How big is the Microsoft Azure Cloud?

The Microsoft Azure Cloud is huge….very huge!! We could also say H-y-uuuuuuu-ge!!! This blogpost by Microsoft explains the current size and it’s still growing very fast!!

Here are some facts about Microsoft’s Cloud Infrastructure that powers Microsoft Azure, Office 365, Xbox Live, and many other services:

  • The Microsoft Cloud is made up of more than 100 datacenters worldwide.
  • The Microsoft Cloud serves over 140 countries.
  • The Microsoft Cloud is comprised of MILLIONS of servers, and growing!
  • The Microsoft Cloud is built with the latest hardware innovations to maximize efficiency.
  • The Microsoft Cloud is connected by enough fiber to stretch to the Moon and back 3 times!
  • Microsoft processes Millions of network requests per second backed by high availability infrastructure.
  • Everything is monitored 24x7x365
  • The Microsoft global infrastructure is 100% carbon neutral.
  • Microsoft has built one of the most connected networks in the world so you don’t have to.
  • Microsoft Azure is used by 85% of Fortune 500 companies.

Microsoft is also aiming to increase that figure to 50 by 2018!!

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Free eBook: Enterprise Cloud Strategy

Together Microsoft Press and Microsoft Virtual Academy have a number of Free eBooks available for download. The latest released eBook is “Enterprise Cloud Strategy” written by Barry Briggs and Eduardo Kassner.

Enterprise Cloud Strategy outlines the benefits Enterprises can realize from adoption Microsoft Azure and the Cloud. Based on the authors real world experience they describe the details necessary to answer the most common questions Enterprises have on moving to the cloud.

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The different download formats for the book are available on the Free eBooks from Microsoft Press page, along with the full catalog of other Free eBooks that have been published. For convenience, I’ve included the file download links below:

PDF for desktop & tablet (8.75 MB)

PDF for mobile (4.70 MB)

EPUB (6.41 MB)

Mobi for Kindle (15.7 MB)

This eBook is also available Free for Amazon Kindle as well!

Demo movie: Storage Spaces Direct in Windows Server 2016

The following movie shows the power of Storage Spaces Direct in Windows Server 2016. From the local disks, to storage pools and cluster, all the layers are explained!! Very useful when you want to know exactly how Storage Spaces Direct (S2D) works.

Software Defined will be the feature! So prepare yourself….. 🙂

Microsoft Ignite 2016 Slidedeck and Video downloader

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Have you missed the Microsoft Ignite 2016 event…..no problem!! MVP Michel de Rooij has created a script to download all the content (videos and slidedecks). So you can watch all the content again.

This script will download all the Ignite 2016 slidedecks and videos that are available from Techcommunity via the OneDrive URL on the session page. Video downloads will leverage a utility which can be downloaded from https://yt-dl.org/latest/youtube-dl.exe, and put it in the same folder as the script. The script itself will try to download the utility when the utility is not present.

Special credits goes to:
Original scraper for slidedecks by Mattias Fors, http://deploywindows.info.
Adjusted for video downloading by Michel de Rooij, http://eightwone.com
Enhancements by Scott Ladewig http://ladewig.com

Download the script here.

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Free ebook: Introducing Windows Server 2016

This book assumes that you are familiar with key concepts surrounding Windows Server (i.e., Microsoft Hyper-V, Networking, and Storage) as well as cloud technologies such as Microsoft Azure. In this book, we cover a variety of concepts related to the technology and present scenarios with a customer focus, but it is not intended as a how-to or design manual. You can use other sources, including the online Microsoft resources, to stay up to date with the latest developments on the roles and features of Windows Server 2016. The online resources will also contain the latest how-to procedures and information about designing a Windows Server 2016 infrastructure for your business.

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Download this free ebook here.

Free ebook: Microsoft Azure Essentials: Fundamentals of Azure, Second Edition

This book focuses on providing essential information about the key services of Azure for developers and IT professionals who are new to cloud computing. Detailed, step-by-step demonstrations are included to help the reader understand how to get started with each of the key services. This material is useful not only for those who have no prior experience with Azure, but also for those who need a refresher and those who may be familiar with one area but not others. Each chapter is standalone; there is no requirement that you perform the hands-on demonstrations from previous chapters to understand any particular chapter.

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Download the free eBook here.