Azure Weekly Issue 157: 14th January 2018
Obviously one of the hot topics in the last few weeks has been the Meltdown and Spectre CPU vulnerability, Episode 210 of the Azure Podcast covers this topic, how it's been addressed by Microsoft in Azure and on-premise.
If I had to name the biggest addition to the Azure ecosystem in 2017, it would be Cosmos DB. Rimma Nehme Group Product Manager of Azure Cosmos DB has written a great recap of 2017, and I have to say I'm really excited to see how the service will evolve in 2018. John Downs has embarked upon a 6 part series exploring Cosmos DB Server-Side Programming with TypeScript. Part 1 provides an introduction, while
Part 2 examines User-Defined Functions.
In another exciting announcment PowerShell Core 6.0 is Generally Available and Supported, this is the cross-platform (Windows, macOS, and Linux), and open-source version of PowerShell built upon .NET Core.
Justin Marks highlights a gotcha that VSTS will no longer allow creation of new MSA users with custom domain names backed by Azure AD. Compatibility Level 140 is now the default for Azure SQL Database.
New microservices guidance fordesigning, building, and operating microservices on Azure Kubernetes has been released, and finally a great article highlighting the power of Application Insights in: Better Decisions Through Better Analytics: Visual Studio App Center with Azure Application Insights.
AI + Machine Learning
Covering: Azure Batch AI, Azure Bot Service, Microsoft Genomics, Machine Learning services, Machine Learning Studio, Cognitive Services, Bing APIs, Computer Vision API, Content moderator, Custom Services, Emotion API, Face API, Language Understanding (LUIS), Linguistic Analysis API, QnA Maker API, Speaker Recognition API, Text Analytics API, Translator Speech API, Translator Text API, Web Language Model API
- On Channel 9, Corom Thompson talks about Using Cognitive Search to Understand the JFK Documents AI Show
- On MSDN, Nikita Habib writes about a Bot Framework issue: An error occurred : Failed to find any azure subscriptions for the current user
Analytics
Covering: Azure Databricks, HDInsight, Data Factory, Stream Analytics, Data Lake Analytics, Event Hubs, Power BI, Azure Analysis Services, Apache Spark for HDInsight, Apache Storm for HDInsight, R Server for HDInsight, Data Catalog
- On the Azure blog, Christian Wade (@_christianWade) points to his video on Azure Analysis Services features with Scott Hanselman on Azure Friday and introduces Asynchronous refresh with the REST API for Azure Analysis Services
- On the risual blog, David Brass describes Improving Azure Machine Learning predictions when using regression analysis
- On Channel 9, Bharath Sreenivas talks about Extending Azure HDInsight to install open source components and Pranav Rastogi gives an Azure HDInsight Application Platform Overview on Data Exposed
- On MSDN, Ashish Thapliyal (@ashishth) points to a script to Enable text caching in HDInsight Interactive Query Cluster to get super-fast performance with text data
- Also on MSDN, Saveen Reddy (@saveenr) points to a document which details How to Save Money and Control Costs with Azure Data Lake Analytics
- Also on MSDN, Buck Woody writes DevOps for Data Science – Continuous Delivery and DevOps for Data Science – Release Management
- Also on MSDN, Charles Sterling (@chass) gives a Walk through of using the PowerApps custom visual in Power BI and writes about the 1/11/2018 Webinar: R Script and Power BI go together better than peanut butter and chocolate – and make much better visualizations by Ginger Grant
- Also on MSDN, Gregg Boer writes about Power BI and VSTS Analytics
- Chris Webb (@Technitrain) writes about In the Previous Date Filters In Power BI/Get&Transform/Power Query
- On the MSSQL Tips site, Siddharth Mehta (@siddhumehta) blogs about Data exploration, drill down, and analysis using decomposition tree in Power BI Desktop
- Devin Knight (@knight_devin) posts Power BI Custom Visuals Class Module 84 – ChartAccent – BarChart
- James Serra (@JamesSerra) posts a Reference architecture for enterprise reporting in Azure
- On the Azure blog, Andrew Shannon announces the new developer tools in Build richer apps with your time series data
Compute
Covering: Virtual Machines, Functions, Batch, Service Fabric, Virtual Machine Scale Sets, Cloud Services, Linux Virtual Machines, SAP HANA on Azure Large Instances
- Mark Heath (@mark_heath) walks through Creating Durable Functions in the Azure Portal
- On the Index out of Range blog, Szymon Warda blogs about The missing Azure Functions documentation and walks through Troubleshooting compiled Azure Functions in F#
- On MSDN, Amit Agarwal Amagar writes Azure Function Apps: Trigger in Azure SQL /SQL Server to execute Azure Function
- Also on MSDN, Elizabeth R Maher describes Service Fabric in DevTest Lab Environments
- Also on MSDN, Cihat Cengiz writes Tell me something I should know – Blockchain as a Service on Microsoft Azure
- Also on MSDN, Lee Stott (@lee_stott) describes Using Microsoft Azure Data Science Virtual Machines in your teaching and Research Labs
- Also on MSDN, Kyle Deeds announces the Preview of new high performance computing capability: H-Series VMs
- Vincent-Philippe Lauzon talks about Finding a VM Image Reference, Publisher & SKU
- On TechNet, Alex Bennett writes What are Azure Availability Zones and why should you use them
- On MSDN, Cameron - Sap Program Manager writes SAP on Azure: General Update – January 2018
Containers
Covering: Container Registry, Container Instances, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Web App for Containers
- On the Azure blog, Peter Taylor describes Designing, building, and operating microservices on Azure
- On MSDN, ddeeb walks through Setting up CI/CD targeting Red Hat OpenShift Kubernetes Using VSTS
- Also on MSDN, Paras Patidar discusses Using Azure Container Registry on Cross Subscription
- Also on MSDN, Sarah Jeanne Sexton provides A Whirlwind Tour of RNNs with Docker the easy way
- Also on MSDN, Zhiliang Xu describes how to Run Shadowsocks in Azure Container Instances
- Also on TechNet, Stefan Stranger (@sstranger) discusses Running ACS-Engine in Docker container
Databases
Covering: Azure SQL Database, Azure Cosmos DB, SQL Data Warehouse, Redis Cache, SQL Server Stretch Database, SQL Server on virtual machines, Table storage, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, Azure Database for MySQL
- On the Azure blog, Rimma Nehme (@rimmanehme) gives a Azure CosmosDB: Recap of 2017
- On the Kloud blog, John Downs writes Cosmos DB Server-Side Programming with TypeScript – Part 1: Introduction and Part 2: User-Defined Functions
- On the Database Journal site, Marcin Policht blogs about Azure Cosmos DB Consistency Levels
- On MSDN, Sudhir Rawat (@rawatsudhir) talks about Azure CosmosDB in Banking Sector
- On Channel 9, Scott Hanselman and Emily Lawton talk about Apache Spark Connector for Azure Cosmos DB on Azure Friday
- Also on MSDN, Joseph Sack writes that Compatibility Level 140 is now the default for Azure SQL Database
- Radu Vunvulea (@RaduVunvulea) covers Flavors of SQL inside Azure Azure SQL
- On the Journey to SQL Authority with Pinal Dave blog, Pinal Dave (@pinaldave) discusses How to Restart SQL Azure Database
- Simon J.K. Pedersen describes how to Scale your Azure SQL Database with Azure Functions
- On the .NET Curry blog, Mahesh Sabnis (@maheshdotnet) discusses Using Azure database for PostgreSQL in ASP.NET Core with EF Core
- Also on the Azure blog, Arnaud Comet talks about Azure SQLDW, the cost benefits of an on-demand data warehousing
- Also on Channel 9, Scott Hanselman and Ron Ortloff talk about Azure SQL Data Warehouse compute optimized performance tier on Azure Friday
Developer Tools
Covering: Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, SDKs, Developer tool integrations, CLIs, Blockchain Workbench
- On MSDN, Blanca Delgado Parra writes Better Decisions Through Better Analytics: Visual Studio App Center with Azure Application Insights
- Also on MSDN, Tanmayee Kamath posts Image Factory – Part 3: Save Custom Images and Distribute to Multiple Labs
- Also on MSDN, Wael Kdouh (@waelkdouh) describes Deploying Your Dockerized Angular Application To Azure Using VSTS
- On the Azure blog, Jenny Jiang writes that Azure Data Lake tools integrates with VSCode Data Lake Explorer and Azure Account
- Also on MSDN, Michael Hansen writes about the High Availability Team Foundation Server TFS in Azure
- Also on MSDN, Sana Noorani writes about the Visual Studio App Center
- Michael Crump (@mbcrump) writes Azure Tips and Tricks Part 73 - Send Emails through Azure with C and SendGrid
- On Channel 9, James Montemagno presents Episode 37: .NET Standard Libraries with Immo Landwerth on the Xamarin Show
- Simon Foster (@funkysi1701) writes about Mobile App UI Testing
- On Microsoft + Open Source, Zachary Deptawa lists the Top questions about Terraform and Azure
DevOps
Covering: Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS), Azure DevTest Labs, DevOps tool integrations, Azure DevOps Projects, Azure Lab Services
Identity
Covering: Azure Active Directory, Multi-factor Authentication, Azure Active Directory Domain Services, Azure Active Directory B2C
- On MSDN, Justin Marks announces that VSTS will no longer allow creation of new MSA users with custom domain names backed by AzureAD
- On TechNet, Chad Cox writes AzureADPoSh: Azure AD Applications Password Expirations and ADPoSh: Find and Fix AdminSDHolder Orphans AdminCount
- Also on TechNet, Yuri Diogenes (@yuridiogenes) points to his course on Hybrid Cloud Workload Protection with Azure Security Center and walks through Creating Custom Notable Event in Azure Security Center
- On the Azure blog, Shalini Pasupneti covers the Azure Security Center and Microsoft Web Application Firewall Integration
Integration
Covering: Service Bus, Logic Apps, Event Grid
- On TechNet, the Intune Support Team writes Plan for Change: Use Intune on Azure now for your MDM management
Internet of Things
Covering: IoT Hub, IoT Suite, IoT Edge, IoT Central, IoT solution accelerators, Time Series Insights, Azure Maps, Azure Sphere
- Scott Hanselman (@shanselman) writes Exploring the Azure IoT Arduino Cloud DevKit
- On Channel 9, Olivier Bloch and Tim Laverty talk about How to customize the Remote Monitoring Preconfigured Solution for Azure IoT on the Internet of Things Show
- Radu Vunvulea (@RaduVunvulea) writes IoT Home Automation Garage door proximity sensor
Management and Governance
Covering: Backup, Site Recovery, App Insights, Azure Advisor, Sceduler, Automation, Log Analytics, Azure Monitor, Security & Compliance, Protection & Recovery, Automation & Control, Insight & Analytics, Azure Service Health, Microsoft Azure portal, Azure Resource Manager, Cloud Shell, the Azure mobile app, Azure Policy, Cost Management, Azure Managed Applications
- Stefan Roth (@stefanroth_net) covers Azure Monitor – New Alerts Experience Preview
- On the Azure podcast, Cale Teeter and Sujit D'Mello present Episode 211 - Azure Monitor
- On Channel 9, Corey Sanders (@CoreySandersWA) goes all in on Azure Policy on Tuesdays with Corey
- On TechNet, Srinath discusses Troubleshooting Hyper-V to Azure Replication Issues when using Azure Site Recovery
- Also on TechNet, Christopher Scott talks about Azure Automation: Shutting Down Custom Tagged Virtual Machines
- On Code Project, Gordon Beeming Rsa describes Moving Application Insights Resources Between Subscriptions in Azure
- Sam Cogan (@samcogan) describes Azure Pre-Emptive Maintenance
- On MSDN, Priti Kalani explains how to Optimize your Azure spend
Media
Covering: Media services, Encoding, Live and On-Demand Streaming, Azure Media Player, Content Protection, Media Analytics, Video Indexer
Microsoft Azure Stack
Covering: Azure Stack
Migration
Covering: Azure Database Migration Service, Azure Migrate, Data Box
Mobile
Covering: App Service (Mobile), Notification Hubs, Mobile apps, API apps, Visual Studio App Centre, Xamarin
Networking
Covering: ExpressRoute, Azure DNS, Virtual Network, Traffic Manager, Load Balancer, VPN Gateway, Application Gateway, Network Watcher
- On MSDN, Karan Singh (@im_karan_singh) discusses Azure App Service : Automate VNET Re-sync in case of failure
- Also on MSDN, Ashok Kirla talks about Network virtualization using SCVMM and TFS/VSTS for your Build-Deploy-Test scenarios
- On TechNet, Bernhard Frank posts a video about Hybrid Networking: End-to-end setup of an ExpressRoute between interxion und Azure
- Also on TechNet, djtech2k11 explains how to Extend Your Network to Azure With Site-to-Site VPN Quick and Cheap
Security
Covering: Azure Information Protection, Key Vault, Security Center, Azure DDoS Protection, Azure Advanced Threat Protection
Storage
Covering: Storage, StorSimple, Data Lake Store, Blob Storage, Disk Storage, Managed Disks, Queue Storage, File Storage, Storage Explorer, Archive Storage
- Michael Crump (@mbcrump) writes Azure Tips and Tricks Part 74 - Working with Azure Storage Blobs and Files through the Portal, Part 75 - Create an Azure Storage Blob Container through C, Part 76 - Uploading and Downloading a Stream into an Azure Storage Blob and Part 77 - Working with Azure Storage Explorer
- Also on TechNet, Srinath writes about The backup could not be started because of an unexpected error in virtual disk service 0x80070057 0x086C6
Web
Covering: App Service (Web), API Management, Content Delivery Network, Azure Search, Web apps, Azure SignalR Service
- On MSDN, Amit Agarwal Amagar describes the Custom Schedule for Azure Web Job Timer Triggers
- Also on MSDN, Ben Perkins (@csharpguitar) explains How to disable preloadEnabled on an Azure App Service and walks through Installing Procdump for Linux
- Also on MSDN, Glenn Condron writes about 64 bit ASP.NET Core on Azure App Service
- Also on MSDN, Ben Perkins (@csharpguitar) writes about a Quick way to deploy an Azure App Service from Visual Studio
- Also on MSDN, Michael Hansen writes about Continuous Deployment with VSTS/TFS and App Service Environment ASE
- On the Azure blog, Yusuf Rangwala writes a Migration checklist when moving to Azure App Service
Azure Weekly Archive
If you would like to read more interesting articles from the Azure ecosystem check out our archive where you will find all of the back issues.
Contribute Content
If you would like to contribute any content to the Azure Weekly newsletter, please email azureweekly@endjin.com