Yesterday I got my CTP invitation for SQL Azure Services, which is one of Microsoft’s new cloud offerings, along with .NET Services and Live Services.  Microsoft says:

Microsoft® SQL Azure Database is a cloud-based relational database platform built on SQL Server® technologies. With SQL Azure Database, you can easily provision and deploy relational database solutions to the cloud, and take advantage of a globally distributed data center that provides enterprise-class availability, scalability, and security with the benefits of built-in data protection, self-healing and disaster recovery.

So what does it mean?  You can host your relational DBs in the cloud.

But you – yes, you – the cynical, embittered, battle-scared database developer who has been through the wars, came home to the mist-covered mountains, only to find yourself drafted for the next relational battle – you squirm. You cringe.  Your junior-developer enthusiasm for The Next Great Thing has waned, almost to the point of vanishing. When presented with a tasty block of swiss cheese, all you can see are the holes.

So what makes up the cheese – and the holes – of the SQL Azure Services platform?  Let’s start to take a look; although it will probably take many blog posts.

Naming

My first question: is “SQL Azure Services” what used to be called “SQL Data Services?”  Dunno.  The roadmap docs are all over the place and I don’t have time right now to trace the lineage.

Signing Up

Signing up is a breeze.  You get your invitation code in e-mail, whose format looks like xxxxxxxx-yyyy-zzzz-aaaa-bbbbbbbbbbbb.  You go to http://sql.azure.com and sign up with a Windows Live ID, and you’re good to go.

Server Administration

There’s a Manage link when you log in that takes you to the Server Administration page for your SQL Azure account.  From here you can get your connection string info, reset your password, and manage databases (see below).  They give you a server name with which to refer, and a geographic location that tells you where your server is (in my case, “USA_Northwest”).  Since this is a cloud offering, I still haven’t figured out how they replicate/backup/stand up new instances, but we’ll figure that out later.

Creating Databases

You’re initially presented with (what else) a master database.  There’s a little button labeled “Create Database” which does what it says it does.  Interestingly, you can’t use hyphens or underscores in your DB names.  Is that a current limitation in SQL 2008? (checks) Nope.  Hm.

Creating Tables

How do you create tables in SQL Azure Services?  The web-based Server Administration page doesn’t appear to offer a way.  I see some info on connecting to SQL Azure Services via SQL Management Studio, which is very cool – but my first attempts are fruitless:

SQLCMD using the –S and –U parameters didn’t work either.  Could it be that the Starbucks I’m working from blocks port TCP port 1433?  I noticed that SQLCMD attempted to connect via Named Pipes, which is obviously incorrect.  How to get it to connect via TCP? (checks) Ah.  I need to preface the address with tcp: Trying:

SQLCMD.EXE –S tcp:<servername> –U <username> –P <password>

…hm.  Still no luck.

HResult 0x274C, Level 16, State 1
TCP Provider: A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond.

So, what’s next?  Let’s back up.  Can I ping the server?

Nope.  Of course, what with security being sort of important these days, I would have been surprised had MSFT left ping responses turned on.

Can I telnet to port 1433?

A little better: at least I can see that the connection failed, rather than just getting a report that the server is not available.  I’m coming to the conclusion that I can’t get TCP port 1433 traffic at Starbucks, so I’ll close up this test session and resume from home later tonight.

I got this notice in an e-mail from the WTIA. Given yesterday’s announcement of the Google App Engine, this might be very interesting for some of my readers:

*************************************************

Welcome to the New Era of Cloud Computing
Google, Fremont Campus
4/30/2008
6:30 PM to 9:00 PM

New technologies for large-scale data storage and processing are allowing companies to manage ever-increasing data set sizes. Scalable “cloud computing” technologies offer low-overhead ways to host your products, while ensuring that your computing base can adapt to changing needs. Open source tools such as Hadoop provide low-cost but high-powered platforms on which to develop your systems. This evening presentation, aimed at technology decision-makers of local high-tech corporations, will explain what you need to know to engineer reliable, scalable distributed systems to manage your data. The presentation will address the following topics:

• What is changing about data availability today?
• What is cloud computing, and in what form is it available to your company?
• What systems has Google developed to manage large-scale data, and what makes them unique?
• What open source systems can provide these benefits to you?

Speaker
Aaron Kimball, Sr. Consultant, Spinnaker Labs, Inc.

Aaron Kimball is a leading authority on Hadoop-based system deployment. He provides advice, system development, and training to corporations and academic institutions worldwide. In 2007 he developed and taught a new undergraduate course in distributed computing with Hadoop at the University of Washington; this curriculum forms the basis for new courses being presented at top-tier universities across America and around the globe.

This article was written by John M Willis, and has a very different perspective than most of the blinkered, navel-gazing Web 2.0-type blogs.  Willis appears to have been around the block and gives a brief yet extremely informative explanation of the current state of “cloud computing”.

If you’re interested in putting the recent Google announcement into context, read this article.

http://www.johnmwillis.com/redmonk/demystifying-clouds/