Technology

Can a cloud-enabled Windows app support itself financially?

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Which Windows and/or Windows Phone app business model suits an app with a Microsoft Azure backend?

It would seem that an app purchased from the Windows Store for, let’s say, $1.49 (which is one-time revenue) would quickly be consumed by the continuous (variable) cost of the cloud services it interacts with. What is viable? Ads? In-app credits that get consumed and replenished based on backend usage?

Can a cloud-enabled app support itself financially?

Reference links:

Signs of Amazon Digital Transformation

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I noticed something interesting while browsing everyone’s favorite online retailer today. Their departments list seems to be transforming as it expands into these new digital markets. The more recent expansions have come with the release of the Netflix-like instant video service, which is free for Amazon Prime members, the Amazon Cloud Drive service, specializing in storage of digital music purchased from Amazon, and the Appstore for Android, which could become the defacto marketplace for Android. As Paul described in this week’s Windows Weekly, if you described the markets and competitors that Amazon is now targeting you wouldn’t think such a company would exist. What company could compete with Netflix, Google, Microsoft, and Apple in all of these various markets?… Amazon.

SharePoint 2010 Advanced Developer and IT Professional Training

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Earlier this year I was fortunate to take a week off and virtually attend the SharePoint 2010 Ignite Developer training. This was an intense deep dive into the new capabilities of SharePoint 2010 and included a number of virtual labs where we got to practice new learnings on actual servers.

After digging around my email for links to these training materials for download I was pleased to find that this training has now been made public, including many of the virtual lab exercises! See links below and enjoy.

SharePoint 2010 Advanced Developer Training
SharePoint 2010 Advanced IT Professional Training

Certification Update – October 2010

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Over the last few months I have accumulated a few more certifications in ADO.NET 3.5, as I work toward MCPD 3.5, and SharePoint 2010. Check my About page to see a list of my current certifications.

PC Building: Hyper-V Server

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Last winter I set out to build my own PC. This was something I had never dared try before but felt I was obligated to complete to truly call myself a geek.

This would not be a machine loaded with components with names like i7 and Radeon. I wanted to build a Hyper-V server; one that would host 4 or 5 virtual machines that I could experiment with, utilize for testing/training purposes, and do things that i just couldn’t do with my company laptop.

After a few months of shopping, giving NewEgg.com and Fry’s a bunch of money, and assembly in my spare time I now have something I am pretty happy with. (Given this is my first PC build)

I hope to use this box heavily over the next few months as I ramp up on SharePoint 2010 and try to complete my MCPD-EA.

Processor:
Intel Xeon X3440 Lynnfield 2.53GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Server Processor
Allows me to utilize the multiple cores for the multiple virtual machines and supports Hyper-V.

Motherboard:
Intel S3420GPLC LGA 1156 Intel 3420 ATX Intel Xeon 3400 series Server Motherboard
Paired with the processor and gives me plenty of SATA ports for a bunch of hard drives setup with on-board RAID.

Power Supply:
Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC “compatible with Core i7/Core i5” Power Supply
I think this should be plenty of power given I am using on-board video.

RAM:
Kingston 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Registered DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Server Memory Model KVR1066D3Q8R7S/4G (X2)
Pretty spendy but supported by the motherboard and 8GB is enough for the 4-5 virtual machines I want to run.

Hard Drives:
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5″ Internal Hard Drive (X2)
Western Digital Caviar Green WD5000AADS 500GB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5″ Hard Drive (X3)
Initially, setup a RAID-1 with the Blue pair and a RAID-5 with the Green set, however, had to remove the RAID-5 array when the RAID controller consistently had problems and ended up corrupting one of the drives. I don’t know if it was the RAID controller or the drive but got rid of the RAID for now at least.

Case:
Antec Two Hundred Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Got a great deal from my local Fry’s Electronics. Makes my lame-o server look like a gaming machine, which is nice.

OS:
Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V

MCPD: Web Developer

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Last month I completed the final exam in the .NET Framework 2.0 Web Developer series to achieve the MCPD. Check my About page to see a list of my current certifications.

MCPD

MCTS: .NET Framework 2.0 Web Applications

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This week I completed the second of two exams to achieve the MCTS: .NET Framework 2.0 Web Applications certification. This is just one step toward the MCPD: EA certification. Check my About page to see a list of my current certifications.

MCTS-2Web

SharePoint Guidance: Released

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Microsoft patterns & practices SharePoint Guidance has been released to MSDN!

http://www.microsoft.com/spg

Updated: SharePoint Guidance 1.0 – Nov 2008

Here are a few of the topics you will find inside:

  • Architectural decisions about patterns, feature factoring, and packaging
  • Design tradeoffs for decisions many developers encounter, such as whether to use SharePoint lists or a database to store information
  • Implementation examples that are demonstrated in the Training Management application and in the QuickStarts
  • How to design a SharePoint application for testability, create unit tests, and run continuous integration
  • How to set up different environments including the development, build, test, staging, and production environments
  • How to manage the application life cycle through development, test, deployment, and upgrading
  • Team-based intranet application development

    • You might also see my name, along with the names of a couple of others from Avanade, in the Authors and Contributors section. (Updated to refer to SharePoint Guidance 1.0 – Nov 2008)

    SQL Server: Interesting Function and Stored Procedure Behavior

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    The other day out at Microsoft I ran into some interesting behavior in SQL Server regarding the difference between running a query in a table-valued function versus running it in a stored procedure.

    This particular query I was trying to run selects columns from an existing view that is part a database of the Microsoft product that I am currently working with. Unfortunately, this is no ordinary view. This view not only has two nested select statements, it joins on a table holding thousands and thousands of records. Looking at the estimated execution plan was ridiculous, having probably 50 or 60 processes.

    Running this query in a table-valued function, basically just running the view, causes the CPU on the server to soar to 100% and Management Studio to basically timeout. However, placing the same query in a stored procedure yields almost instant results.

    I talked this over with the resident SQL guru on the project and all we could come up with was that, because of the complexity of execution plan, the pre-compilation of the query in a stored procedure makes all the difference.

    Windows Weekly with Paul Thurrott

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    “A weekly look at all things Microsoft including Windows Vista, Office 2007, and Xbox from the foremost Windows expert in the world, Paul Thurrott of the Super Site for Windows.”

    “Hosts: Paul Thurrott and Leo Laporte”

    This podcast along with many other quality TWiT podcasts can be found on iTunes or on the TWiT Netcast Network website here: http://twit.tv

    I have been listening to Leo and Paul for a few month now and it is by far my favorite podcast. The issues that they discuss coupled with their natural chemistry make this podcast quite special.

    For me, it is the only way to get through the Monday commute between Seattle and Redmond.