Microsoft Unveils Windows Azure Platform Pricing

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 16 Jul 2009

At the Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in New Orleans, Microsoft has shared with the general public the pricing details of Windows Azure, the cloud computing platform the Redmond-based software developer showcased this October at the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) 2008. Windows Azure is set to go live sometime in the second half of 2009. Microsoft did not provide a specific release date, but since pricing details have already been released, it can’t be that far away.

Rumor on the web has it that Microsoft is rushing to get things finished by November 17th, when the 2009 Professional Developers Conference will debut in Los Angeles. Don’t feel like spending your own money to get to the conference? Then enter Microsoft’s Code 7 Competition and win a free trip and a free ticket to PDC 2009 and up to $17,777 in cash( details here).

Getting back to Windows Azure, it should be said that the platform includes the following: a cloud services operating system, a Web-based relational database in Microsoft SQL Azure, and connectivity and interoperability with .NET Services. A rich development experience, automated service management and pay-as-you-go pricing is what the Windows Azure platform delivers.

"With the Windows Azure platform, we’re focused on delivering the best services platform to create compelling Web applications and services — which enables our customers and partners to quickly develop and deploy compelling solutions. What’s unique about the Windows Azure platform is that Microsoft manages the complexity, which allows partners to focus on what matters most for their business — building innovative services solutions and driving new revenue. This can drive down total cost of ownership by up to 60 percent for certain workloads during a three-year period," commented President of the Server and Tools Business with Microsoft, Bob Muglia.

Windows Azure Pricing
Compute = $0.12 / hour
Storage = $0.15 / GB / month stored
Storage Transactions = $0.01 / 10K


SQL Azure Pricing
Web Edition – Up to 1 GB relational database = $9.99
Business Edition – Up to 10 GB relational database = $99.99


.Net Service Pricing
Messages = $0.15/100K message operations, including Service Bus messages and Access Control tokens


Microsoft will charge $0.10 in / $0.15 out / GB for the bandwidth of all three services presented above.

Additional details on the Windows Azure Platform are available here.

In related news, Microsoft announced that the SQL Services brand has been put to rest and replaced with a new brand: SQL Azure. Just the brand has changed; everything else remains the same (details here).


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