On October 21st, 2014, from 8am – 5pm (PST), Microsoft will be hosting AzureConf, another free event for the Azure community. This event will feature a keynote presentation by Scott Guthrie, along with numerous sessions executed by Azure community members. Streamed live for an online audience on Channel 9, the event will allow you to see how developers just like you are using Azure to develop robust, scalable applications on Azure. Community members from all over the world will join known speakers such as Michael Collier, Mike Martin, Rick Garibay, and Chris Auld in the Channel 9 studios to present their own inventions and experiences. Whether you’re just learning Microsoft Azure or you've already achieved success on the platform, you won’t want to miss this special event.

To register for AzureConf, please visit: https://www.azureconf.net/

I tried to hit Undo in Word, but it doesn’t know how to Undo stuff it does on it’s own.  It can undo things that you do, but it can’t undo things that it does like wiping out an entire chapter because it can’t tell the difference between upload failing and sync failing and doesn’t bother to tell you which version has the most recent time-stamp. But I digress…

I thought I could kill word and go to OneDrive.com and get that copy before Word synced it’s nefarious chapter eating version to the cloud.  No good. The OneDrive copy was already corrupted.  After a few explicatives I thought, Ah Ha! I can use the File History Settings in Windows 8 to recover the previous version of the file. Cool so I went and hit the Windows key and type File History it came up and I hit Enter only to find it wasn’t enabled.  Needless to say at this point I was starting to become shall we say, less than enamored with the situation.  I turned on File History and let it start indexing.

So…. I thought I was screwed.  I went back to OneDrive and figured I had nothing to lose so let’s see if it was smart enough to keep an automatic file version just like SQL DB does in Microsoft Azure.  With that, you can go back to any five minute period in time for the past seven days for basic tier and the past 35 days for Premium databases and get a fully restored version of the DB to that5 minute window in time.  That would be an awesome thing to have in a cloud storage system.

I dubiously right clicked on the file in OneDrive and Shazam! there it was on the context menu, Version History

I clicked on it hoping against hope that it would work and give me actual previous versions and was met with this

After clicking on the previous older version I was greeted with.

Yes, OneDrive not only keeps backups of your documents for you, but you can restore to those versions or even download them.  You don’t even have to set it up, it does it automatically!  OneDrive saved me from Myself, and MS Word!

By now, I'm sure you know that TechEd Australia is a different format this year. We're running essentially the same show twice in October – in Melbourne on October 7th & 8th, and in Sydney on October 27th & 28th. Being only 2 days, we've concentrated on delivering content focused on a single theme. The theme for this conference is Transforming with the Cloud.

One of the ways we're focusing the content is that we're only running 4 main tracks this time around, and each of them will consist of around 12 deeply technical sessions. There are a couple of kinks to iron out in the "call for content" tool but, as content owners, we (see below for who we are and what the tracks are) want to give you as much time to submit great sessions as possible. We'd love to hear from you if you've got a great session or sessions to deliver that align to one or more of the tracks at the end of this post (note that the track descriptions are works in progress still, but again, we wanted to get this out to you ASAP).

Next Steps

If you've got a great idea for a session or sessions that fit into the tracks below, please send email to the track owner or track owners:

• One email per session proposal
• If you can't decide which track(s) a session should be in, put the owners of both tracks on the To line of the email

The Tracks

Datacenter and Infrastructure Management

Track Owner: Andrew McMurray andrew.mcmurray@microsoft.com

Cloud computing models are changing the technology landscape and providing more opportunity than ever for IT to deliver impact to the business. The Datacenter and Infrastructure Management track dives into evolving enterprise datacenter concepts built on cloud technologies with Windows Server 2012 R2, Microsoft System Center 2012 R2, Microsoft Azure Pack, and Microsoft Azure. This track empowers IT professionals, technical decision makers, and business decision makers to understand how our technologies come together as a solution to help them provision their cloud and datacenter infrastructures, provide business continuity, deliver services, and manage applications. Sessions include breakthrough capabilities in the areas of storage, networking, virtualization, management, and automation. Attendees also learn how the latest innovations bring together on-premises approaches and cloud-based technologies to deliver hybrid solutions that span multiple products and leverage existing resources.

Developer Platform and Tools

Track Owners: Rocky Heckman rocky.heckman@microsoft.com and Esther Mosad esther.mosad@microsoft.com

The Developer Platform and Tools track brings the developer focused sessions to TechEd. Learn how to build devices- and services-based applications using technologies that span the breadth of the Microsoft platform including: Windows 8.1, ASP.NET , Microsoft Azure, and Windows Phone  as well as cross platform development for mobile devices. Learn how to take advantage of the application lifecycle management and latest productivity enhancements in Visual Studio and Team Foundation Server. Whether you are building consumer facing applications, line-of-business applications, or mission critical applications this track provides you with what you need to move your projects and your career forward.

Office Servers and Services

Track Owner: Mario Tevanian mario.tevanian@microsoft.com

The Office Servers and Services track combines all familiar Microsoft Office related server, services and clients into one. Products covered include: Office 365, Office client apps, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Visio, Yammer, and Microsoft Lync. Gain a deeper understanding of new features, deployment, management, and administration across all of these productivity tools—whether in the cloud, on-premises, or in hybrid scenarios.

Windows, Phone and Devices

Track Owner: Andrew Coates andrew.coates@microsoft.com

The Windows, Phone and Devices track provides the knowledge Professional Developers need to understand the capabilities that Windows and Windows Phone devices have to offer, as well as guidance for developing line-of-business apps for Windows and Windows Phone, and for publishing apps to the Windows and Windows Phone Stores. For this new devices and services world, we include deep technical content for enabling on-premises and cloud-based solutions, while also providing the key information to understand Windows operating systems architectures, technologies, and usage scenarios

Then you can select From Gallery

Then select the one you want from the extensive list of turn key site solutions

But, if you are wanting to do more intense workloads, want to run something where you have more lower level control, or just want a low level LAMP stack, you can also choose from a long list of community created VM images hosted at MS Open Tech’s  VM Depot.  This gives you instant access to things like MOODLE, Jenkins, OpenTopography, Subversion and many others.

The easiest way to get started with these VM based FOSS implementations is to create them from the Azure Portal as one of your VMs.

From the Virtual Machine tab on the Azure Portal select IMAGES.

Then, select Browse VM Depot.

You can then chose a FOSS Pre configured VM from the plethora of ones available.

Once you select the image you want, it will be created and started in Microsoft Azure

The first thing it does is create a storage account if required and then copies the image from VM Depot.

Azure creates a ‘community images’ container in your storage account and copies the base image to that container

You can follow the progress of the copy in the portal

Once the copy is finished you register the image from the Images tab in Virtual Machines

Once the registration is complete, the image will be available from the Gallery. You can scroll to the bottom of the gallery list to see your images, or filter by selecting My Images on the left.

From this point, it is like provisioning any other VM from the gallery.

Once you complete the wizard, Azure will provision and start your VM

The provisioning process will go through a couple steps to stand up the VM and make it accessible.

Once the provisioning is finished, go to the link from the dashboard and start using your new FOSS VM

Now you too can get up and running with your standard VMs, or any of the FOSS VMs from Microsoft OpenTech VM Depot in minutes, not days.

Check out the details at the Tech Net Blog:  https://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2014/06/16/microsoft-azure-machine-learning-combines-power-of-comprehensive-machine-learning-with-benefits-of-cloud.aspx

I love the enhanced security for the VMs. There’s even a special treat in there, Now you can run PowerShell Scripts on the VM immediately after startup, automatically. So you can do any sort of custom configuration of the VM as soon as a new one starts up. That is very cool.

The data Import/Export Service has gone GA and now INCLUDES AUSTRALIA!!!!! 

And the feature you’ve all been waiting for, Azure Remote App. Apps can be run from Azure with the Remote Desktop Client.

Check out ScottGu’s Post for the details!

Have a look at this information packed agenda here: https://blogs.msdn.com/b/auspartners/archive/2014/02/23/cloud-contenders-are-you-ready.aspx 

When you’re ready, sign up and become a Cloud Champion. Training starts 3 March 2014.

Building Consumer Mobile Apps that Scale with Mobile Services and Notification Hubs

Windows Azure gives you the services you need to build global consumer apps that scale for the iOS, Android and Windows platforms. Join our featured Microsoft speakers, Miranda Luna and Kirill Gavrylyuk, for a webinar on building cross-platform mobile apps for consumers.

Register to view this complimentary webinar to learn about:

• Storing app data in the cloud (SQL, NoSQL and blob)
• Authenticating users via third party credentials (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
• Adding custom business logic on the server-side
• Uploading and exposing any node.js module in Custom APIs
• Provisioning and configuring add-ons from services like SendGrid for email and New Relic for app performance monitoring and developer analytics
• Sending logic-based push notifications and, with Notifications Hubs, high-volume, low-latency broadcast and inbox push notifications 

After this webinar, you’ll be able to get started building cross-platform mobile apps that scale.

Why And How Enterprises Are Adopting The Cloud

Are you interested in learning about how enterprises are making the cloud work for them? Join our guest speakers, Forrester Research Vice President and Principal Analyst James Staten and Microsoft's Technical Fellow Mark Russinovich, for a discussion on why enterprises are adopting the cloud and how they are doing so. Register to view a recording of this webinar to learn about:

• The key benefits of cloud computing
• Cloud adoption patterns in the enterprise
• Cloud implementations that address common enterprise needs
• Key considerations and best practices for choosing and implementing a public cloud solution

Cloud Economics Webinar

Are you interested in learning more about how to make smart cloud investments? Join our guest speakers, Forrester Research Vice President and Principal Analyst James Staten and Senior TEI Consultant Sean Owens, for a webinar on cloud economics. 

Register to view this complimentary webinar to learn about:

• How cloud architectures differ from their traditional, on-premises counterparts
• The importance of cloud economics when exploring technology investment options
• Forrester Consulting’s Total Economic Impact commissioned research on Windows Azure
• Key costs and benefits organizations should consider when evaluating cloud solutions such as Windows Azure

Building Secure Mobile Apps in the Enterprise using Windows Azure

Windows Azure provides the services you need to build employee-facing mobile apps that empower your workforce for the iOS, Android, and Windows platforms. Join featured Microsoft speakers Miranda Luna and Kirill Gavrylyuk for a webinar on building mobile apps in the enterprise using Windows Azure.

Register to attend this on demand webinar to learn about:

• Accessing on-prem data and systems (e.g. CRM) from mobile devices without having to save any sensitive data in the cloud
• Authenticating users via their Active Directory credentials
• Adding customer business logic on the server-side
• Uploading and exposing any node.js module in Custom APIs
• Provisioning and configuring add-ons from services like SendGrid for email and New Relic for app performance monitoring and developer analytics
• Sending logic-based push notifications and, with Notifications Hubs, high-volume, low-latency broadcast and inbox push notifications

After this webinar, you’ll be able to get started building employee-facing mobile apps that utilize on-premises data and systems.

Windows Azure Virtual Machines: Getting Started with Machines, Networks, and More

Join featured speakers Tommy Patterson (Microsoft IT Pro) and Michael McKeown (Aditi Windows Azure Expert) for a webinar on the step-by-step process for spinning up Windows Server 2012 virtual machines, building virtual networks, and installing Active Directory.

Register for this webinar to learn about:

• Working with Storage Accounts and Blobs
• Building Virtual Networks
• Windows Azure Images / Disks
• Provisioning and Configuring Windows Azure VMs
• Configuring Endpoints, Connectivity and Active Directory

Enabling the Secure and Rapid Adoption of Cloud Services

Cloud adoption is accelerating and organizations are interested in realizing the benefits of the cloud – flexible cost models, rapid implementation, high availability, and performance – but want to do so in a manner that prioritizes security. Join our guest speaker, Forrester Research Vice President and Principal Analyst Andras Cser, and Dave Campbell, CTO of Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise Division, for a webinar on how IT Pros are evaluating the security of cloud providers and the technical and process changes IT Pros should anticipate as they move to the cloud.

Register to view this recorded webinar and learn about:

• Key drivers of cloud adoption
• Common criteria for evaluating the security of cloud providers
• The technical and process changes IT Pros should anticipate as they move to the cloud
• How to develop a multi-layered approach to data security in the cloud

• ExpressRoute: Dedicated, private, high-throughput network connectivity with on-premises
• Web Sites: Backup and Restore Support
• Mobile Services: .NET support, Notification Hub Integration, PhoneGap support, and Xamarin is working like a treat!
• HDInsight: Hadoop 2.2 support
• Management: Co-admin limit increased from 10->200 users
• Monitoring: Service Outage Notifications Integrated within Management Portal
• Virtual Machines: VM Agent and Background Information Support
• Active Directory: More SaaS apps, more reports, self-service group management
• BizTalk Services: EDIFACT protocol support, Service Bus Integration, Backup and Restore

See ScottGu’s full post here.

https://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2014/02/20/azure-expressroute-dedicated-networking-web-site-backup-restore-mobile-services-net-support-hadoop-2-2-and-more.aspx 

What better to compliment these awesome new releases than the Visual Studio Online Application Insights. It gives you performance, availability and ysage data on your applications. It’s a great way to get real visibility on your applications.  Check out how to get yoru preview of Application Insights set up here: https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/get-started/find-performance-problems-vs

“As you may recall from the April announcement, we committed to match Amazon Web Services prices for commodity services like compute, storage and bandwidth. Effective March 13, customers will see lower prices for Block Blobs Storage and Disks/Page Blobs Storage matching AWS’ prices.  We’re also making the new prices effective worldwide which means that Azure storage will be less expensive than AWS in many regions.”

“Cloud Spectator's recent study, A Comparative Analysis of 5 Large Cloud IaaS Providers, showed Windows Azure Infrastructure Services was the highest performing provider and on average has 3X better price for performance than Amazon EC2”

Here is a link to the full blog post for the announcement.