Migration to Windows Azure - azure-storage

In our organization we are using Hyper-V VMs. We are using Progress Database and apps in the workstations.
For us to migrate into the Microsoft Azure cloud, do we have to migrate our existing Progress database to SQL and rewrite our apps ?

No. You haven't given us much detail about your applications or architecture, but if I make the assumption that you are using the embedded database product by Progress software, then I see no reason that can't run on an Azure VM.

Related

Dynamics CRM 365 plugin to external SQL Server

Currently we are using plugins to integrate records for Dynamics CRM 2011 (on premise) to back office (SQL Server) using WCF as a bridge. This process is same for insert and update. (Plugin > WCF > stored procedure)
However, we are due to upgrade to Dynamics CRM 365 on Azure and wondering if there are any better (new tech!) ways to do the same process?
I would really appreciate if you can share your experience with similar CRM to Back Office sync.
We are using (and I recommend) Data Export service
Data Export is an add-on service made available as a Microsoft Dynamics 365 (online) solution that adds the ability to replicate Dynamics 365 (online) data to a Microsoft Azure SQL Database store in a customer-owned Microsoft Azure subscription. The supported target destinations are Microsoft Azure SQL Database and Microsoft Azure SQL Server on Microsoft Azure virtual machines. Data Export intelligently synchronizes the entire Dynamics 365 schema and data initially and thereafter synchronizes on a continuous basis as changes occur (delta changes) in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 (online) system.
Probably the easiest/cleanest way. Just a Managed solution import, enabling Change tracking for Entities, setup Azure SQL & Key vault, friendly Profile setup & sync issues troubleshooting.
If your WCF services is available in the internet I do not see any reason to change the working integration (unless you really want to get rid of good, old WCF :)).
If it is intranet-only app you will probably need to use some other integration patterns and technologies. For example: service bus, web jobs, app logic, etc.
All of them may work perfecly well, however there are many different conditions that need to be considered during decission process.

TDE in Azure on a virtual server

Our new system handle HIPPA data and has security equirements.
Azure handles secure connections, but we're looking at TDE as well.
One of our consultants said that TDE is possible by creating a virtual server in Azure and loading SQL Server 2012 Enterprise edition directly on to the server. This would be outside of the Azure provisioning. Would this work?
I know that a recent release that's currently in preview that would accomodate TDE. Does any one know were I can get the preview version?
Thank you for your help
From your description, I'm assuming you're referring to running SQL Server in an Azure VM. If that's correct, TDE has nothing to do with Azure provisioning.
You can pick any of the SQL Server VM templates available that supports TDE. After Azure completes provision of the VM, you can login to your SQL Server and enable TDE. You can certainly still upload your own VM image but unless you have some corporate standards, pre-installed software, etc... a regular provision is probably the easiest and fastest.

How to move a windows .net runtime frontend application to the cloud (it uses a local sql server backend database)

I had a engineer design our .net application back in 2009, my guess is that it was coded using visual studio, and all I have is the installer application. We have been using it on our 1 or 2 local client machines very well for the past few years, but now I want to move this front end to the cloud. Instead of installing it as an application on our windows 7 machines.
It is a very simple application used in our small warehouse that keeps track of cargo/shipments etc. It uses Sql Server 2008 Express as a backend which is stored locally.
I know how to get the database in the cloud, their are many options for that, using Amazon or Azure, but how do i get the local client application to the cloud?
I dont have access to the visual studio code, i just have the runtime executable file..
I am sure there is no way to do this, and many of SO users will say i need to re-write the front end.
I have tried to contact the developer and they hav since closed down. Is their anyway i can run this in the cloud?
I welcome all options and solutions!
Thanks.
I believe you have two options for hosting this application:
If you are able to configure the database connection string, you could host the database in the cloud, and distribute the application to your end users. However, you've already stated that you know how to move the database, so I assume this isn't an option.
The only alternative is to run the entire application on a cloud server, and send the user interface to a client using terminal services. This makes it appear as if the application is running locally on the user's computer, while it is actually running on the server.
For an off-the-shelf solution to achieve this, you could consider using Microsoft's RemoteApp Azure service. I'm sure there are other similar offerings available.

vb.net application and microsoft access database deployment

I have developed an application using VB.NET and used microsoft access as the database back end.
Deployment reqiurements : The application is to be deployed on a LAN with 5_15 machines. Any user profile can be accessed from any machine. Any changes to the database entries should be reflected on all machines.
I am confused about how I should achieve this deployment. According to my research :
1.The database should be deployed on one machine . This machine will acts as the database server .
My problem(s) : I am familiar with accessing databases on local machine but how to access a remote database?. How will the connection string look like? Do I need to install ms access on all machines or only on the server machine ? Do I have to deal with concurrency issues (multiple users accessing/modifying same data simultaneously) or is it handled by the database engine?
2.The application can be deployed in 2 ways : i. Storing the executable on a shared network drive on the server.Providing shortcut on desktop of each machine. ii. Storing the executable itself on each machine.
My Problem(s) : How does approach 1 work ? (One instance of an executable running on multiple machines ? :s) In approach 2 , will the changes in database entries be reflected on all machines appropriately? In approach 2, if there are changes to the application , is there any method to update it on all machines ? ( Other than redeploying it on each machine ) Which approach is preferable? Do I need to install the .NET framework all machines? How will i set the connection string to be able to access the database in the network?
Will I have to make any other system changes ( firewall,security,permissions) ? If given a choice to install the operating system on each machine ,which version of windows is preferable for such an application environment ?
This is my first time deploying a multi-user database application on a network.I'll be very grateful for any suggestions/advice,references,etc.
I will try and answer your questions:
Yes you should deploy the database onto a central machine. (Although Access may not the best choice for this sort of thing see: Is MS Access (JET) suitable for multiuser access?)
For connection strings look at this site: http://www.connectionstrings.com/access/
For deployment of your executable you should look at clickonce. This simplifies the install and upgrade of your application significantly. A small learning curve now will reduce your administration headache later.

Importing database from an sFTP server in Windows Azure

I'm building a website that will surface data from a third party system. The third party will provide a copy of all the data I need as a SQL restore file (*.bak) inside a rar file on their sftp server. The data changes every day, so my application will need to connect to the sftp site, get the file, unzip it, then restore it into my database server every night. I'm fairly comfortable scripting this in a standard windows environment, but the customer would prefer the application to be built on the MS Azure cloud, which doesn't seem to support a common solution to the problem. It's possible we could abandon Azure, but I'd like to know what the best strategy would be for implementing in Azure if it's possible.
This depends on whether you are trying to use Azure PaaS (cloud service and SQL Azure) or IaaS (VMs). If you are using VMs on Windows Azure, there is going to be no difference between Windows Azure and your familiar Windows environment - so yes, you can do this on Windows Azure.
This can't really be done in Azure cloud services and SQL Azure (SQL Azure cannot restore a .bak file). But your application doesn't seem to be the kind that would run as a cloud service anyway.
Stick to doing it on VMs and it will work as you are familiar with.