Windows Azure and Server App Fabric – kinsmen or distant relatives?
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Published on Tue, 27 Apr 2010 16:47:38 GMT
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2010/04/27
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If you are into Windows Azure then it would be rather demeaning to ask if you are aware of Windows Azure App Fabric. Just in case you are not -
Windows Azure App Fabric provides a secure connectivity service by means of which developers can build distributed applications as well as services that work across network and organizational boundaries in the cloud.
But some of you may have heard of another similar term floating around forums and blog posts - Windows Server App Fabric. The momentary déjà vu that you might have felt upon encountering it is not unheard of in the Cloud Computing circles -
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en/netservices/thread/5ad4bf92-6afb-4ede-b4a8-6c2bcf8f2f3f
http://forums.virtualizationtimes.com/session-state-management-using-windows-server-app-fabric
Many have fallen prey to this ambiguous nomenclature but its not without a purpose.
First announced at PDC 2009, Windows Server AppFabric is a set of application services focused on improving the speed, scale, and management of Web, Composite, and Enterprise applications. Initially codenamed Dublin the app fabric (oops....Windows Server App Fabric) provides add-ons like Monitoring,Tracking and Persistence into your hosted Workflow and Services without the Developer worried about these Functionalities. Alongwith this it also provides Distributed In-Memory caching features from Velocity caching. In short it is a healthy equivalent of Windows Azure App Fabric minus the cloud part.
So why bring this up while talking about Windows Azure? Well, apart from their similar last names these powers are soon to be combined if Microsoft's roadmap is to be believed - "Together, Windows Server AppFabric and Windows Azure platform AppFabric provide a comprehensive set of services that help developers rapidly develop new applications spanning Windows Azure and Windows Server, and which also interoperate with other industry platforms such as Java, Ruby, and PHP."
One of the most powerful features of the Windows Server App Fabric is its distributed caching mechanism which if appropriately leveraged with the Windows Azure App Fabric could very well mean a revolution in the Session Management techniques for the Azure platform. Well Microsoft, we do have our fingers crossed.....
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