Windows Azure Hybrid Cloud

Chapter 6

Hybrid Options in Windows Azure

IN THIS CHAPTER:

• Evaluating hybrid cloud use case scenarios
• Using Azure for development and test environments in the cloud
• Using Windows Azure for disaster recovery
• Enabling modern apps and the cloud

As you work your way through the various Windows Azure platform and private cloud components and services described in this book, you often need to clarify and validate best practice guidelines for using them in architecting your solutions in hybrid clouds.

Continuing the analogy of buying, renting, or leasing cars started in Chapter 1, imagine that you are at the car dealership and about to purchase a new car. But before putting your signature on a sales contract, you want to ensure that the car you’re buying meets your basic needs — providing the transportation means for all your daily and, oftentimes, leisure commutes. For example, if your plans include using this car to drive you, your wife, and two wonderful kids around your town and its vicinities, most likely you would buy at least a full-size sedan or an SUV or a minivan, but rarely (if ever) a two-door sport car, even if you loved it at first sight when you spotted it in the dealership’s showroom. Likewise, if you live in a cold-climate state, which for 6 or 7 months a year is covered in snow, in all likelihood you would want to buy a car equipped with a four-wheel drive option, so you could feel comfortable maneuvering your vehicle through winter storms and snowy roads.

Similarly, ...