This document discusses building modern media solutions with Windows Azure and Windows 8. It covers using Windows Azure storage for media content, including blobs for files and queues for messaging. It also discusses accessing storage from a web service and building a Windows 8 client app to consume media. The agenda includes demos of Windows Azure storage and a Windows 8 video store app.

1. Building modern media
solutions with Windows Azure
Karl Ots

2. About me
• Karl Ots:
– Technical Consultant on MS technologies at Symbio
– Official Windows 8 trainer
– MVP nominee
– Co-founder of Young Developers ry
• Ask me about:
– Usability, mobile, cloud
– Windows Azure, Windows 8 and Windows Phone
@fincooper

3. Agenda
• This session is focused on building media
applications with Windows Azure and Windows 8
• We’ll talk about storage, communications and client
application
• Demos

4. Storage
4

5. Windows Azure Storage
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

6. Windows Azure Storage
Windows Azure Benefits:
Non-relational structured storage
Tables Massive scale-out
Windows Azure Benefits:
Big files
Blobs
Windows Azure Benefits:
Persistent Async Messaging
Queues Enqueue, Dequeue
Windows Azure SQL Benefits:
Relational database
Database Highly available
Managed for you as a service

7. Windows Azure Blobs
•
• copy between accounts
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

8. Demo:
Windows Azure Storage

9. Shared Access Signatures
•
•
•
•
(1)

10. Demo: Accessing Azure
Storage from a web service

11. Windows 8 Client

12. Architecture
• Media content stored in
Windows Azure Blob
Storage Video
Storage
• Client accesses Storage
through Web service that
acts as a proxy
Web service
Clients

13. Media purchase flow
• User buys videos via IAP
• IAP receipts are sent to the web service
• Client requests video content
• Web service checks if user has bought the content
• Web service creates a signed URL (SAS) for the video content and shares
that to theclient
• Client accesses the video content via the signed URL

14. Consuming the video
• Download the video via Background Transfer
• Any encrypting/decrypting/ licence checking if needed
• Play the video in MediaElement control
• Customize the control if necessary
• Enhance with Windows 8 features
• Play To
• Subtitles
• Multi-audio support
• Roamed settings

15. Demo: Windows 8 Client
17

16. Demo: Moomins video store
18

17. Q&A

18. Further reading
• TechEd NA 2012 AZR306 - Windows Azure Storage: How It Works,
Best Practices, and Future Directions
• Build 2012 3-035 Building Rich Media Applications on Windows 8 with
Windows Azure Media Services
• fincooper.azurewebsites.net

19. EXTRA: Media Services
“Build-On” Media Partners and Customers
Partner CDNs
Azure CDN
“Build-In”
Partner Media
Processors
Origin
Caching