I have been reading up on "Cloud computing" on here and still not getting it. Basically I want to develop for the WP7 http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff402531%28v=VS.92%29.aspx#AppPlat_Overview_Arch
Now it mentions everything as being in the "Cloud". Is any server just a cloud? If i have a WCF service or wsdl on my server. Can I consider myself that "Cloud"? Or is there something that a server emits that checks whether or not it is a cloud?
I'm sure Microsoft would prefer for you to choose their version of 'the Cloud', which is Windows Azure, but yet, the cloud can mean WCF/WSDL on your server.
The only true 'cloud' out there is telecom - everything else is basically someone or some company's implementation of services offered over the Internet.
The Windows Phone 7 dev platform fully supports the calling of web services (SOAP/REST) so for your scenario, yes, you could think of yourself as the cloud.
Having said that, I think the notion that everything is up in the cloud simply implies that all of the information you've given an installed app is most likely stored/managed using a service. This service is hopefully installed on a trusted cloud provider (that could be Microsoft Azure or any other provider). This makes sense in light of the fact that the information we put into phone applications usually is quite valuable. Having it stored on a trusted cloud provider's web site would obviously be good from a reliability/security perspective. But to reiterate, that (or any cloud service) is NOT a requirement.
I hope that answered your question.
I liken "cloud" to any service accessible via the internet. This can include the likes of Microsoft's Azure cloud offering, similar "Software/Platform as a Service" offerings from other vendors, dedicated server hosting or shared server hosting solutions which are available much cheaper.
There was some confusion for Windows Phone 7 developers when Microsoft's cloud offering was pitched to students when the "All In" campaign began, around the same time the Windows Phone 7 campaign was getting going.
For developer's the confusion was borne out of wondering how do I support the costs of Microsoft's or other Platform as a Service offerings when my app is going to be free or returning revenues of an as yet unknown quantity.
In a much needed positioning comment offered to windows phone 7 developers, Microsoft made their position clear on Cloud with respect to shared hosting services, their cloud offering and Windows Phone 7 apps.
In short it's a budgeting call. If you're service has the income to cover cloud services (could be from any provider), then it is the most scalable model. Until then, traditional hosting services are recommended.
This is explained in more detail in this post.
Azure Storage and WP7
Related
I'm evaluating the above three identity management technologies and wanted to try to find out the advantages/disadvantages and get a sense for when I should be using IdentityServer3 over the other technologies. I have three scenarios:
Internal MVC Client to Web API
External Phone Client to Web API
Internal Web API to Web API
Brock Allen's Comments:
According Brock Allen, the creator of IdentityServer:
Well, the main thing that differentiates IdentityServer is the ability
to customize the entire token service and have control of the user
data. SaaS products are very limited in customization because for the
most part they don't let you upload arbitrary code to alter or change
behavior and they often encapsulate the database of users. On the
other hand, this means you have to host IdSvr (which can be cloud
hosted) and you need to build a database for your users. So if you
need the control, IdSvr is a good choice.
Also, I should note that very often IdSvr is used in conjunction with
other identity providers (like ADFS or AAD). IdSvr is deployed in
between the apps and the ultimate IdPs, again, usually to allow the
customization that the apps need, yet still centralized and
consolidated.
Source
My Own Findings
Disclaimer: I looked into this for use by the company I work for, who had existing infrastructure I had to cater to, so the solution I chose is skewed in that direction. Even so I've tried to give an impartial summary of my own thoughts during my research.
Azure Active Directory
Azure Active Directory is a hosted identity solution, so there is far less setup (especially if like me, you discover that you are already using it for Office 365). Out of the box, it provides some very nice features that can get you started very quickly.
The premium version has monitoring and reporting capabilities (Connect Health) so you can see who is logging into your system, it has two factor authentication, an identity management website and Microsoft is monitoring logins (a bit like cloudflare for identity), so it should in theory provide some added security. However, the customization of the UI is very basic, you have to pay for the premium features and using the Azure Portal to do identity management (if you go with the free version) is kind of a pain.
The documentation is pretty good and there are samples on GitHub with Microsoft devs actively monitoring the issues which was helpful. Some links I found useful:
Documentation Home Page
Documentation for each flow
Samples covering every flow
Introduction Video 1 and Video 2.
Build Videos 1, 2, 3.
IdentityServer
IdentityServer is the Swiss Army knife of Identity management. It can do everything but does require a small amount of setup and a little more knowledge of the identity space. It can do most things that I listed above and a lot more beyond.
It has to be noted that even if you are using Azure Active Directory, there may still be reasons for choosing IdentityServer which I had not initially considered. For example, if you have more than one source of user data e.g. You are using AD and also a SQL database of users, then IdentityServer can be used to point to both of these sources of user information. In theory it should also make it easier to switch from AD to something else entirely as it decouples things.
The project is actively developed, has code samples for all the authentication flows and you can get answers from the community. Some links I found useful:
IdentityServer4 GitHub
Samples covering every flow
IdentityManager (A separate application for handling users, groups and roles).
Introduction Video
Authentication Flows
Fact: Security is hard. There are lots of different ways of doing authentication called flows. I put this link here because I found it very useful for understanding them.
(source: azurecomcdn.net)
Summary
I discounted AWS Directory Services as it's very young even though the company I work for uses AWS. We also use Office 365, so I discovered that we already had an Azure Active Directory linked to an on-premises active directory server. Even so, IdentityServer is still a valid contender for reasons I explained above. We are still trialing both solutions...
What you decide to choose depends entirely on the problem you have. Which should you choose? Well, it depends on the number of developers, time, money and effort you can expend setting this up. There is no one size fits all solution. Really, the differences in the two products above are the differences between a SaaS and PaaS solution.
We're developing a WPF business application for internal users, but this problem could apply to WinForms easily as well. We want to leverage a business rules engine to make modifying the rules in the future easier as well as to possibly let the business folks to do it themselves at some point.
BizTalk (we're using 2010) exposes its Business Rules Engine and, while complex, this looks to be a potentially worthwhile solution especially if we look to using it for future applications as well. We've loaded up a virtual server with the developer edition to try it out, as well as its own SQL Server instance to run off of.
Everything I've read (example and example) seems to show adding the BRE assemblies to the application project as references and then using the provided classes to call and execute policies. But they also suggest that these assemblies require a license and we can't exactly license BizTalk for each of the dozens of possible end users that will use this WPF app.
Am I wrong about the licensing issue? Is it okay (and normal) to deploy the BRE assemblies with your app to all client machines in order for them to communicate with the BizTalk server where the policies exist? Should I look into exposing the BRE API via a Web Service or something? Are there any implementations out there already for doing that? Exposing the API like that seems like no small undertaking... or is it?
Microsoft says that the BRE is only available for server-side usage, e.g., in BizTalk orchestrations, ASP.NET apps, and Windows Services running on a server. The engine cannot be embedded in client applications.
From their FAQ on licensing:
All technical support and licensing for the BRE is only for
server-side solutions. Note that you need to acquire a BizTalk Server
2010 license to utilize the Rules Engine, as the Rules Engine is
considered server software requiring a valid processor license. The
Rules Engine is not licensed separately from BizTalk Server.
Because of that, it may be worthwhile to look at using the BRE from an ASP.NET service that can be called from your WPF clients. If you want the clients to be able to update the rules, that is within the scope of the licensing agreement:
the Rules Composer is considered a client tool and may be installed on
a separate internal client device to support development and testing
of your BRE server solution
Be sure to check out Tellago's BRE Data Services API (available on CodePlex). They've done a lot of the work for you if you want to query the rules engine via your own service.
I'm going to start a simple SaaS application and am considering which cloud technology to go with(Azure, EC2 or Google).
Can someone who experience both (actual use)point the pros and cons(performence,costs,easy to develop,easy to maintain) of each technology and recommend his favorite?
Have you google'd this question?
https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/64727/windows-azure-vs-amazon-ec2-vs-google-app-engine
Windows Azure for web developers vs Amazon EC2
http://programmerpayback.com/2009/02/04/scalable-windows-hosting-mosso-vs-ec2-vs-azure/
http://news.techworld.com/data-centre/3228389/windows-azure-versus-amazon-ec2/
This has been asked quite frequently with some fantastic answers.
If you are big into Java(Grails, JRuby etc)+MySql+ tomcat development nothing beats AWS elastic beanstalk. It let's you create a "real" relational mysql database on their infrastructure. And they provide 1 year free usage tier but it does not include RDS
Azures is great for all things microsoft. Though one can use AWS for IIS and MSSQL based app I have not done the price comparison myself.
Google AE is great from price point of view but you have to leave some of your conventional development practices on a side, one of them being relational database. This was one of the biggest reason why I did not try GAE. There is no fun in writing Grails app without the powerful GORM.
In current market other also provide cloud services like Microsoft Azure, Google. Then why Amazon? and what different service AWS provide than others. Amazon holds more than 36% stake in the cloud market. Also, top companies including Fortune 500 use Amazon Web Services. They all host their servers on AWS. The main reason behind is Amazon provide good service also its services are low cost comparatively others service, providers.
Why we need to learn AWS?
1) AWS is the leader and Fastest growing in the Cloud Computing market
2) It has more job opportunities than any other Cloud Provider
3) It has a more mature model of infrastructure, hence has a full stack of services, which complement each other
4) Companies are reserving a large share of their IT budget for upgrades and innovations in the cloud.
Here You will get a detailed description
https://answerdone.blogspot.com/2018/04/why-learn-amazon-web-services-aws-and.html
What is the native database the windows phone use like (coredata and sql-light in the iphone)
Do you know a manual that explain how to use those DB's... preferably with code samples.
I don't like to use DBs no matter how good they are if they are not considered main stream such that I can trust future microsoft versions support
(I know that I can't trust nothing - yet, I prefer playing safe)
Thanks Asaf
Currently, Windos Phone 7 does not come with native database support for developers.
You have 3 options for storing data:
1. Use the isolated storage of the phone
2. Store your data using a cloud service
3. user a non-native db such as Perst.
If you have a small amount of data, then serialize it to xml or json file, and store it on the isolated storage of the phone.
If your data is large, you will need to use a cloud service or a database such as perst.
If by "native" you mean "already residing on the phone" then you don't have a whole lot of options. SQL Compact is already built in to the device - you just can't yet use it from 3rd party applications in the first platform release. There simply isn't a database engine already on the platform that is available to third-party developers.
Your only option for persistent storage out of the box is isolated storage. Microsoft does not ship any database engine usable by third parties that uses that, so your options are to either use a third party solution like Perst (which has been around for a while) or SQLite (I've started the port to my ORM) or to roll your own.
If you are using .NET Compact framework, there is the Sql Server Compact Edition.
As for the manuals, you can always find something related to this on MSDN.
(I am not sure what you mean by native database.)
There may be examples of Perst for Windows Phone 7 or other C# ports of SQL-like Database implementations in this is for Windows Phone 7 - access to SQL CE on the phone is currently unavailable to developers at this time. Look for some examples of these being used and you'll find most of the information on these. SQL CE for Windows Phone 7 may be available at some point in the future for developers, however nothing has been announced or confirmed regarding this.
I am asking this in very general sense. Both from cloud provider and cloud consumer's perspective. Also the question is not for any specific kind of application (in fact the intention is to know which type of applications/domains can fit into which of the cloud slab -SaaS PaaS IaaS).
My understanding so far is:
IaaS: Raw Hardware (Processors, Networks, Storage).
PaaS: OS, System Softwares, Development Framework, Virtual Machines.
SaaS: Software Applications.
It would be great if Stackoverflower's can share their understanding and experiences of cloud computing concept.
EDIT: Ok, I will put it in more specific way -
Amazon EC2: You don't have control over hardware layer. But you can take your choice of OS image, Dev Framework (.NET, J2EE, LAMP) and Application and put it on EC2 hardware. Can you deploy an applications built with Google App Engine or Azure on EC2?
Google App Engine: You don't have control over hardware and OS and you get a specific Dev Framework to build your application. Can you take any existing Java or Python application and port it to GAE? Or vice versa, can applications that were built on GAE be taken out of GAE and ported to any Application Server like Websphere or Weblogic?
Azure: You don't have control over hardware and OS and you get a specific Dev Framework to build your application. Can you take any existing .NET application and port it to Azure? Or vice versa, can applications that were built on Azure be taken out of Azure and ported to any Application Server like Biztalk?
Good question! As you point out, the different offerings fit into different categories:
EC2 is Infrastructure as a Service; you get VM instances, and do with them as you wish. Rackspace Cloud Servers are more or less the same.
Azure, App Engine, and Salesforce are all Platform as a Service; they offer different levels of integration, though: Azure pretty much lets you run arbitrary background services, while App Engine is oriented around short lived request handler tasks (though it also supports a task queue and scheduled tasks). I'm not terribly familiar with Salesforce's offering, but my understanding is that it's similar to App Engine in some respects, though more specialized for its particular niche.
Cloud offerings that fall under Software as a Service are everything from infrastructure pieces like Amazon's Simple Storage Service and SimpleDB through to complete applications like Fog Creek's hosted FogBugz and, of course, StackExchange.
A good general rule is that the higher level the offering, the less work you'll have to do, but the more specific it is. If you want a bug tracker, using FogBugz is obviously going to be the least work; building one on top of App Engine or Azure is more work, but provides for more versatility, while building one on top of raw VMs like EC2 is even more work (quite a lot more, in fact), but provides for even more versatility. My general advice is to pick the highest level platform that still meets your requirements, and build from there.
This is an excellent question. Full disclosure as I am partial to Azure but have experience with the others.
Where I think Azure stands out from the others is the quick transition from on prem to the cloud. For example -
SQL Azure - change connection string, upload DB, go!
Queues work a lot like MSMQ.
Blobs are pretty much blobs any way you shake them but they scale like crazy.
The table storage component is good because it provides incredible scalability for name/value pairs - but takes some getting used to.
Service Bus is my favorite of the services because it allows for a variety of communications paradigms. Two SB endpoints first try to connect to each other, if they cannot, then they route through the cloud - makes for very secure and scalable processing when firewalls tend to get in the way.
Access control list - paired typically with the service bus to make sure the right people access the right things - think SAML in the cloud.
I hope that helps!
My cloud experience is currently limited to Salesforce.com
For standard business operations and automation it provides a significant number of features that allow us to get apps up and running very quickly. We are particularly benefitting from the following:
Security (Administrators can control access to objects and fields)
Workflow & Approvals
Automatic UI generation
Built in reporting and dashboards
Entire system (including our custom changes) is accessible via web services
Ability to make the data in the system available through public sites (e.g. eCommerce)
Large library of third party apps to solve standard problems
The platform does NOT solve every problem.
I would not use the platform to model a nuclear power station or build the next twitter.
The major points of cloud computing is to save on costs by paying for usage and enable immediate deployment of computing resources.
The costs are not purely x amount of cents per instance per hour. The costs include maintenance, development, administration, etc. The huge benefit of cloud, in my mind is to liberate the customers from having to manage anything that is not within the realm of their core business competency. If I am an insurance business, I want my developers to concentrate on my insurance problems that help solve needs of my claims, rates, etc. I would rather avoid dealing with problems of email servers, file servers, document repositories, and administrating OS patches, service packs, etc.
Thus, in my opinion, the biggest benefits are derived from the SaaS and PaaS cloud offerings. One should go to IaaS only when PaaS or SaaS have serious restrictions to specific needs (i.e. I need to install a set of proprietary COM components and Azure does not support them).
SaaS is good for commodity type of applications that are not the core line of business for the client, but are more of a utility. These are your typical Messaging systems, Portals, Document Repositories, Email systems, CRMs, ERP's, Accounting, etc. etc. etc. Why reinvent the wheel by writing your own when you can customize a well supported third party product.
PaaS is great for core line of business software that supports companies' main business offering. Abstracts clients from having to deal with OS management and lets clients concentrate on the business system development - something that noone else can do for the client.
One can also take advantage of the benefits of PaaS (let's say, Google App Engine) and extend it, at times and if necessary, by pulling out some virtual machines from IaaS providers (e.g. Amazon) to do some number crunching then just send back the output to Google App Engine.
This way, you get the best of both worlds -- you can rapidly develop scalable apps in GAE, then you can always augment it by running any program you want from Amazon virtual machines.
This keeps changing, now Windows Azure also supports VM, so it is also an IaaS provider now.
Now how about Free Amazon EC2 for a year to do a better comparision. Check this out.
http://www.buzzingup.com/2010/10/amazon-announces-free-cloud-services-for-new-developers/