As David Aiken recently mentioned on his blog, the Microsoft Patterns & Practices team has just released the Windows Azure Architecture Guide – Volume 1. The first in a planned series about the Windows Azure platform, this book walks readers through how to adapt an existing, on-premises ASP.NET application to one that operates in the cloud.  Each chapter explores different considerations including authentication and authorization, data access, session management, deployment, development life cycle and cost analysis.

The book is intended for any architect, developer, or information technology (IT) professional who designs, builds, or operates applications and services that are appropriate for the cloud, works with Windows-based systems and is familiar with the Microsoft .NET Framework, Microsoft Visual Studio, ASP.NET, SQL Server, and Microsoft Visual C#.