Microsoft has released enhancements to Windows Azure which includes support for Point-to-Site Connectivity, Software VPN Device, Dynamic DNS, Remote PowerShell, and Linux SSH in addition to remote desktop and a new software development kit for Ruby.
The Point-to-Site virtual private networking enables you to setup VPN connections between individual computers and a Windows Azure virtual network without the need for a VPN device, which ultimately simplifies setting up secure connections between Windows Azure and client machines even if you are behind corporate firewall or a remote location. You will be able to manage all the activities from within the Windows VPN client, which make use of the Secure Sockets Tunneling Protocol (SSTP).
Microsoft also updated the virtual network creation wizard in the management portal to enable you to configure both Site-to-Site and Point-to-Site VPN options including software VPN device support to existing Site-to-Site VPN connectivity solution.
The update also includes a pure software based Windows Server 2012 Site-to-Site VPN option, which you can activate by running a PowerShell script from the Windows Azure Management Portal that enables Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) on the Windows Server and configures a Site-to-Site VPN tunnel and routing table on it.
With the help of Dynamic DNS support, you will be able to update the DNS server settings of a virtual network at any time without having to redeploy the virtual network and the VMs in them. Windows Azure also enables you to enable remote PowerShell on Windows virtual machines with support for Linux SSH provisioning.
Microsoft has added support for Windows Azure Cloud Services which includes ability for developers to RDP into web and worker role instances by selecting Configure tab of a cloud service and click on the REMOTE button. It also provides an ability to enable administrators to dynamically configure remote desktop support even if it was not enabled during the initial app deployment.
The latest update includes a new Windows Azure SDK for Ruby with which you can build and deploy applications using the recently announced IaaS infrastructure by taking advantage of blobs, tables, queues, topics and subscriptions. Windows Azure SDK for Ruby is a fully open source project hosted on GitHub in collaboration with AppFog and Microsoft.
