Henderson Consulting » Cloud Computing

Newer data types not supported in SQL Azure.

Mike — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 13:21:54 +0000

Some of the newer data types introduced in SQL 2008 are not supported in the SQL Azure CTP (http://bit.ly/ti7mZ). More specifically hierarchyid and spacial data types.

For me that’s not a big deal because I have only tinkered with these data types, and am not working on any production applications that use them.

I understand adding support for spatial data types is on the way, but the SQL Azure team will prioritize this feature on the basis of demand.

Getting my head in the SQL Azure Cloud.

Mike — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 02:00:00 +0000

Last night I got an email invitation to participate in the CTP release of SQL Azure. I have no idea how exclusive this is or is not, but it was nice just the same.

A short while ago I filled out a form requesting an invitation. At one point I had to gave a brief description as to why I should be included. I wrote a couple of sentences describing my intentions and submitted. The last night the invitation arrived.

I filled out some more information regarding my account and created my first database. It was a little quirky, but I did manage to make a connection to the Azure database from SSMS.

I have been neglecting this blog for a while, but I plan to post a little more frequently as I take a deeper dive into Azure.

No Big Deal

Mike — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 17:23:33 +0000

I am finishing a project at work that represents an initial plunge into the cloud computing world. With all the buzzwords and bleeding edge characteristics, the actual implementation was really not that painful. Having written some pretty basic web services I know there has been large effort behind the services we are consuming.

And so my appreciation of service oriented architecture had grown beyond an intellectual curiosity. One can take advantage of existing functions and services, stitch them together with your own business logic, and build enterprise class applications with less effort, and lower infrastructure overhead.

A brave new world (well not all that new).

Live Mesh Fun

Mike — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 18:53:33 +0000

I have been kicking the tires with Microsoft’s Live Mesh recently, and I am finding it pretty cool. As I do more work from home, or places for that matter, Mesh appears to be a good way to access documents from device to device.

One thing I hadn’t considered is a the social or community aspect. A blog post at SSIS Junkie announced a project using Live Mesh to manage a SQL code repository. I am just getting started with this, but so far it looks quite promising.

The collaboration angle is rather important to me as I work in Northern Michigan. There are plenty of DBAs in the area, but finding people with an interest and skill in things like SSIS and functional programming is not that easy. The nearest organized .Net or SQL Server user group is two hours away in Grand Rapids. So finding collaboration opportunities is a welcome thing.