On one of the final talks about SQL Azure in Day 3 of PDC09, David Robinson, Senior PM on the Azure team, announced a project codenamed ‘Houston’ which is basically a Silverlight equivalent of SQL Server Management Studio. The concept comes from the SQL Azure being within the cloud, and if the only way to interact with it is by installing SSMS locally then it does not feel like a consistent story.

From the limited preview, it only contains the basics but it clearly lets you create tables, stored procedures and views, edit them, even add data to tables in a grid view reminiscent of Microsoft Access. The UI was based around the standard ribbon bar, object window on the left and working pane on the right. As of now this tool is still pre-alpha and it seems like a basic tool that will facilitate rapid database development on cloud. When asked about general availability, no dates were given but calendar 2010 was indicated as the target.

More information can be found at:     

http://sqlfascination.com/2009/11/20/pdc-09-day-3-sql-azure-and-codename-houston-announcement/

Tinu, O