Autoscaling Azure with WASABi – Introduction

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I gave an Autoscaling Azure talk at the Brisbane Azure User Group on the 18th April 2012. This series of posts will walk through the demo I put together for the talk on using the Autoscaling Application Block (WASABi).

  • Part 1 – Target Application (Build and Deploy)
  • Part 2 – Autoscaler (Build)
  • Part 3 – Autoscaler (Configure Autoscaling Block)
  • Part 4 – Autoscaler (Configure Service Information Store)
  • Part 5 – Autoscaler (Configure Rules Store)
  • Part 6 – Autoscaler (Run and Monitor)

In Part 1 we’ll build and deploy the Azure application that will be the target of the autoscaling. In Parts 2 – 5 we’ll build and configure the application that performs the autoscaling using the Autoscaling Application Block (WASABi) from the Enterprise Library 5.0 Integration Pack for Windows Azure. Finally in Part 6 we’ll run the autoscaling application and monitor the target application during the autoscaling requests.

Integration Masterclass with Richard Seroter

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I had the privilege of attending an Integration Masterclass with Richard Seroter in Brisbane yesterday. Thanks to Dean Robertson of Mexia for organising this event in Australia.

Integration Masterclass with Richard Seroter hosted by Mexia

Richard led us through various strategies for building hybrid cloud integration solutions with the Microsoft Application Platform. One of the technologies that excited me was StreamInsight which provides complex event processing capabilities. In particular I’m looking forward to getting my hands on StreamInsight Austin which provides StreamInsight-based event processing in Windows Azure.

Dell XPS 15 (L502X) Wireless Issues – Fixed

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I recently bought a new Dell XPS 15 laptop. Dell was having an Easter special (30% discount) so I maxed it out with features (quad-core i7, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD and full HD screen). Its a nice laptop and I was hoping that the numerous reviews I’d read regarding issues with its Intel ® Centrino ® Advanced-N 6230 wireless adapter would have been solved. I was wrong.

Slow as Molasses

My Macbook was achieving 30Mb/s downloads via my cable modem but the new Dell was only managing between 1 and 4Mb/s and even then it was patchy. I tried out the main suggested solution which was to configure the wireless adapter settings in the power options in Windows 7. This did not help.

Intel Drivers

I came across a forum suggesting that the Intel drivers rather than those from Dell would solve the problem. I downloaded and installed the Wireless_15.1.1_Ds64.exe file from the Intel Download Centre. It solved the issue and now I am getting 30Mb/s downloads via my Dell.

iOS 5.0.1 and over the air software updates

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The latest software update (5.0.1) of iOS brings with it the first experience of the iOS 5 over the air software updates. And I can say that I am a big fan !

My previously blogged about methods for updating multiple iPhones in a household are no longer necessary. The 5.0.1 over the air software update was a manageable 44MB and very kind on my bandwidth (even when downloading it more than once to upgrade each phone over our household wireless).

iOS 5.0.1 Release Notes

  • Fixes bugs affecting battery life
  • Adds Multitasking Gestures for original iPad
  • Resolves bugs with Documents in the Cloud
  • Improves voice recognition for Australian users using dictation

Download iOS 5.0 for updating multiple iPhone 4 devices

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When there are multiple iPhones in a household and you want to upgrade them all from a single iOS download via multiple Macs, it can be a bit of a challenge. I have previously blogged about how to do this. This post contains the link to the new major version (5.0) of iOS for the iPhone 4 which contains over 200 new features.

Download URL

The iOS 5.0 firmware update file (.ipsw) is available at:

Update

Updating each iPhone as per my previous post resulted in a strange 3002 error.

I finally managed to solve this by placing the downloaded .ipsw file in the following location on each Mac:

  • /Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates

Create the folder if it does not exist. Clicking on the update button in the iPhone Summary page in iTunes will update your iPhone. Repeat with each Mac and iPhone combination.

Download iOS 4.3.5 for updating multiple iPhone 4 devices

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When there are multiple iPhones in a household and you want to upgrade them all from a single iOS download via multiple Macs, it can be a bit of a challenge. I have previously blogged about how to do this. This post contains the link to the latest version (4.3.5) of iOS for the iPhone 4 which deals with a certificate validation security vulnerability.

iOS 4.3.5 Release Notes

Fixes a security vulnerability with certificate validation.

Download URL

The iOS 4.3.5 firmware update file (.ipsw) is available at:

Update

Update each iPhone as per my previous post.