................................................................ xxiv
Downloading the Code ......................................................................................................................... xxiv
Contacting the Author ................................................................................................................................ xxv
■ Chapter 1: Create Cloud Table Storage .............................................................................. 1
The Table Storage Specification .................................................................................................................... 2
A Closer Look at Entities ............................................................................................................................... 3
v
■ CONTENTS
Azure Development Storage .......................................................................................................................... 4
Create Cloud Data Storage with a Simple Data Structure ............................................................................... 5
Using Portable Data Types for Data Columns .......................................................................................... 15
Using Data Tables Generated by Windows Azure Development Tool ....................................................... 15
Solutions to Non-Portable Data Types .................................................................................................... 15
Data Context Class Inheritance .............................................................................................................. 17
Using PartitionKey and RowKey to Organize the Data to be Distributed ................................................... 18
Create Cloud Data Storage with Relational Data Structure ........................................................................... 19
A Constraint for Data Entity Classes Contains Embedded Entity Classes ................................................. 21
Refactoring Data Entity Classes .............................................................................................................. 22
Close SQL Analysis ................................................................................................................................ 23
Summary .................................................................................................................................................... 23
■ Chapter 2: Access Cloud Table Storage ........................................................................... 25
Accessing a Single Cloud Data Storage Table ............................................................................................. 25
Data Entity Class Constructors ............................................................................................................... 41
Table Storage Keys ................................................................................................................................ 42
Log Runtime Message and Event Information for Debugging .................................................................. 42
Leverage the Power of Development Fabric Services ............................................................................. 43
Using Fiddler 2 to Debug Cloud Storage Applications ............................................................................. 43
Leverage LINQ to Query Entities in Cloud Storage ................................................................................... 45
Using HTTP REST to Query the Top N Entities ......................................................................................... 46
Using Continuation Tokens to Retrieve Paginated Data ........................................................................... 46
Deleting and Updating an Entity in a Single Cloud Data Storage Table ......................................................... 48
Update Data Tables in Buckets .............................................................................................................. 59
Best Practices in Using the DataServiceContext Object ........................................................................... 60
Handling Relational Cloud Data Storage Tables ........................................................................................... 60
Summary .................................................................................................................................................... 65
■ Chaper 3: Working with Cloud Queue and Blob Storage .................................................. 67
Azure Queue ............................................................................................................................................... 67
Azure Blob Storage ..................................................................................................................................... 69
Creating a Cloud Queue .............................................................................................................................. 70
Add a Worker Role in the Cloud Service Solution .................................................................................... 70
Create a Queue Storage Container and Create a Named Queue
from the Start Handler of the Worker Role .............................................................................................. 71
Create the Queue Using Account Information from the Configuration File .......................................... 72
Create the Queue Programatically ..................................................................................................... 74
vi
■ CONTENTS
Put a Message into the Queue ............................................................................................................... 74
Poll and Delete a Message from the Queue ............................................................................................ 76
Delete a Message from the Queue ......................................................................................................... 78
Parse a Message Received from the Queue ........................................................................................... 78
Query a Queue Using HTTP REST ........................................................................................................... 80
Creating Cloud Blob Storage ....................................................................................................................... 80
Creating a Loosely Coupled Event-Driven System ....................................................................................... 89
Implementing a Client Application to Access Cloud Blob Storage ................................................................. 96
Summary .................................................................................................................................................. 111
■ Chapter 4: Windows Azure Application Integration Using WCF ..................................... 113
Using WCF ................................................................................................................................................ 114
Host WCF Service from Azure ................................................................................................................... 114
Verify HostWCFService from the Local Development Environment ............................................................. 127
Summary .................................................................................................................................................. 128
■ Chapter 5: Azure .NET Services—Access Control ......................................................... 129
Working with the .NET Access Control Service .......................................................................................... 129
Build Your First Cloud Application Using the .NET Access Control Service .................................................. 131
CardSpace .Net Access Control Services ................................................................................................... 142
AzureForDotNetDeveloperWCFserviceLibrary ....................................................................................... 142
Service Implementations and Configurations ........................................................................................ 144
Client Implementations and Configurations .......................................................................................... 146
Test Results for What We Have Built .................................................................................................... 148
Authentication Using X.509 Certification or CardSpace in .NET Access Control Service ......................... 149
Installing the X.509 Certificate ........................................................................................................ 149
Associating the Certificate to the Azure Application URL .................................................................. 153
Using CardSpace in the .NET Access Control Service ...................................................................... 155
Summary .................................................................................................................................................. 171
■ Chaprter 6: Azure .NET Services— Service Bus ............................................................ 171
Connecting to Remote Applications with the Service Bus .......................................................................... 171
Service Name Hierarchy System .......................................................................................................... 173
Service Registry and Publishing ........................................................................................................... 173
Endpoint Relay Connectivity ................................................................................................................. 173
Using WCF with the Service Bus .......................................................................................................... 173
Post a Net Event Using Relay Connection .................................................................................................. 175
Simple Direct Connected System Using Hybrid Relay Connection Mode .................................................... 184
vii
■ CONTENTS
Using .NET Service Bus to Build a Distributed Connected Windows Application ......................................... 191
SoftnetSolutions.IShape ....................................................................................................................... 192
SoftnetSolutions.Shape ........................................................................................................................ 192
SoftnetSolutions.RelayService.ServiceContract..................................................................................... 195
SoftnetSolutions.Shape.Draw ............................................................................................................... 196
SoftnetSolutions.RelayService.ShapeController .................................................................................... 198
Port Forwarding ................................................................................................................................... 200
Change Credential Type ....................................................................................................................... 202
.NET Service Bus Queue Client Facade...................................................................................................... 204
Summary .................................................................................................................................................. 209
■ Chapter 7: Azure .NET Services—Workflows ................................................................ 211
Hosting a Workflow Service in an Azure Cloud Environment ...................................................................... 212
Coordinating WF Services Using HttpWebRequest ..................................................................................... 221
Summary .................................................................................................................................................. 242
■ Chapter 8: SQL Azure .................................................................................................... 243
Create a Virtual Server for SQL Azure ........................................................................................................ 244
Connect to a SQL Azure Database Using SQL Server Management Studio ................................................. 245
Create a Data Table Using SQL Server Management Studio ...................................................................... 248
Simple Benchmark Testing Results ........................................................................................................... 249
Verifying That SQL Azure Supports Relational Data Tables ........................................................................ 251
Connect to a SQL Azure Database Using ADO.NET .................................................................................... 255
Migrate Existing Databases from an On-Premises System to SQL Azure .................................................... 256
SQL Azure Application Developing Tool: SQLAzureConnect........................................................................ 260
Functions of SQLAzureConnect ............................................................................................................ 261
Using XML Data to Define UI Components Dynamically ........................................................................ 263
SQLDataAccessComponent Class ......................................................................................................... 266
SQLDataAccessHelper Class ................................................................................................................ 271
Component Design and Implementation .................................................................................................... 282
ParameterControl ................................................................................................................................. 283
SQLDataServiceControl ........................................................................................................................ 286
FormSQLAzureConnect ........................................................................................................................ 294
Summary .................................................................................................................................................. 296
■ Chapter 9: Deploy Applications and Production Maintenance ...................................... 297
Preparing the Application Package and Configuration Package for Deployment ......................................... 297
Deploying Table Storage ........................................................................................................................... 299
viii