How can a company's applications be scalable and have high availability?
To achieve this, along with developing the applications, you must also have an infrastructure that can support them. For example, you may need to add servers or increase the capacities of existing ones, have redundant hardware, add logic to the application to handle distributed computing, and add logic for failovers. You have to do this even if an application is in high demand for only short periods of time. Life becomes even more complicated (and expensive) when you start to consider issues such as network latency and security boundaries.
The cloud offers a solution to this dilemma. The cloud is made up of interconnected servers located in various data centers. However, you see what appears to be a centralized location that someone else hosts and manages. By shifting the responsibility of maintaining an infrastructure to someone else, you're free to concentrate on what matters most: the application. If the cloud has data centers in different geographical areas, you can move your content closer to the people who are using it most. If an application is heavily used in Asia, have an instance running in a data center located there. This kind of flexibility may not be available to you if you have to own all the hardware.
Another advantage to the cloud is that it's a pay as you go proposition. If you don't need it, you don't have to pay for it. When demand is high, you can scale up, and when demand is low, you can scale back. Yes, by moving applications to the cloud, you're giving up some control and autonomy, but you're also going to benefit from reduced costs, increased flexibility, and scalable computation and storage. The Windows Azure Architecture Guide shows you how to do this.

About the Author

Eugenio Pace works in the Software and Services group for the Microsoft® Architecture Strategy team. He develops architecture guidance to help ISVs, Hosters and Companies, build, run and consume software delivered as a service. His blog can be found at Dominic Betts is an expert with the patterns & practices team & other Microsoft® groups. Scott Densmore is an expert with the patterns & practices team & other Microsoft® groups. Ryan Dunn is an expert with the patterns & practices team & other Microsoft® groups. Masashi Narumoto is an expert with the patterns & practices team & other Microsoft® groups. Matias Woloski is an Enterprise Architect at Southworks S.R.L. He's been involved in software development for 6 years. Currently, he's working with the patterns & practices team at Microsoft® in a Scrum-driven project.

Table of Contents:
Introduction to the Windows Azure Platform · The Windows Azure Platform · Windows Azure Compute · Windows Azure Storage · SQL Azure · Management Services · Windows Azure Subscription and Billing Model · More Information The Adatum Scenario · The Adatum Company · The aExpense Application Phase 1: Getting to the Cloud · The Premise · Goals and Requirements · Overview of the Solution · Inside the Implementation · Setup and Physical Deployment · More Information How Much Will It Cost? · The Premise · Goals and Requirements · Overview of the Solution · Variations · More Information Phase 2: Automating Deployment and Using Table Storage · The Premise · Goals and Requirements · Overview of the Solution · Inside the Implementation · More Information Phase 3: Uploading Images and Adding a Worker Role · The Premise · Goals and Requirements · Overview of the Solution · Inside the Implementation · More Information Application Life Cycle Management • The Premise • Goals and Requirements • Overview of the Solution • Setup and Physical Deployment • More Information Phase 4: Adding More Tasks and Tuning the Application • The Premise • Goals and Requirements • Overview of the Solution • Inside the Implementation • Performance Testing, Tuning, To-Do Items • Implementing Paging with Windows Azure Table Storage • More Information Appendix A. Creating a Cloud Project in Visual Studio · Creating a New Cloud Project in Visual Studio · Understanding the Projects in the Solution Appendix B. Using the Windows Azure Service Management API Appendix C. Using the Windows Azure Service Management CmdLets in a 64-bit Environment Appendix D. Using DNS with Windows Azure Appendix E. Windows Azure Storage Management Tools • Windows Azure Management Tool (MMC) • Windows Azure Storage Explorer Appendix F. Creating a Self-Signed Certificate for Testing Glossary Index