Repairing WCF on IIS

Tried to create a web host for my WCF Service today and was greeted with the following error:

Could not load type 'System.ServiceModel.Activation.HttpModule' from assembly 'System.ServiceModel, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089'.

Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current Web request. Review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code. 

Exception Details: System.TypeLoadException: Could not load type 'System.ServiceModel.Activation.HttpModule' from assembly 'System.ServiceModel, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089'.

I already had HTTP Activation enabled on my IIS and configured the web site to use .NET 4.0. After some searching, I found the solution.

Just need to run aspnet_regiis -iru on a Visual Studio Command Prompt to solve the issue. 

Layered Architecture Sample - August 2010

An updated (August 2010) release of the Layered Architecture Sample for .NET is now available. New in this release is the illustration of using Message Types to pass data to-and-from the Expense Workflow Service and the changes in the communication model to the Workflow Service.

Important in this release is also a fix to ensure that workflow persistence is working correctly so that the state of the workflow is maintained between host shutdowns.

Take note that the Azure version of the sample is not yet updated.

You can download the sample directly from here.

SQL Azure Migration Wizard

If you are planning to migrate your SQL Server databases to SQL Azure, then you should check out this tool - SQL Azure Migration Wizard.

Week In Review

In a flash, I have completed 1 week in my new workplace. The experience has been great so far. My new colleagues were friendly, have good team spirit and frequently crack hilarious jokes/conversations which makes the working environment very fun to work in. It also feels good to have a designated desk - a cubicle I can call my own and get back the habit of stashing stuffs under the table *HeHe*

It really feels like home with everything familiar to me and everyone speaking my lingo. There are so many areas that I felt I could contribute ranging from the application life-cycle management processes, project management, the architecture of the company applications, some basic level of infrastructure and lots more. Everyone appears to be receptive to ideas, comments and suggestions which is excellent.

My first initiative is to have a full-scale Team Foundation Server deployment. Initial migration of the previous TFS databases has been successful and now I am looking forward to the new week to do more testing before moving the developers onto the platform.

I managed to gain exposure to other 'areas of reality' within the week and I am happy that now I can be involved in a more realistic software development environment. On the way, I also helped out with some minor trouble-shooting for my colleagues and I am glad my solutions were useful to them.

Overall, I think it is a good start to a new beginning. The only thing I need to get adjusted back into is the strict working hours from 9-to-6 and braving the traffic congestions every morning and evening. Just some re-alignment on the lifestyle and everything should work out fine.

I look forward to more adventures and career growth in this new company.

Is it PCI DSS Compliant?

So I went a little excited and told my new boss about how I hope to move the company's applications to Windows Azure and all of a sudden, she threw this question at me...

"Is Microsoft's Cloud PCI DSS compliant?"

I stared at her with a blank face, "PCI what?"

"Our apps deal with credit card information so wherever we host, it needs to be PCI DSS compliant", she explained. "If it is not compliant, I am afraid we can't move to the cloud", she added.

I was heart-broken :'( A quick search on Google (hehe... now I can say this) tells me a bit more about PCI DSS. So it stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.

Then, further searches landed me with this awesome paper - Securing Microsoft's Cloud Infrastructure. According to the whitepaper, Microsoft's Cloud undergoes annual audits for PCI DSS, SOX and HIPAA compliance. They also obtained ISO/IEC 27001:2005 certification and SAS 70 Type 1 and II attestations.

What a relief?! Now, I can continue to cloud seed on my boss *HeHe*

Moving On & Starting New

I made a big and tough decision in my life this week - I have decided to leave my company. After 5 long years, I guessed it is time for me to move on. I figured out that my deepest passion is still in software development (and all things software development). I am more excited living around code - either doing coding myself, designing something for people to code, reading code, talking about code or interacting with people who codes. :p

Because of that, I have decided to return to software development environment. Deciding which environment to go to was simple for me but the thought of leaving my company was a hard one. Afterall, I would say that this is one of the best companies I had ever worked for - in terms of benefits and how they treat their employees. However, life is short and I needed to grow my career.

I have learned a lot about myself these 5 years. Through it I think I understand myself better, realize things about life and people better. I hope I made the right choice to move on and I look forward to becoming the 'Firedancer' I once was (if not too late).