This is one in a series of posts on a Windows Azure Learning Plan. You can find the main post here. This one deals with the "compute" function of Windows Azure, which includes Configuration Files, the Web Role, the Worker Role, and the VM Role.
Videos, tutorials, overviews and offers for both .NET and PHP programming for Windows Azure are here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/cloud/developer/default.aspx?lang=all
A step-by-step programming guide for Windows Azure is here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/ff380142
The Application Lifecycle Management guide is here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/buckwoody/archive/2012/02/07/application-lifecycle-management-overview-for-windows-azure.aspx.