Chapter 6. Windows Azure Platform Primer

With the advent of the Internet, it became possible to access services from just a browser without requiring several hours of setup and configuration time before using a technology. This fast bootstrapping usage of elastic, pay-per-use, internet-accessible services (known as cloud computing), is impacting not just end-consumers, but also businesses of all sizes. Microsoft is trying to cause a disruptive shift in the cloud-computing market and lead the next wave of innovation.

6-12-18 is not a random typo that made it into the book, but these are three numbers discussed by Microsoft executive Oliver Sharp when discussing the deployment patterns of enterprise customers. Six represents the percentage of data-center utilization that typically appears in data-center utilization surveys—utilization peaks at around ten percent. Twelve, is the twelve million square feet server facilities that Microsoft had bought at the time when Oliver made the note. Finally...