Why Windows Azure?
If Windows Azure were simply a hosted version of Windows Server, the value proposition would be simple to understand but basic in functionality. But as alluded to earlier, Windows Azure provides a set of benefits that are unique to this platform. One such benefit involves so-called “spiky” workloads. The canonical example is an online store that experiences typically predictable traffic during most of the year but then far more unpredictable (“spiky”) traffic during the holidays. The traditional responses to such a problem are problematic. You could purchase additional computing resources to handle the spike loads, but then these resources would sit ideal for much of the time. You could partially offset the spiking by moving to a virtualized infrastructure where many workloads were typically virtualized but then migrated to physical hardware when required; this requires architecting, deploying, managing–and paying for–a very complex infrastructure, however. With Windows Azure, you ca
