ReadWriteCloud

In a way, Azure was the star of Build 2011 and folks here in Anaheim didn't even really know it. Whatever form the Metro apps delivery system takes in the final shipping version of Windows 8 (with a likely timeframe now of Q1 2013), its most impressive and maybe the most important aspect is the inclusion of apps that learn what functions they can provide to the user from the cloud in real-time, and then manage those functions locally on the user's behalf. Put more simply: adaptive apps.

This could be a nightmare: another ReadWriteWeb story about "Facebook login." Actually, we're being serious: The way security is ensured in any modern operating system is by authenticating the user, and certifying that processes are only run by certified sources. If cloud services are to play the role of application servers, then every online transaction will need to be certified. And we are far from that point.

The real problem is not that there are too many claims-based identity token formats for developers to keep track of. The problem is that there are more than 20 identity federation protocols, each of whose intention is to serve as the mediator between all the formats. This week at Build 2011 in Anaheim, Microsoft threw in a curious little demonstration in the midst of its Windows 8 "Metro-style apps" news: It showed the simple act of logging onto a remote app. It showed it once.

The scale of computing is expanding, enabling greater power on smaller devices on one end, and tremendous compute power and connectivity on the other. Somewhere in the middle are the devices which got us all interested in this industry to begin with, but perhaps because we're all parents at heart, "smaller" has a special place for us, and small devices a special appeal.

Which makes it all the more difficult for the leader of the big side of the scale to garner attention at a show devoted to all the transformation happening on the small side of the scale. Microsoft did not give away coupons for compute instances or VMs on Windows Azure this week at Build 2011. Which is sad, because in a way the more important stuff - the developments that will have a much greater impact on your life than a slick, sliding Start Screen - are taking place on the big end of the scale.

Google did not make developers happy with its pricing changes to Google App Engine GAE. Google announced the pricing changes in May, but it only implemented a side-by-side comparison with the old pricing at the beginning of September. After a fair amount of backlash, Google is backing off. Sort of.

If you're looking for pay for what you use, Todd Hoff says the dream is dead, but GAE will survive.

Amazon continues to woo government agencies for their cloud business. The company announced today that it has achieved Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) Moderate authorization and accreditation from the General Services Administration (GSA).

The FISMA accreditation covers three Amazon services: Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), Simple Storage Service (S3) and Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). What does this mean?

States are going after Amazon for sales taxes, hot and heavy. According an infographic from TurboTax, affiliate taxes have been enacted in Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Illinois, North Carolina, New York and Rhode Island. Another 14 states have introduced, but not passed, affiliate taxes.

Most of this is aimed at online retailers, but what about companies like Rackspace that have affiliate programs and reseller programs for cloud services?

This week Zenoss announced ZenPack, a new way to monitor your Open Stack servers. It is a great way to keep track of things in your cloud and is simple to use and quick to install. It is free and open source and can be used to look at real-time server inventories, performance and health stats, as well as what apps you have deployed to the cloud.

Last month we asked, "What are your top three features for virtualization solutions?" The incentive? An Apple MacBook Air to the commenter with the best response. We've got more where that came from, too.

You answered, and we had Erica Brescia of BitRock do the judging. We got a bunch of great responses, but only one person could win – and that was Michael Schade. Schade's picks for top three features? Policies, preconfigured images, and a robust API. (He had more to say, of course – head over to the post and check it out!)

The next edition of Windows Server, still code-named "Windows Server 8," will have vastly expanded integration with Windows Azure, the company's cloud platform that started out as simply a .NET application provider. Not only will Azure become (as expected) a platform for providing data and services to Windows enterprise applications, but an identity manager for federating identity across multiple Web services, including client-side Metro apps.

As those of you who have tried to implement VDI across your enterprises know, there are a lot of moving parts to coordinate with any particular solution. And one thing missing until now with many of these so-called "VDI in a box" products is the actual box, or the server, that can be used for all-in-one deployments. Well, now Pano Logic has included the actual box.