3.3.2. Firewall Settings
Because your databases are
located in places you physically can't get to or control, Microsoft has
implemented a mechanism to help protect your data. This protection
mechanism is the SQL Azure firewall, which prevents restricted access
to all your databases until you physically specify which computers have
permission. Access to your SQL Azure databases is based on the
originating IP address that makes a request.
To grant access to your SQL
Azure databases, you specify a range of acceptable IP addresses in the
Server Administration portal on the Firewall Settings tab, shown in Figure 3.
IP address ranges are defined by rules that allow you to specify
multiple firewall setting entries. For example, you can define an IP
address range for your home as well as one for your office. If you
attend a conference, you can define an additional rule and IP address
that let you connect from that specific location. Also notice the
"Allow Microsoft Services access to this server" check box on the
Firewall Settings tab; it allows internal communication between Windows
Azure services and SQL Azure databases.
To add a firewall rule,
click the Add Rule button on the Firewall Settings tab to display the
Add Firewall Rule dialog, shown in Figure 3-6.
You're asked to specify the rule name and the IP address range.
Firewall rule names must be unique, and there is no limit to the number
of rules you can have.
Entering the IP Range is simple because the dialog tells you what your IP address is. Figure 4
uses the same value for the range's start and ending values to indicate
that only the single specified address should be allowed to access the
database. You can enter a range of IP address if you want multiple
computers to access SQL Azure.
After you've entered
your firewall rule information, click the Submit button. Your new rule
is added to the Firewall Settings tab, as shown in Figure 5. As the note in Figure 3-6
states, it may be up to 5 minutes before your rule takes effect and you
can connect to SQL Azure (although I have never had it take more than 1
minute to take affect). After that, you can edit and delete the rule.
