SQL Azure; under the hood

the basic setup in SQL Azure is this; each database occupies multiple nodes through a single primary database that processes your queries and two secondary copies that provide HA (and the guaranteed %99.9 SLA). If the primary fails for any reason, secondary copies pick up immediately and carry on. When it comes to computational capacity; SQL Azure cluster contain 100s of nodes that provides massive scale. Each node serves many tenants. Through load balancing and throttling mechanisms we keep the clustered balanced.

http://microsoftpdc.com/Sessions/SVC12

(from this thread)

BizTalk support for SysPrep

Back in 2005 or so I spent a chunk of time trying to make BizTalk work with SysPrep so that we could clone developer images for a BizTalk development team. At the point at which I was writing scripts to edit SIDs in the database, I gave up.

Its nice to see then, that this is now a supported procedure! Ace:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee358636(BTS.10).aspx

Sysprep creates a VHD of a BizTalk Server 2009 installation (including the operating system and all prerequisites) for quick deployment on other virtual machines. An image created using Sysprep will choose a new computer name in order to join the domain the first time it starts. To get BizTalk Server running properly, it is necessary to update various instances of the computer name that are stored in the registry and databases.