Guess what? My Windows Azure AppFabric Service Bus was the top rated session at Singapore Tech Days. Clemens Vasters will be happy to know this, I am sure about it .

Here is the link for the video, if you want to watch it.

How to Run Middleware in the Cloud? Story of Windows Azure AppFabric from SpiffyTV on Vimeo.

AppFabric · Azure · Microsoft · Service Bus · Singapore · Speaker

Singapore TechDays was super awesome. From the keynotes to the breakouts, rooms were jam packed. Developers and IT Pros were super enthusiastic. We got good positive feedback from one and all. So all in all it was a great event. Now we have to top it up next time around.

I did a session on Windows Azure AppFabric where I talked about how we can use AppFabric as a platform for middleware services. Since I was running the Platform track, I had the honor to introduce myself . I think overall the talk went well, I had 4 code demoes to share and I covered Caching and Service Bus for the most  part. All the code in demoes was based on SDK samples that come with Windows Azure AppFabric v 1.5 and can be downloaded (along with the SDK) here: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=27421

Slides are available here.  https://skydrive.live.com/view.aspx?cid=29B42AB82635B61D&resid=29B42AB82635B61D%216431

You can also view them via Slide Share:

To learn more about AppFabric Service Bus please view the following sessions from Clemens Vasters.

I did some changes to the code (mostly configuration related) so that the demo does not prompt for namespace, issuer and token when connecting to the Azure AppFabric. Should you wish, you can download the code samples from here http://bit.ly/ohR1hO.

AppFabric · Azure · Cloud

I just came out of the keynote at Singapore TechDays. I must say it was awesome. I have never seen more people being enthusiastic and attending a Dev/IT event in Singapore. I believe The “Connected” experience, cool demonstrations and keynotes resonated well with the audience. Ziriad, Mingfei, Bok, Richard and the rest of the team did a great job.

The breakout sessions have already started and it is increasingly looking like an interesting (in an awesome way) day.

BTW, I am running the platform track (room # 202). If you are around then please feel free to drop by and say hi.

TechDays

If you are in Singapore and consider yourself a Developer or an IT Pro then this is the must attend event. We are covering number of topics from the Cloud Computing to the HTML5 and lots and lots in between. For a detailed agenda take a look here.

Amongst much more illustrious speakers you can find me here. If Cloud Computing is of interest to you and you want to know about some common messaging patterns for Middleware integration then I will definitely recommend you to attend my session.

How to Run Middleware in the Cloud? Story of Windows Azure AppFabric

Hammad Rajjoub, Architect Evangelist, Microsoft Singapore
IT Pro – Level 200

Don’t worry about the “IT-Pro” audience. This session is definitely aimed at Developers and Architects. Level will range between 200-300 depending on the folks we have in our conference room.

Also, i will be more than happy to discuss your integration scenarios offline as well.

AppFabric · Azure · Cloud · ServiceBus · Speaking

Windows Server AppFabric V1.1 CTP was recently released for download at MSDN. This is first major upgrade of Windows Server AppFabric, which is a set of integrated technologies that makes it easier to build, scale and manage Web and Composite Applications that run on IIS. This is something which is very close to my heart for obvious reasons.

For more details on Windows Server AppFabric read this.

Please note that it is recommended to have a clean install of this update.

Following are some of the key highlights of what’s changed in v1.1 of Windows Server AppFabric.

Read-Through/Write-Behind

This allows a backend provider to be used on the cache servers to assist with retrieving and storing data to a backend, such as a database. Read-through enables the cache to "read-through" to a backend in the context of a Get request. Write-behind enables updates to cached data to be saved asynchronously to the backend. For more information, see Creating a Read-Through / Write-Behind Provider (Windows Server AppFabric v1.1).

Graceful Shutdown

This is useful for moving data from a single cache hosts to rest of the servers in the cache cluster before shutting down the cache host for maintenance. This helps to prevent unexpected loss of cached data in a running cache cluster. This can be accomplished with the Graceful parameter of the Stop-CacheHost Windows PowerShell command.

Domain Accounts

In addition to running the AppFabric Caching Service with the NETWORK SERVICE account, you can now run the service as a domain account. For more information, see Change the Caching Service Account (Windows Server AppFabric Caching v1.1).

New ASP.NET Session State and Output Caching Provider

New ASP.NET session state and output caching providers are available. The new session state provider has support for the lazy-loading of individual session state items using Windows Server AppFabric v1.1 CTP Caching as a backing store. This makes sites that have a mix of small and large session state data more efficient, because pages that don’t need large session state items won’t incur the cost of sending this data over the network. For more information, see Using the ASP.NET 4 Caching Providers for Windows Server AppFabric v1.1 CTP.

Compression

You can now enable compression for cache clients. For more information, see Application Configuration Settings (Windows Server AppFabric Caching v1.1).

Multiple Cache Client Application Configuration Sections

A new dataCacheClients section is available that allows you to specify multiple named dataCacheClient sections in an application configuration file. You can then programmatically specify which group of cache client settings to use at runtime. For more information, see Application Configuration Settings (Windows Server AppFabric Caching v1.1).

AppFabric · Caching · CTP · Hosting · Windows Server

I had a great time attending The Cloud Computing Asia 2011 last week. I enjoyed sitting on the panel discussion titled “BEYOND HYPE: APPLICATIONS IN THE CLOUD TODAY”. It was good to hear views from the industry as well as share Microsoft’s vision of the cloud and its PaaS offerings – Windows Azure. The discussion was moderated by Peter Rajnik of Guard Time and he did a wonderful job.

I also presented on “Architecting for the Public and the Private Cloud” (slides embedded).

Couple of interesting observations:

• Some people still don’t get the distinction between IaaS, SaaS and PaaS.
• Analogy of the day: Just like we trust banks with our money, we can trust cloud provides with out data  (yikes!)
• Q: How to get started with Cloud Computing? Answer: Go get our free cloud account and try it out. (really?)
• Scalable vendor products == Cloud Computing (speechless!)

Architecting for the public and the private cloud

Architecture

I will be speaking at the The Cloud Computing Asia 2011 – An Executive Breakfast Briefing on 18th of August. For more details on the event please visit the event page here.

I will be presenting on "Architecting for the Public and the Private Cloud". In this talk I will cover some of the common architectural practices for building scalable services that can run on the public/private cloud. I hope its going to be an interesting discussion.

I will also be participating in a panel discussion on “Beyond Hype : Applications in the cloud”.

Architecture · Cloud · Conference · Microsoft · Singapore

In my previous post I mentioned that I will be sharing with you another news. From the title of the post you would have guessed that it has to do with a book on Windows Server AppFabric. So (drum rolls!) I have taken on a book on Windows Server AppFabric. This is something that has been keeping me busy for last few months.  The good news is that I have already completed first 3 chapters. The bad news is that I am yet to write 6 more chapters. I am expected to complete the 4th chapter in next few days (which is looking pretty tight, but lets see).

If you are wondering what content am I covering in the book then all that I can say right now is that this book is all about using Windows Server AppFabric as an Application Server platform. I am mostly discussing Caching, Hosting and Monitoring capabilities of Windows Server platform using Windows Server AppFabric. Everything is laid out in a simple and easy to understand format. I am going to make sure that code and configuration samples are easy to setup and play with. The plan is to cover a mix of basic, intermediate and advanced topics that one can come across while developing application for Windows Server AppFabric.

Last but not the least, I intend to start sharing some of the interesting stuff that I have come across so far on Windows Server AppFabric. Most likely that would turn out be a bunch of blog posts but lets see.

PS: If you are interested in some topics on Windows Server AppFabric that you would like me to cover (in my book or blog posts) then please drop me a note here on the blog. Or message me on my twitter account.

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I have an exciting news to share with you all. I have joined Microsoft Singapore as an Architect Evangelist. Those who know me would testify on my passion for Architecture. I have written about it, I have presented on it at various conferences and more importantly in last 5-6 years I have spent a great deal of time working as System Architect, Solutions Architect and CTO at various organizations (including start-ups and fortune 500 companies).

Now, I am super excited to be working for Microsoft after being an MVP for 7+ years. I am also really glad to be working with smart people at Microsoft in general the Singapore SUB and DPE team in particular. I realize that this is an interesting time to be in this industry when the consumerization of IT is driving innovation, cloud is no longer a dream and its becoming reality, and enterprise (as well as business) architecture is (finally) gaining traction. I am very positive that this opportunity will give me a chance to work on things that I am really passionate about.

I have one more interesting news to share with you and i intend to blog about it in next couple of weeks. So stay tuned!

Wish me luck and expect much more (and hopefully exciting content and conversations) coming your way.

Architecture · Microsoft · Singapore

I am super excited to be here once again in Seattle and looking forward to working with Microsoft product teams and learning about new and upcoming technologies. Being a Connnected Systems MVP, I am really keen to learn about the future of Windows Azure, AppFabric and Service Bus as well as Windows Server AppFabric, WCF and WF.

This is also an excellent oppurtunity to meet up with fellow MVPs and our MVP leads.

Heres to next few days of learning and fun! [..and snow and rain and cold weather ]

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