Designing Data Storage Architecture (18%) Choose the appropriate data storage model based on technical requirements.
This objective may include but is not limited to: SQL Azure, Cloud drive, performance, scalability, accessibility from other applications and platforms, Windows Azure storage services: blobs, tables, and queues;
Design a synchronization strategy.
This objective may include but is not limited to: synchronize online and offline data by using sync framework and SQL Azure Sync service
Plan a cost-effective data architecture based on business requirements.
This objective may include but is not limited to: code migration cost, data migration cost, bandwidth cost
Design a database migration plan from SQL Server to SQL Azure.
This objective may include but is not limited to: differences between SQL Azure and SQL Server, concessions for unsupported features, schema, data, reporting an analytic tooling Plan for media storage and accessibility.
This objective may include but is not limited to: media accessibility, global distribution with Content Delivery Network (CDN), blob storage
Optimizing Data Access and Messaging (17%) Optimize a data access strategy.
This objective may include but is not limited to: batch operations and performance techniques, data latency due to location, saving bandwidth cost
Design a reliable data access layer to access SQL Azure.
This objective may include but is not limited to: define client data access standards, connection timeout scenarios
Design an efficient strategy to avoid data access throttling.
This objective may include but is not limited to: table storage, partition, transaction volumes, SQL Azure CPU throttling, query design
Design a queue strategy that guarantees idempotency.
This objective may include but is not limited to: multiple processing, multiple consumers, long-running processes
Design communication strategies using queues.
This objective may include but is not limited to: asynchronous message dispatch, durable message handling, multiple consumers for scalability
Designing the Application Architecture (19%) Choose appropriate role types for compute instances.
This objective may include but is not limited to: difference between web and worker roles, considerations for hosting standalone applications, scaling considerations for web and worker roles
Optimize worker role design for efficient resource usage.
This objective may include but is not limited to: design a worker scheme for handling multiple background tasks, storage
Identify performance vs. cost trade-offs.
This objective may include but is not limited to: number of instances, VM size, Service Bus connections, geographic location of the resources
Choose appropriate ways to respond to Azure Fabric Controller events.
This objective may include but is not limited to: instance Start and Run events, instance count change, service configuration changes
Develop a plan to migrate existing applications and services.
This objective may include but is not limited to: identify dependencies of an existing application that will not translate or will require migration to Azure platform, determine the gap to migrate an existing application to Azure, assess an existing solution for suitability to migrate to Azure
Preparing for Application and Service Deployment (15%) Choose an appropriate upgrade strategy.
This objective may include but is not limited to: upgrade path options such as
staging vs. production, port number and protocol, service definition changes, service configuration changes, affinity, upgrade domains, operating system versions
Choose the appropriate virtual machine size.
This objective may include but is not limited to: local size storage, memory, raw processing power, bandwidth
Plan a deployment for the entire application life cycle.
This objective may include but is not limited to: Windows Azure portal, Microsoft Visual Studio, Service Management API, deploy from build server, manage SSL certificates for hosted services
Define a resource-efficient environment for application development and testing.
This objective may include but is not limited to: deployment status, hourly metering, difference between DevFabric and AzureFabric
Choose a naming scheme for resources.
This objective may include but is not limited to: custom domain name, service registry in Service Bus, Content Delivery Network (CDN)
Investigating and Analyzing Applications (16%) Plan, collect, and interpret diagnostics and instrumentation data.
This objective may include but is not limited to: polling frequency, upload frequency, different log types, trace levels
Identify SQL Azure performance and storage capacity with Dynamic Management Views.
This objective may include but is not limited to: identify long-running queries, monitor connections and capacity, capabilities of the Dynamic Management Views
Identify and mitigate deployment and runtime issues for Windows Azure.
This objective may include but is not limited to: diagnose Start-Stop cycling, runtime memory issues, examining instrumentation and diagnostic outputs, IntelliTrace, SQL Azure connectivity, access control, Service Bus connectivity, role startup activity
Designing Integrated Solutions (15%) Design hybrid solutions.
This objective may include but is not limited to: Cloud bursting, interoperability with non-Microsoft technologies, integrate with existing applications and services not hosted in Azure, Service Bus, publish subscribe
Identify and mitigate connectivity issues in hybrid solutions.
This objective may include but is not limited to: non-Azure databases and services, relay bindings, connection sizing with Service Bus, store and forward
Plan for appropriate access control schemes based on security requirements.
This objective may include but is not limited to: identity federation, claims transformation, claims-based security
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