Microsoft has released a trial version of its Windows Azure
Drive, a service that allows businesses to run their existing
Windows applications in Microsoft's cloud environment through
standard Windows NTFS APIs.
Azure Drive stores data in what Microsoft calls "page blobs."
For the beta program, the company said it will bill customers "only
for the storage space used by the Page Blob and the read/write
transactions to the Page Blob," according to a recent post on
Microsoft's Windows Azure blog.
"This will be incorporated into the standard Windows Azure usage
rates and there will not be a separate line item on the bill,"
Microsoft said.
Azure, which went live recently, marks Microsoft's first plunge
into cloud computing, a new-wave IT architecture in which
businesses tap applications and data over the Web, rather than
servers stored and maintained locally in a data center.
Microsoft is using a pay-as-you-go "consumption" option based on
resource usage, and a "commitment" option that provides discounts
for a six-month obligation.
In the standard plan, a virtualized Windows Server ranges from
12 cents to 96 cents per hour, depending on CPU usage. Storage
starts at 15 cents per GB per month, plus one cent for every 10,000
transactions. Microsoft's SQL Server costs $9.99 per month for a 1
GB Web database.
Microsoft is pitching Azure as a way for companies to simplify
their IT requirements and reduce data center costs. It's betting
big on the plan.
The company last month announced an ambitious partnership with
Hewlett-Packard under which the tech heavyweights will jointly
invest $250 million over three years to develop and market systems
geared toward cloud computing.
Under the tie up, Microsoft and HP will work together to build
and integrate technologies, including virtualization, systems
management and storage, that support the cloud.
For instance, HP will reengineer some of its hardware to improve
its ability to run Microsoft's SQL Server database and Hyper-V
virtualization server software. It will also enhance management
software such as HP Insight and Business Technology Optimization
for tighter integration with Windows datacenter environments.