Back in March of 2008 I wrote a series of posts about doing business in China, high context communication and Guanxi.  These were inspired while I was attending an internal Microsoft event.  Earlier this year during a similar event, inspiration struck again and now I’m moving to Beijing!  I’ll continue to focus on driving adoption of Microsoft’s data platform, Cloud and Web technologies with a laser focus on the Chinese market.

I see this move as a pivotal next step in my personal development and understanding of culture, technology and emerging markets.  This type of opportunity is exactly why I came to Microsoft back in 2007.  When I go back and read my post, Todo Tiene Su Final, recounting my experiences going through IE’s Global MBA, I’m reminded of the inspiration I felt moving into that big transition in my life. 

The past three years living in Seattle, working as a Technical Evangelist at Microsoft have been incredible.  Some of the highlights that stand out are:

• Being mentored by one of the world’s best technology evangelists, Roger Doherty
• Working with a world-class team including: Neil Hutson, James Conard, David Aiken, Ryan Dunn and Vitorrio Bertocci
• Partnering with Anthony Carrabino to drive BillG’s TechEd 2008 data platform keynote demo delivered by Dave Campbell
• Bridging the gap with the PHP developer community and SQL Server
• Working with Thomas Lewis to deliver the WordPress on SQL Server patch
• Driving evangelism of our Cloud database service, SQL Azure
• Helping launch Microsoft’s information service “Dallas” by driving a segment of Ray Ozzie’s PDC 09 keynote and delivering the session
• Presenting for the first time in Spanish, delivering 2 sessions for the SQL Server 2008 R2 launch in Lima, Peru; thanks for the opportunity Jorge
• Connecting to the Microsoft developer community through Channel 9
• Burying myself in the Seattle salsa scene, dancing with Salsa Salvaje and Mambo U…  on2 baby!
• Climbing some of the worlds most beautiful peaks throughout the Cascades

I’m really going to miss the amazing Seattle summer, my friends and family, and being so close to Maui; but I’m ultra grateful for the opportunity Microsoft is providing.

I have so much to learn, not the least of which is Mandarin!  After doing some research I decided to use fluenz and I’m really impressed by it.  The passion and attention to detail the fluenz team has put into developing their products is immediately clear.  It should be an inspiration for all of us dedicated to delivering high-end user experiences.  My goal is to be conversationally proficient by end of this year.  Wish me luck

In addition to learning the language and diving deeply into the technology scene I’m planning to doing some bicycle touring and mountaineering which should be a great way to experience the country.  I’ve been getting really into photography lately and I’ll try to post more pictures here.

I find it really interesting how opportunities in life unfold.  For me it’s always been about throwing myself out there and being open to new experience and adventure.  If living in China is anything like my experience living in Spain, I’m sure it will be life defining. 

If you are in China and want to connect, just let me know!

I recently wrote an article over at http://wordpress.visitmix.com about my experience migrating my blog over to WordPress on Windows and SQL Server which went pretty smoothly. 

In the next couple of days I’ll go ahead and switch the DNS to my new server at Discount ASP.

Although I’ve been running web site and apps on LAMP since the late 90’s, I’ve really been enjoying PHP on Windows and SQL Server for a number of reasons.

1. I can develop and test on my own Windows 7 machine or Virtual Machines using SQL Server Express R2 which is FREE.
2. IIS is really easy to administer.
3. The Web Platform Installer makes getting up and running simple.
4. Connecting to SQL Server on my host via SQL Server Management Studio makes developing and managing my database really productive.
5. Advanced SQL Server features like Spatial and Reporting Services give me a platform for building even more powerful apps.

Some of the things I really like about running on LAMP and miss on Windows include.

1. SSH access for moving files.
2. Wealth of information online related to issues when working with LAMP.

There are some tradeoffs but I’ve found the benefits outweigh the downside.  I’ve worked at Microsoft for three years without switching my site so it’s not just because they pay me although it does help   All in all, this has been a really good experience and I’d encourage you to give it a try.

Whether you have an established business or have a great startup idea this is an awesome opportunity to win some cash.  The SQL Server team is running a contest for PHP developers building apps on top of SQL Server or SQL Azure with a $10,000 prize.  This includes sites built on top of WordPress or Drupal.

I’ve actually been working with WordPress on SQL and SQL Azure a lot lately and wrote an article about this contest at http://wordpress.visitmix.com which has a bunch of details of how everything works along with some ideas for building the winning app.

Good luck!

Today we published the March 2010 release of the PHP on Windows Training Kit which fixes a bug in the Dependency Checker for Windows 7. 

I apologize to anyone who tried early versions of the training kit and got the following error message.

Your current OS is not supported by the PHP on Windows Training Kit.  This kit takes advantage of IIS7 new features and will run only on those OS that support IIS7.

If your a PHP developer I’d highly recommend taking a look at this training kit.  There are bunch of really cool demos and hands on labs covering the following topics.

PHP & SQL Server Demos

• Integrating SQL Server Geo-Spatial with PHP
• SQL Server Reporting Services and PHP

PHP & SQL Server Hands On Labs

• Introduction to Using SQL Server with PHP
• Using Full Text Search over Office Documents in PHP

PHP on Windows Hands On Labs

• IIS Access Control Features for PHP
• Using IIS 7.0 Media Features in a PHP Application
• Troubleshooting PHP
• Migrating PHP Applications to IIS 7.0

You can download the latest version from the Download Center.

Back in October I wrote a post on how to connect to SQL Azure.  With the release of the November CTP of SQL Server 2008 R2 working with SQL Azure from within SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) got a whole lot better! 

You can get a free copy of SSMS here:

• SQL Server 2008 R2 Tools for x86
• SQL Server 2008 R2 Tools for x64

Because this is a CTP you may want to install these in a Virtual PC although I haven’t had any issues.

Once you have this installed all of the issues I outlined in my previous post about the headaches involved with connecting to SQL Azure are gone.

When you launch SSMS enter your credentials.

Replace MY_SERVER_NAME and MY_USER_NAME with valid credentials which you can setup and find on the SQL Azure portal.

Make sure you have added your IP address to the SQL Azure firewall or you will get the following error.

TITLE: Connect to Server
——————————

Cannot connect to ‘<MY_SERVER_NAME>.database.windows.net.

——————————
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Cannot open server ‘<MY_SERVER_NAME>requested by the login. Client with IP address ‘<MY_IP_ADDRESS>’ is not allowed to access the server.  To enable access, use the SQL Azure Portal or run sp_set_firewall_rule on the master database to create a firewall rule for this IP address or address range.  It may take up to five minutes for this change to take effect.
Login failed for user ‘<MY_USERNAME>’. (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 40615)

The New Firewall Feature section of a previous post outlines configuring your firewall.

Assuming your credentials are correct you should see Object Explorer just like you would any other SQL Server database, which is awesome!

Once you start using the tool you will notice that things are not as integrated as they are for SQL Server.  For example, let’s create a database.

When I Right Click on Database and select New Database…  a new SQL script is created.

I can simply replace everything between <> and execute the script.

You’ll notice that once I refreshed the Object Explorer I see this new database.  Additionally, you may notice that I specified that I wanted a 10GB database with the MAXSIZE = 10GB option.  If you are just building a sample you should probably leave the MAXSIZE option off and it will default to 1GB.

To round out the example I’m going to install the Adventure Works SQL Azure database following the instructions that come with the sample.

Now when I look at Object Explorer you can see I have the full set of Tables, Stored Procs, etc.

One thing you may notice is that the Adventure Works installer creates new databases AdventureWorksDWAZ2008R2 and AdventureWorksLTAZ2008R2.  Since SQL Azure is priced per database I’ve created a request on the CodePlex site to allow them to be installed into a target database.  If you agree that it’s a good idea please vote for the item on CodePlex.

Hopefully you found this useful.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

More Information

• Intro to SQL Azure Lab in the Windows Azure Platform Training Kit
• SQL Azure content within the Windows Azure Platform Training Course

You may have already run into him but I’d highly recommend following Brian Swan’s work.  He’s got a deep background working with SQL Server and is focusing a lot of his energy making sure the PHP community is successful using Microsoft technology, especially SQL Server and SQL Azure.

He’s already written some good technical articles:

• Top 10 PHP-Microsoft Resources
• Getting Started with PHP on Windows
• Getting Started with the SQL Server Driver for PHP
• SQL Server Driver for PHP: Understanding Windows Authentication

Make sure to add his blog to your favorite RSS reader and follow him on Twitter.

Aligned with the SQL Azure October CTP release today we have published an updated version of the Windows Azure Platform Training Kit here
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=413E88F8-5966-4A83-B309-53B7B77EDF78 

While the Download Center servers are being replicated you will want to make sure the title of the page contains “October Update” and the File Name is “WindowsAzurePlatformKitOctober2009.exe”.

This update contains a few new sections with the Hands On Lab for dealing with the firewall and how to use BCP to move data into SQL Azure.  The training kit contains the following SQL Azure related content.

Presentations

• Introduction to SQL Azure
• Building Applications using SQL Azure
• Scaling Out with SQL Azure

Demos

• Preparing your SQL Azure Account
• Connecting to SQL Azure
• Managing Logins and Security in SQL Azure
• Creating Objects in SQL Azure
• Migrating a Database Schema to SQL Azure
• Moving Data Into and Out Of SQL Azure using SSIS
• Building a Simple SQL Azure App
• Scaling Out SQL Azure with Database Sharding

Hands On Labs

• Introduction to SQL Azure
• Migrating Databases to SQL Azure
• Building Your First SQL Azure App

With PDC around the corner the SQL Azure team has delivered an updated CTP that’s feature complete, running on production clusters and containing cool new features like firewall, table value parameters, support for BULK INSERT and new data types.  Checkout the product team blog for details.

So, what does this new release mean to developers?

Move Forward with Confidence

Now that you can get your hands on a feature complete version of SQL Azure you can have confidence that when SQL Azure Database becomes generally available, all your databases and data will be automatically converted into an active subscription to the service based on the subscription offer you choose at go-live.

New Portal

The October CTP is running in a new, production-ready cluster.  You can access the new developer portal for the October CTP via the same URL as before https://sql.azure.com/ which you will notice has an updated skin and a few new features.

Another thing you may notice is that your existing projects are no longer showing up!  You can access your August CTP project through the developer portal available at this URL https://ctpportal.database.windows.net.

New Server URI

With the release of the October CTP you will also need to create a new server for your account.  This is the same process for creating a server as you may have followed for the August CTP.  Guidance on this is available in the Introduction to SQL Azure hands on lab in the Window Azure Platform Training Kit.

One interesting thing to note is that the Server Location is South Central US which is right alongside Windows Azure so you should see even less latency between the services.

The other big thing to know is that there is a different URI for the Server Name.  Before the syntax was

<MY_SERVER_NAME>.ctp.database.windows.net

To access servers created in the production cluster you remove the “ctp.” portion of the Server Name.  A connection to the new server will be

<MY_SERVER_NAME>.database.windows.net

I have a feeling that this is going to trip up a bunch of developers so hopefully this helps.  Another area I believe will catch a number of people off guard is the firewall feature.

New Firewall Feature

For years we’ve been telling people to lock down access to their databases machines.  With the August CTP of SQL Azure there was no way to limit access to what machines had access to your server.  With the October CTP you can now specify which IP addresses have access to your server which is awesome! 

By default no IP’s are allowed to access your server.  If you try to connect you will get the following error.

TITLE: Connect to Server
——————————

Cannot connect to m9vhbwlttp.database.windows.net.

——————————
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Cannot open server ‘<MY_SERVER_NAME>’ requested by the login. Client with IP address ‘<MY_IP_ADDRESS>’ is not allowed to access the server.
Login failed for user ‘<MY_USERNAME>’. (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 40615)

For help, click: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?ProdName=Microsoft+SQL+Server&EvtSrc=MSSQLServer&EvtID=40615&LinkId=20476

 

You can modify the firewall rules via the portal, T-SQL stored procs or web service API’s which you can view MSDN docs for details on.  Using the portal just click on the Firewall Settings tab.  From there you can either check the box to Allow Microsoft Services access to this server which will enable all Windows Azure Web and Worker Roles to access your server.   

Additionally, you can click the Add Record button and add your current IP address which is shown in the dialog box.

These updated rules may take up to 5 minutes for the change to take affect so please be patient.

Moving Your Data and Databases

First, you will need to move databases from the current CTP cluster over to the new cluster.  As mentioned above, these are separate, distinct machine clusters and actually reside in different data centers. More importantly, the data and databases you create in the October CTP will automatically roll over into the production service at go-live – at which point we will start to charge for those databases based on the service offering you’ve sign up for. Rather than risk inadvertently charging people for a bunch of test databases, the team got feedback that it was best to allow people to ‘opt-in’ to the new cluster. That way, people will only get charged for what they need and use.

Creating databases in the October CTP will be even easier and faster than on the August CTP. I’d recommend checking out the Migrating Databases to SQL Azure lab in the Windows Azure Platform Training Kit for guidance on moving data with BCP and SSIS.  With the BULK INSERT support in the October CTP developers can deploy BCP.EXE into a Windows Azure Worker Role eliminating the need to copy the data down locally. 

As I mentioned, SSIS is also an option, although we know that customers have experienced performance issues with the SQL Server 2008 Integration Services and SQL Azure.  The next CTP of SQL Server 2008 R2 will have an update to SSIS which dramatically increases performance when loading data in SQL Azure.

Specify Database Edition

With this CTP you can also use a MAXSIZE clause when executing CREATE TABLE to select Web or Business Edition.

CREATE DATABASE foo (MAXSIZE = 1GB)

Or

CREATE DATABASE foo (MAXSIZE = 10GB)

What’s Next?

Everyone is driving hard towards PDC and we are all very excited for Commercial Availability.  Keep your eyes pealed for updates to SQL Server Management Studio and SQL Server Integration Services as part of the SQL Server 2008 R2 wave.  With the updates to SSMS you will be able to use the Object Browser and have an option for exporting SQL Azure compatible scripts.  With the updates to SSIS you will see dramatic performance improvements when loading data in a SQL Azure database.

So, now that you’ve got a token and can connect to SQL Azure, you probably want to create a database and start using it.  There’s one thing that can cause a ton of heart ache…  USE <database> is not supported!

The reason USE <database> isn’t support is because when you connect to one database you are essentially being tied to a particular server cluster via the SQL Azure TDS Gateway.  Your database aren’t all on the same physical machine, therefore you must specify the database when you connect.  Does that make sense?

For example, let’s say you are using SQLCMD or SSMS to work with SQL Azure…  Let’s look at a common use case.

First, I’ll connect to SQL Azure with my Administrative User that I created when I redeemed my token.  In this case that username is admin.  This user can be thought of like sa in on-premise SQL Server.  I’ll connect to a server named h38ssfjeiwh201 which was automatically assigned to me.  In this case I won’t specify a database name, so it will default to my virtual master database.

NOTE: In these samples I’m showing connecting via SQLCMD but you won’t get all of the same messages on success, although the errors will be the same.

sqlcmd -S h38ssfjeiwh201.ctp.database.windows.net -U admin@h38ssfjeiwh201

Now, I’ll go ahead and create a new database named sample_db with TSQL.

CREATE DATABASE sample_db;
GO

NOTE: Future versions of SQL Azure will support a MAXSIZE clause to the CREATE DATABASE statement for create 1GB or 10GB databases.

I’ll get a message saying things are looking good.

Command(s) completed successfully.

Great!  Now, I want to start using that database…  So like any novice SQL Server developer I try to use it.

USE sample_db;
GO

The problem is I get the following error…

Msg 911, Level 16, State 1, Line 1

Database ‘sample_db’ does not exist. Make sure that the name is entered correctly.

Uh…  Ok.  Let me try again…  I thought I typed it right but maybe I’m missing something.

CREATE DATABASE sample_db;
GO

Now I get the following error…

Msg 1801, Level 16, State 1, Line 1

Database ‘sample_db’ already exists. Choose a different database name.

I know… I know… These error messages need to be improved. The problem is like I mentioned in the title of this post. SQL Azure does not currently support the USE <database> statement.

What I need to do is actually reconnect by specifying the database name as a connection parameter in SQLCMD or by specifying the Connect to database in the Options >> on the connection dialogue in SSMS.

sqlcmd -S h38ssfjeiwh201.ctp.database.windows.net -U admin@h38ssfjeiwh201 -d sample_db

Now I can go about interacting with sample_db just like I would any other SQL Server database (for the most part).

For additional information about this see the Intro to SQL Azure hands on lab and demos in the Windows Azure Platform Training Kit.

Updated March 2010: In February of 2010 the Windows Azure Platform reached commercial availability. The benefit of this is the platform is ready for production use. One of the downsides is that you can’t get invitation codes for free. There are some offers available for getting started with Windows Azure, SQL Azure and AppFabric. You can check these out here: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsazure/offers/.

Now that CTP1 is out the door a question that keeps coming up is…  “I registered for a token a couple months ago…  When am I going to get an email with my Invitation Code?”  We are glad that people are as excited about the SQL Azure release as we are so we love this question!

Over the next week or two everyone who has already signed up for a SQL Azure Invitation Code should be receiving an email sent to the address associated with your Live ID containing the token and a link to redeem it.  We understand that everyone would like their tokens yesterday but we need to work through the list and ramp up the service.

Once the list of current requests has been processed, new requested will be fulfilled within a day or two.

We are working on integrating the SQL Azure and Windows Azure provisioning experience.  We realize that it is very inconvenient to have to have to make requests for two different tokens from different places. 

What about customers who already have an account on the previous version of SQL Data Services/SQL Server Data Services which had an ACE model with a REST API?  When will they get tokens?  We will be providing all of those users with a token, but in the meantime I’d recommend that all of those users sign up for the CTP.

If you haven’t already done so, please sign up for the CTP today!
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=149681&clcid=0×09