As of July 1, Microsoft changed its Windows Azure licensing terms to allow the use of Remote Desktop Services (RDS) on Windows Azure Virtual Machines (VMs).
Before that date, Microsoft's licensing stipulated that service
providers and enterprise users could run only up to two simultaneous
sessions for server-admin or maintenace purposes on Azure VMs.
Does this mean service providers -- or end user customers -- can now
run Windows clients/Windows desktops inside an Azure VM? Only if they
are doing so on top of Windows Server.
The first Microsoft partner to announce support for this new RDS on
Azure VM licensing was Citrix. Citrix announced on July 8 that it was
making its XenDesktop 7 on Azure available to other service providers and enterprise customers.
"Microsoft recently enabled the use of Windows Server RDS service
provider license on Windows Azure, and we are excited to see Citrix
support for Windows Azure as an underlying infrastructure for customers
and service providers deploying virtual desktops and applications," said
Claire Fang, Director of Windows Azure, in a statement provided by the
company.
Microsoft quietly noted the change in the licesning terms via an update to its Azure Virtual Machines Licensing Frequently Asked Questions list.
In a July 15 blog post explaining the new licensing changes,
Microsoft's Luis Panzano noted that hosters interested in running RDS
on Windows Azure VMs will need to purchase RDS Subscriber Access
Licenses (SALs) through the Microsoft Services Provider Licensing
Agreement (SPLA) for each user or device that will access their services
an dsoftware on Windows Azure.
There are still a number of disallowed scenarios in spite of this new licensing proviision, however, Panzano explained:
RDS Client Access Licenses (CALs) purchased from Microsoft
volume-licensing programs such as Enterprise Agreements (EAs), do not
get license mobility to shared cloud platforms, hence they cannot be
used on Azure.
Windows ‘Client’ OS (e.g. Windows 8) virtual desktops, or VDI
deployments, will continue to not be allowed on Azure, because Windows
client OS product use rights prohibit such use on multi-tenant/shared
cloud environments.
At last week's Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft officials were talking up desktop hosting growth opportunities.
In one session, Microsoft officials told service providers that they
could differentiate themselves from Microsoft/Office365 by offering Lync
running on iPad via RDS.
In that same session, company officials also noted that
hosting-focused Reference Architecture for Desktop Hosting with Windows
Server 2012 had recently been released. Windows Azure is not yet
preconfigured to make these kinds of desktop hosting scenarios available
on a turnkey basis, but some believe this capability is coming.
Service providers/hosters are a key component of Microsoft's "CloudOS" pitch.
Microsoft customers can opt to run applications and data on premises
themselves; have service providers do it for them; or go with Microsoft,
which will host users' apps and data in Microsoft's datacenters ("in
the cloud").
Microsoft is believed to be building its own Windows desktop as a service offering, codenamed "Mohoro,"
which is supposedly due out in the latter half of 2014. If Microsoft
brings this to market, one would assume that service providers would be
none too happy, unless they, too, are allowed to offer Windows client as
a hosted service without all the current licensing hoops.
Chinese Internet service provider PPTV is launching a new subscription
Web television service, and it's using Microsoft's Azure platform to do
so.
Today, technology giant
Microsoft and Chinese Internet service provider PPTV signed a
partnership deal that will bring a new Web TV service to Microsoft's
Windows Azure platform.
The deal, Microsoft's first cloud-based collaboration with a local
Chinese new media company, will see PPTV's Asia TV Networks (ATN)
launched using Azure as its core infrastructure, while the two companies
have also agreed to explore further opportunities to work together in
online TV and other areas.
ATN is intended as a "local showcase" for subscription online
television, according to PPTV. Content can be uploaded by global content
providers, and then can be licensed to service providers with a revenue
sharing model.
Chuang Tao, chief executive of PPTV, said:
With Windows Azure, we can offer scale and flexibility
not found anywhere else. We can also avoid unpredictable resource and
demand fluctuations globally. PPTV ATN can thus pass on these benefits
to our partners, and in the end to our global customers. This is a new
competitive edge for our business.
The signing ceremony took place in Shanghai, attended by Tao; Zhengyi
Liu, the deputy district head of Shanghai Pudong New Area District and
Ya-Qin Zhang, Microsoft corporate vice president and chairman of
Microsoft Asia-Pacific R&D Group.
PPTV is currently the largest online television service operating in
China, featuring television shows, sports, entertainment and news
content.
