What Are the Advantages of SDS Over Table Storage Services with the StorageClient Helper Classes?

Question

All,

I've started testing the Windows Azure Services Platform (WASP) Table Storage Services (TSS) using the StorageClient Helper classes and refactoring the StorageClientAPISample's Program.cs classes with the goal of emulating the SDS load and query operations of my SQL Data Services (SDS) Test Harness Updated to the Windows Azure Services Platform.

TSS's Entity-Attribute/Property-Value structure and data types closely resemble those of SDS. It appears from the sample program that TSS emulates SDS's current capabilties, and Pablo Castro mentions that an Astoria runtime is in the works for TSS, not just SDS. (See Pablo's comment to LINQ and Entity Framework Posts for 10/30/2008+.) 

My assumption is that there will be a surchage for SDS over the pricing for TSS usage. What are/will be the benefits of substituting SDS for vanilla TSS?

Thanks in advance,

--rj

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OakLeaf Blog

Answer 1

rj:

in going over my notes from PDC, i thought the new SDS query [server-side] features (JOIN, ORDERBY, and TAKE) were not available via TSS.  also, my impression was that the "key" pattern for TSS was slightly different. seemed more like the old-style "generation data set" approach.  maybe that's just my bent view, tho.

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Mike Amundsen [http://amundsen.com/blog/]

Answer 2

RJ
Here is alink which provides info on the functionailty of TSS  http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd135720.aspx.

-Anil

Answer 3

Anil:

I've read the entire "REST API Reference for Windows Azure Storage Services" document as a precursor for writing the test harness.

What I was seeking was the SDS team's view of the value adds to TSS offered by SDS. A bullet list would be adequate, but a bit of marketing hype would be welcome, too.

--rj

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OakLeaf Blog

Answer 4

Mike,

According to the docs, TSS supports TAKE. The key pattern is a bit different (PartitionKey, EntityKey), but I don't see that as a plus or minus for implementers.

What I like about TSS is the local dev environment, despite the rudimentary command-line tools, and staged deployment to the cloud.

--rj

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OakLeaf Blog

Answer 5

rj:

good points. the local dev can make things quite a bit eaiser.  and i forgot that TAKE was supported, too.

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Mike Amundsen [http://amundsen.com/blog/]

Answer 6

This might sound like a stupid question, but what do you like about the local dev environment? Besides working while not connected to the internet, what do you feel it offers you?

-Dave

Answer 7

Dave:

I'm not too interested in a local dev environment. while it's true that not having an offline option adds a hurdle to dev work, i've come to expect it and have gotten used to dealing with it. hey, it's the Internet, right [grin]?

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Mike Amundsen [http://amundsen.com/blog/]

Answer 8

Roger
I shall put together a list and get back to you with an answer to your query regarding Value.

-Anil

Answer 9

 RJ
In response to your query....

"SDS will provide scalable relational database as a service (today, Joins, OrderBy, Top...are supported) and as it evolves, we plan to support other features such as aggregates, schemas, fan-out queries, and so on.  SDS just like any other database also supports blobs.  SDS is for Unstructured, Semi, and Structured data, with a roadmap of having highly available relational capabilities."


-Anil

Answer 10

Dave,

Sorry to be so late on replying. I'm not receiving alerts for any social.msdn forums.

I'd say my primary "like" is the fact that I can develop without using any of my 2,000 hours. (Obviously, that will go away with RTW.) When going live, I can develop without incurring charges other than for data access.

One issue I have with the Development services is compile/run times are long. I don't understand the requirement to fire up Development Storage when using Azure Table Storage Services.

Deployment to Staging has worked well for me; havent' sent anything to production yet.

--rj

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OakLeaf Blog

Answer 11

RJ, what are the key considerations that developers should consider in using TSS versus SSDS?  They seem like redundant offerings, its just that TSS uses Azure Storage instead of SQL.  What's the difference?

Answer 12

See A Mid-Course Correction for SQL Data Services for more details on the 2/24/2009 announcement about relational features for SDS.

--rj

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OakLeaf Blog