Introduction to Windows Azure Data Services

Editor's Notes

• #3: Slide Objectives:Highlight the four areas in which this session will focus on. VALUE PROP:Speaking Points:This session will cover the following topics:SQL Server in a Virtual MachineWindows Azure SQL DatabaseAzure Table StorageAzure Blob StorageNotes:
• #5: Slide Objectives:Define the table storage and differentiate it from a Windows Azure SQL DatabaseVALUE PROPHighly scalable NoSQL Data storageSpeaking Points:Tables offer NoSQL capabilities for applications that require storage of large amounts of unstructured data. Tables are an ISO 27001 certified managed service which can auto scale to meet massive volume of up to 100 terabytes and throughput and accessible from virtually anywhere via REST and managed API’s.Tables store entitiesEntity schema can vary in the same tableHierarchialAutomatic scalabilityNew Geo ReplicationNotes:
• #6: Slide ObjectivesUnderstand TablesVALUE PROPEnable customers to easily migrate, maintain, and monitor their existing SQL Server applications to Windows Azure VM role, and run them with competitive reliability, performance, and TCO characteristics.Speaker NotesThe Table service provides structured storage in the form of tables. The Table service supports a REST API that is compliant with the ADO.NET Data Services REST API. Developers may also use the .NET Client Library for ADO.NET Data Services to access the Table service.NotesWithin a storage account, a developer may create named tables. Tables store data as entities. An entity is a collection of named properties and their values, similar to a row. Tables are partitioned to support load balancing across storage nodes. Each table has as its first property a partition key that specifies the partition an entity belongs to. The second property is a row key that identifies an entity within a given partition. The combination of the partition key and the row key forms a primary key that identifies each entity uniquely within the table.
• #7: Slide ObjectivesUnderstand Flexible EntitiesVALUE PROPEnable customers to easily migrate, maintain, and monitor their existing SQL Server applications to Windows Azure VM role, and run them with competitive reliability, performance, and TCO characteristics.Speaker NotesTables store data as entities. A table can contain entities of any shapeThere is no fixed schemaThere is no schema checkingThere is no strong typing- not that Birthdate is stored as both a datetime value and as a stringNot that we can add additional columnsNoteshttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd573356.aspx
• #8: Slide ObjectivesUnderstand the importance of Windows Azure Table scalability model and how Partition Key and Row Key are critical for table scalabilityVALUE PROPEnable customers to easily migrate, maintain, and monitor their existing SQL Server applications to Windows Azure VM role, and run them with competitive reliability, performance, and TCO characteristics.Speaker NotesTable entities represent the units of data stored in a table and are similar to rows in a typical relational database table. Each entity defines a collection of properties. Each property is key/value pair defined by its name, value, and the value's data type. Entities must define the following three system properties as part of the property collection:PartitionKey – The PartitionKey property stores string values that identify the partition that an entity belongs to. This means that entities with the same PartitionKey values belong in the same partition. Partitions, as discussed later, are integral to the scalability of the table.RowKey – The RowKey property stores string values that uniquely identify entities within each partition.NotesTables are partitioned to support load balancing across storage nodes. A table's entities are organized by partition. A partition is a consecutive range of entities possessing the same partition key value. The partition key is a unique identifier for the partition within a given table, specified by the PartitionKey property. The partition key forms the first part of an entity's primary key. The partition key may be a string value up to 1 KB in size.
• #9: Slide ObjectivesUnderstand The Partition KeySpeaker NotesTables are partitioned to support load balancing across storage nodes. A table's entities are organized by partition. A partition is a consecutive range of entities possessing the same partition key value. The partition key is a unique identifier for the partition within a given table, specified by the PartitionKey property. The partition key forms the first part of an entity's unique identifier within the table.The partition key may be a string value up to 1 KB in size.You must include the PartitionKey property in every insert, update, and delete operation.Noteshttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd573356.aspxhttp://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsazurestorage/archive/2010/05/07/understanding-the-scalability-availability-durability-and-billing-of-windows-azure-storage.aspx http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsazurestorage/archive/2010/05/10/windows-azure-storage-abstractions-and-their-scalability-targets.aspx
• #10: Slide ObjectivesUnderstand the Windows Azure Storage scalability modelVALUE PROPWindows Azure Storage scales automatically to provide the best performanceSpeaker NotesFanout is automatic, handles by Windows AzureThe key here is “elasticity”. The ability to automatically scale based on load.Fanout is based on the load. Fanout isn’t immediate…Windows Azure will wait several seconds to ensure that the load is a true load and not just a temporary spikePartitioning is based on Partition Key – the choice of the partition key is criticalPartitions can be condensed when load increasesReads are load balanced against the three replicasNotes
• #11: Slide ObjectivesUnderstand Tables and EntitiesSpeaker NotesTables store data as entities. An entity is a collection of named properties and their values, similar to a row- not an RDBMS thoughTables are partitioned to support load balancing across storage nodes. Each table has as its first property a partition key that specifies the partition an entity belongs to. The second property is a row key that identifies an entity within a given partition. The combination of the partition key and the row key forms a primary key that identifies each entity uniquely within the table.The Table service does not enforce any schema. A developer may choose to implement and enforce a schema on the client sideNoteshttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd573356.aspxhttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd179338.aspx
• #12: Slide Objectives:Highlight the four areas in which this session will focus on. VALUE PROP:Speaking Points:This session will cover the following topics:SQL Server in a Virtual MachineWindows Azure SQL DatabaseAzure Table StorageAzure Blob StorageNotes:
• #21: Slide ObjectivesDefine the blob storage service and the benefits of the serviceVALUE PROPEnable customers to easily migrate, maintain, and monitor their existing SQL Server applications to Windows Azure VM role, and run them with competitive reliability, performance, and TCO characteristics.Speaking Points:Blobs are the simplest way to store large amounts of unstructured text or binary data such as video, audio and images. Blobs are an ISO 27001 certified managed service can auto-scale to meet massive volume of up to 100 terabytes and throughput and accessible from virtually anywhere via REST and managed API’s.NotesUsing the REST API for the Blob service, developers can create a hierarchical namespace similar to a file system. Blob names may encode a hierarchy by using a configurable path separator. For example, the blob names MyGroup/MyBlob1 and MyGroup/MyBlob2 imply a virtual level of organization for blobs. The enumeration operation for blobs supports traversing the virtual hierarchy in a manner similar to that of a file system, so that you can return a set of blobs that are organized beneath a group. For example, you can enumerate all blobs organized under MyGroup/.
• #22: Slide ObjectivesUnderstand the hierarchy of Blob storageVALUE PROPEnable customers to easily migrate, maintain, and monitor their existing SQL Server applications to Windows Azure VM role, and run them with competitive reliability, performance, and TCO characteristics.Speaker NotesThe Blob service provides storage for entities, such as binary files and text files. The REST API for the Blob service exposes two resources: Containers Blobs. A container is a set of blobs; every blob must belong to a container. The Blob service defines two types of blobs:Block blobs, which are optimized for streaming. Page blobs, which are optimized for random read/write operations and which provide the ability to write to a range of bytes in a blob. Blobs can be read by calling the Get Blob operation. A client may read the entire blob, or an arbitrary range of bytes. Block blobs less than or equal to 64 MB in size can be uploaded by calling the Put Blob operation. Block blobs larger than 64 MB must be uploaded as a set of blocks, each of which must be less than or equal to 4 MB in size. Page blobs are created and initialized with a maximum size with a call to Put Blob. To write content to a page blob, you call the Put Page operation. The maximum size currently supported for a page blob is 1 TB.Noteshttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd573356.aspxUsing the REST API for the Blob service, developers can create a hierarchical namespace similar to a file system. Blob names may encode a hierarchy by using a configurable path separator. For example, the blob names MyGroup/MyBlob1 and MyGroup/MyBlob2 imply a virtual level of organization for blobs. The enumeration operation for blobs supports traversing the virtual hierarchy in a manner similar to that of a file system, so that you can return a set of blobs that are organized beneath a group. For example, you can enumerate all blobs organized under MyGroup/.
• #23: Slide ObjectivesUnderstand the hierarchy of Blob storageSpeaker NotesPut Blob - Creates a new blob or replaces an existing blob within a container.Get Blob - Reads or downloads a blob from the system, including its metadata and properties.Delete Blob - Deletes a blobCopy Blob - Copies a source blob to a destination blob within the same storage account.SnapShot Blob - The Snapshot Blob operation creates a read-only snapshot of a blob.Lease Blob - Establishes an exclusive one-minute write lock on a blob. To write to a locked blob, a client must provide a lease ID.Using the REST API for the Blob service, developers can create a hierarchical namespace similar to a file system. Blob names may encode a hierarchy by using a configurable path separator. For example, the blob names MyGroup/MyBlob1 and MyGroup/MyBlob2 imply a virtual level of organization for blobs. The enumeration operation for blobs supports traversing the virtual hierarchy in a manner similar to that of a file system, so that you can return a set of blobs that are organized beneath a group. For example, you can enumerate all blobs organized under MyGroup/.NotesThe Blob service provides storage for entities, such as binary files and text files. The REST API for the Blob service exposes two resources: containers and blobs. A container is a set of blobs; every blob must belong to a container. The Blob service defines two types of blobs:Block blobs, which are optimized for streaming. This type of blob is the only blob type available with versions prior to 2009-09-19.Page blobs, which are optimized for random read/write operations and which provide the ability to write to a range of bytes in a blob. Page blobs are available only with version 2009-09-19.Containers and blobs support user-defined metadata in the form of name-value pairs specified as headers on a request operation.Using the REST API for the Blob service, developers can create a hierarchical namespace similar to a file system. Blob names may encode a hierarchy by using a configurable path separator. For example, the blob names MyGroup/MyBlob1 and MyGroup/MyBlob2 imply a virtual level of organization for blobs. The enumeration operation for blobs supports traversing the virtual hierarchy in a manner similar to that of a file system, so that you can return a set of blobs that are organized beneath a group. For example, you can enumerate all blobs organized under MyGroup/.A block blob may be created in one of two ways. Block blobs less than or equal to 64 MB in size can be uploaded by calling the Put Blob operation. Block blobs larger than 64 MB must be uploaded as a set of blocks, each of which must be less than or equal to 4 MB in size. A set of successfully uploaded blocks can be assembled in a specified order into a single contiguous blob by calling Put Block List. The maximum size currently supported for a block blob is 200 GB.Page blobs are created and initialized with a maximum size with a call to Put Blob. To write content to a page blob, you call the Put Page operation. The maximum size currently supported for a page blob is 1 TB.Blobs support conditional update operations that may be useful for concurrency control and efficient uploading. Blobs can be read by calling the Get Blob operation. A client may read the entire blob, or an arbitrary range of bytes. For the Blob service API reference, see Blob Service API.
• #24: Slide ObjectivesUnderstand the hierarchy of Blob storageSpeaker NotesPut Blob - Creates a new blob or replaces an existing blob within a container.Get Blob - Reads or downloads a blob from the system, including its metadata and properties.Delete Blob - Deletes a blobCopy Blob - Copies a source blob to a destination blob within the same storage account.SnapShot Blob - The Snapshot Blob operation creates a read-only snapshot of a blob.Lease Blob - Establishes an exclusive one-minute write lock on a blob. To write to a locked blob, a client must provide a lease ID.Using the REST API for the Blob service, developers can create a hierarchical namespace similar to a file system. Blob names may encode a hierarchy by using a configurable path separator. For example, the blob names MyGroup/MyBlob1 and MyGroup/MyBlob2 imply a virtual level of organization for blobs. The enumeration operation for blobs supports traversing the virtual hierarchy in a manner similar to that of a file system, so that you can return a set of blobs that are organized beneath a group. For example, you can enumerate all blobs organized under MyGroup/.NotesThe Blob service provides storage for entities, such as binary files and text files. The REST API for the Blob service exposes two resources: containers and blobs. A container is a set of blobs; every blob must belong to a container. The Blob service defines two types of blobs:Block blobs, which are optimized for streaming. This type of blob is the only blob type available with versions prior to 2009-09-19.Page blobs, which are optimized for random read/write operations and which provide the ability to write to a range of bytes in a blob. Page blobs are available only with version 2009-09-19.Containers and blobs support user-defined metadata in the form of name-value pairs specified as headers on a request operation.Using the REST API for the Blob service, developers can create a hierarchical namespace similar to a file system. Blob names may encode a hierarchy by using a configurable path separator. For example, the blob names MyGroup/MyBlob1 and MyGroup/MyBlob2 imply a virtual level of organization for blobs. The enumeration operation for blobs supports traversing the virtual hierarchy in a manner similar to that of a file system, so that you can return a set of blobs that are organized beneath a group. For example, you can enumerate all blobs organized under MyGroup/.A block blob may be created in one of two ways. Block blobs less than or equal to 64 MB in size can be uploaded by calling the Put Blob operation. Block blobs larger than 64 MB must be uploaded as a set of blocks, each of which must be less than or equal to 4 MB in size. A set of successfully uploaded blocks can be assembled in a specified order into a single contiguous blob by calling Put Block List. The maximum size currently supported for a block blob is 200 GB.Page blobs are created and initialized with a maximum size with a call to Put Blob. To write content to a page blob, you call the Put Page operation. The maximum size currently supported for a page blob is 1 TB.Blobs support conditional update operations that may be useful for concurrency control and efficient uploading. Blobs can be read by calling the Get Blob operation. A client may read the entire blob, or an arbitrary range of bytes. For the Blob service API reference, see Blob Service API.
• #25: Slide ObjectivesUnderstand the hierarchy of Blob storageSpeaker NotesPut Blob - Creates a new blob or replaces an existing blob within a container.Get Blob - Reads or downloads a blob from the system, including its metadata and properties.Delete Blob - Deletes a blobCopy Blob - Copies a source blob to a destination blob within the same storage account.SnapShot Blob - The Snapshot Blob operation creates a read-only snapshot of a blob.Lease Blob - Establishes an exclusive one-minute write lock on a blob. To write to a locked blob, a client must provide a lease ID.Using the REST API for the Blob service, developers can create a hierarchical namespace similar to a file system. Blob names may encode a hierarchy by using a configurable path separator. For example, the blob names MyGroup/MyBlob1 and MyGroup/MyBlob2 imply a virtual level of organization for blobs. The enumeration operation for blobs supports traversing the virtual hierarchy in a manner similar to that of a file system, so that you can return a set of blobs that are organized beneath a group. For example, you can enumerate all blobs organized under MyGroup/.NotesThe Blob service provides storage for entities, such as binary files and text files. The REST API for the Blob service exposes two resources: containers and blobs. A container is a set of blobs; every blob must belong to a container. The Blob service defines two types of blobs:Block blobs, which are optimized for streaming. This type of blob is the only blob type available with versions prior to 2009-09-19.Page blobs, which are optimized for random read/write operations and which provide the ability to write to a range of bytes in a blob. Page blobs are available only with version 2009-09-19.Containers and blobs support user-defined metadata in the form of name-value pairs specified as headers on a request operation.Using the REST API for the Blob service, developers can create a hierarchical namespace similar to a file system. Blob names may encode a hierarchy by using a configurable path separator. For example, the blob names MyGroup/MyBlob1 and MyGroup/MyBlob2 imply a virtual level of organization for blobs. The enumeration operation for blobs supports traversing the virtual hierarchy in a manner similar to that of a file system, so that you can return a set of blobs that are organized beneath a group. For example, you can enumerate all blobs organized under MyGroup/.A block blob may be created in one of two ways. Block blobs less than or equal to 64 MB in size can be uploaded by calling the Put Blob operation. Block blobs larger than 64 MB must be uploaded as a set of blocks, each of which must be less than or equal to 4 MB in size. A set of successfully uploaded blocks can be assembled in a specified order into a single contiguous blob by calling Put Block List. The maximum size currently supported for a block blob is 200 GB.Page blobs are created and initialized with a maximum size with a call to Put Blob. To write content to a page blob, you call the Put Page operation. The maximum size currently supported for a page blob is 1 TB.Blobs support conditional update operations that may be useful for concurrency control and efficient uploading. Blobs can be read by calling the Get Blob operation. A client may read the entire blob, or an arbitrary range of bytes. For the Blob service API reference, see Blob Service API.
• #26: Slide ObjectiveUnderstand basics of listing blobs in a containerSpeaker NotesThe List Blobs operation enumerates the list of blobs under the specified container.Can include uncommitted Blobs- see discussion on Blocks and Block ListsCan include snapshotsNoteshttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd135734.aspx
• #27: Slide ObjectiveUnderstand pagination when listing blobsSpeaker NotesReponses over multiple pages return a marker valueThis marker is sent to get subsequent pageNoteshttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd135734.aspx
• #28: Slide Objectives:Highlight the four areas in which this session will focus on. VALUE PROP:Speaking Points:This session will cover the following topics:SQL Server in a Virtual MachineWindows Azure SQL DatabaseAzure Table StorageAzure Blob StorageNotes:
• #29: Slide ObjectivesDefine the blob storage service and the benefits of the serviceVALUE PROPEnable customers to easily migrate, maintain, and monitor their existing SQL Server applications to Windows Azure VM role, and run them with competitive reliability, performance, and TCO characteristics.Speaking Points:Blobs are the simplest way to store large amounts of unstructured text or binary data such as video, audio and images. Blobs are an ISO 27001 certified managed service can auto-scale to meet massive volume of up to 100 terabytes and throughput and accessible from virtually anywhere via REST and managed API’s.NotesUsing the REST API for the Blob service, developers can create a hierarchical namespace similar to a file system. Blob names may encode a hierarchy by using a configurable path separator. For example, the blob names MyGroup/MyBlob1 and MyGroup/MyBlob2 imply a virtual level of organization for blobs. The enumeration operation for blobs supports traversing the virtual hierarchy in a manner similar to that of a file system, so that you can return a set of blobs that are organized beneath a group. For example, you can enumerate all blobs organized under MyGroup/.
• #35: Speaking Points:The final thing I’ll mention about Windows Azure, before we dive into the tour of services is the approach we’re taking with paying for services.This maybe different for many of you who are familiar with hosting providers and on-premises systems. With Windows Azure you pay only for what you use.There are no upfront costThere is no need to buy any up front server licenses, that’s just included in the priceLikewise if you use a SQL database, through our SQL Database feature in Windows Azure, you don’t have to buy a SQL Server license, that’s also included in the price. For compute services such as Virtual Machines and Web Sites you only pay by the hour. This gives you the flexibility to run your applications very cost effectively. You can scale up and scale down your solutions or even turn them on and off as necessary. This also opens up a ton of possibilities in terms of the new types of apps you can build