::By Javier Larrosa of Artech::
These DBMS services in the cloud make it possible to "rent" a database and store our application data in it.
How to: SqlAzure
First we will mention the recently released
SQL Azure and how to use it from our GeneXus applications.
SqlAzure is a service that provides a SQLserver database hosted in an external server, in the cloud.
Technically, there's no big difference between accessing a database in the cloud and accessing a SQLserver database locally installed, and it can be easily achieved. In this way, GX customers can use a service provided by Microsoft as part of their Cloud Computing strategy.
Now we will examine the steps needed to store our application data in the cloud.
Upon registration, you are given a server name (in my case, lql2rexbiy.database.windows.net) and a link to a manager of that server.
The manager provided is very similar to the SQLserver management studio and allows you to create a database, configure users and make connections tests and queries on the database.
You can also connect to this remote database using the same management studio provided by Slqserver 2008 R2 or higher.
Once the database (in my case jlarrosa) and the user have been created, the server manager looks as shown below:
As you can see in the image of this version, RTM, the databases had between 1 and 10G of storage.
Currently, with the released version this depends on the selected subscription level. For more information about the service go to
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsazure/pricing/ The last step needed is to configure a rule in the “Firewall Settings” tab to enable the local IP.
Otherwise, an error will occur upon connection: "Client with IP address 'XXX.XXX.XXX.XX' is not allowed to access the server" (for more details about this configuration step:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee621783.aspx) Once you complete these steps you have the data to connect from a GeneXus application:
Server Name: lql2rexbiy.database.windows.net
Database Name: jlarrosa
User: jlarrosa
Password: xxxx
Next, you should create a .Net Web model, set the above values in dbmsoptions and Run …
For more information about Sql Azure:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsazure/sqlazure/