Azure Weekly Issue 165: 11th March 2018
There's lots of content in this issue, but one of the most interesting articles covers the impressive performance improvements that the Functions team have made to HTTP Triggers.
One of my most requested features has finally reached GA: Storage Service Encryption with customer managed keys general availability. Other announcements this week include public preview of Java on App Service, built-in support for Tomcat and OpenJDK, Azure SQL Database now offers zone redundant Premium databases and elastic pools, Azure Data Lake tools for VS Code now supports job view and job monitoring, new app usage monitoring capabilities in Application Insights, Faster Metric Alerts for Logs now in limited public preview, Just-in-Time VM Access is generally available, and update management, inventory, and change tracking in Azure Automation now generally available.
Other items of note include Microsoft and Esri launch Geospatial AI on Azure, Azure's layered approach to physical security, and migrate your databases to a fully managed service with Azure SQL Database Managed Instance
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 the Azure blog, Joseph Sirosh (@josephsirosh) writes that Microsoft and Esri launch Geospatial AI on Azure
- On Channel 9, Seth Juarez talks about Introduction to Azure ML Services Part 1/4 with Parashar Shah on the AI Show
- On Code Project, Manish Rajpoot explains How to Pass and consume Azure ML Input Web service Parameters to R modules in Azure ML
- On MSDN, Lee Stott (@lee_stott) points to a number of courses wherein we can Learn the fundamentals of Microsofts Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence services
- Also on MSDN, Benjamin Xue explains How to Connect Your Bot App with Microsoft Cortana
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, Jenny Jiang announces that Azure Data Lake tools for VS Code now supports job view and job monitoring
- Also on MSDN, Ed Price talks about Azure Development... and Data? — Architect your Data Story in the Cloud (Content Spotlight)
- On TechNet, the Cortana Intelligence, AzureML and DatabricksML Team write about the Image Data Support in Apache Spark
- Also on TechNet, Anshuman Mansingh writes Azure 10 // Big Data & Data Warehouse – Building A Simple Solution
- Also on MSDN, Charles Sterling (@chass) highlights an upcoming webinar: Data Storytelling with Power BI by Tristan Malherbe
Compute
Covering: Virtual Machines, Functions, Batch, Service Fabric, Virtual Machine Scale Sets, Cloud Services, Linux Virtual Machines, SAP HANA on Azure Large Instances
- James Randall updates his performance analysis of Azure Functions in the light of Significant Improvements in HTTP Trigger Scaling
- On the Azure blog, Manish Shukla explains how to Get Reserved Instance purchase recommendations based on usage pattern
- On the TechKB blog, Michael Coutanche (@mum3LE5) blogs about Configuring RDP access to an Ubuntu VM in Azure
- Mark Heath (@mark_heath) writes Overwhelmed by Choice with Azure Functions?
- Jason Roberts (@robertsjason) writes about Dynamic Binding in Azure Functions with Imperative Runtime Bindings
- On Visual Studio Magazine - Columns, Jason Roberts (@robertsjason) talks about Testing Precompiled Azure Functions Locally with Storage Emulator
Containers
Covering: Container Registry, Container Instances, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Web App for Containers
- Elton Stoneman writes This Blog Runs on Docker and Kubernetes - in Two Azure Regions
- Tobias Zimmergren describes Monitoring your Kubernetes cluster running on Azure Container Service AKS using Log Analytics
- On MSDN, Gareth Emslie writes Azure Container Instances Rock
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, Borko Novakovic and Eric Hudson write Migrate your databases to a fully managed service with Azure SQL Database Managed Instance
- James Serra (@JamesSerra) writes about the Public preview of Azure SQL Database Managed Instance
- Also on the Azure blog, Gilad Mittelman introduces SQL Information Protection for Azure SQL Database and on-premises SQL Server which is in public preview
- Also on the Azure blog, Alexander Sasha Nosov writes that Azure SQL Database now offers zone redundant Premium databases and elastic pools
- On Channel 9, Rich Lander and Jeremy Likness talk about CosmosDB and .NET Core
- On the Database Journal site, Marcin Policht describes Controlling Access to Azure Cosmos DB
- On MSDN, Yochanan Rachamim writes about Azure Data Sync – Resolve slow initial sync on two way sync
- Also on MSDN, Mohamed Baioumy describes how to Schedule Data Sync with Azure SQL Database use an Automation account
- Also on the Azure blog, Sunil Kamath discusses some Updates to Azure Database for MySQL and Azure Database for PostgreSQL
- Also on MSDN, Furdui Dragos provides some Tips and tricks on how to properly create Azure SQL DB
- On MSDN, Matt Usher (@two_under) describes Checking for queued queries and writes How many queries and slots are running in my Azure SQL Data Warehouse
Developer Tools
Covering: Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, SDKs, Developer tool integrations, CLIs, Blockchain Workbench
- Guy Gregory gives a presentation on Modernising Application Development
- On MSDN, J. Opdam explains How we deliver the DevOps VSTS Bot
- On the Azure blog, Buck Hodges (@tfsbuck) talks about What's brewing in Visual Studio Team Services: March 2018 Digest
- Also on MSDN, Pratap Lakshman blogs about DevOps for IoT with Win10 IoT Core, UWP, and VSTS
- On TechNet, Chris Walden writes What I think is the single best thing about VSTS
- Wouter de Kort writes Build your own Hosted VSTS Agent Cloud: Part 3 – Automate
- Also on MSDN, Julian Atanasoae writes How to build a VSTS assistant – The Life and Times of a Kanban bot – Part 2
- Also on MSDN, Tim Noonan writes VSTS: Why are we getting duplicate e-mails
- Also on MSDN, Kayla Ngan writes about the New Git Features in Visual Studio 2017 Update 6
- On the Daily Dot Net Tips blog, Abhijit Jana (@AbhijitJana) describes how to Quickly setup everything you need for develop, deploy and monitor your solution on Azure – Using Azure DevOps Project and talks about Setting up Continuous Delivery for Azure App Services from Azure Portal
- Also on MSDN, Mark Woodbridge porvides a Cloud computing guide for researchers – Automated testing using Drone
- Michael Crump (@mbcrump) writes Azure Tips and Tricks Part 100 - Creating an Email Subscription with Azure Functions - Sending Emails
- On MSDN, Deva Gnanam (@devagnanam) provides some Developer Guidance: Which endpoint should i use Microsoft Graph API or Outlook REST API
- Radu Vunvulea (@RaduVunvulea) writes about Adding extra- complexity to a solution by using too many SaaS of a cloud provider
- On Channel 9, James Montemagno talks about User Interface Automation with App Center Test with James White
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 the Azure blog, Ben Kliger announces that Just-in-Time VM Access is generally available
- On the Azure blog, Lavanya Kasarabada announces the Storage Service Encryption with customer managed keys general availability
- Also on the Azure blog, Ryan Roberts discusses Azure's layered approach to physical security
- Also on the Azure blog, Matt Rathbun writes that Microsoft releases automation for HIPAA/HITRUST compliance
- K. Scott Allen (@OdeToCode) describes Decryption with Azure Key Vault
- On TechNet, Daniele De Angelis writes about when AAD Connect loses the connection with SQL Server
Integration
Covering: Service Bus, Logic Apps, Event Grid
- Christos Matskas (@ChristosMatskas) describes Using Azure Serverless to copy data from Service Bus to Azure Data Lake
- On codeit blog, Toon Vanhoutte writes about IP Restrictions in Logic Apps
- Also on TechNet, Phil Beaumont writes about Social Media Streaming on Azure
- Also on TechNet, Matt Soseman talks about Intune: MDM Enrollment Experience (complete device management)
Internet of Things
Covering: IoT Hub, IoT Suite, IoT Edge, IoT Central, IoT solution accelerators, Time Series Insights, Azure Maps, Azure Sphere
- On the Azure blog, Olivier Bloch provides A digital transformation Journey featuring Contoso Manufacturing and Azure IoT
- On Channel 9, Lena Hall and Suz Hinton talk about a Data ingestion, stream processing and sentiment analysis pipeline using Twitter data example on the Open Source Show
- Microsoft + Open Source explains How startup Beco built its IoT cloud on Azure
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
- On the Azure blog, Eamon O'Reilly writes that Update management, inventory, and change tracking in Azure Automation now generally available
- Also on the Azure blog, Kiran Madnani announces that Faster Metric Alerts for Logs now in limited public preview
- Also on the Azure blog, David Stephens writes about the New app usage monitoring capabilities in Application Insights
- On MSDN, Jason Venema (@jasonvenema) discusses Integrating Logic Apps and Azure Monitor
- Sam Cogan (@samcogan) discusses Azure Monitor and Azure Log Analytics – When to use which
- On TechNet, Neil Bird carries on the Azure Cost Optimisation Series, with: Enable Hybrid Use Benefit HUB Using PowerShell
- Also on TechNet, Stefan Stranger (@sstranger) blogs about Installing Azure CLI on Debian GNU/Linux for WSL
- On the Azure podcast, the Azure podcast team and guest Richard Cheney present Episode 218 - Ramping up on ARM templates
- On Channel 9, Donovan Brown talks about Using PowerShell Core with Azure with Joey Aiello
- On MSDN, 'leowu70' writes about PowerShell Module Management
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
- Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) points to the Azure Stack Capacity Calculator Tool and describes how to Run Azure Stack PowerShell and Azure Stack Tools in a Docker Container
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 the Kloud blog, Lucian Franghiu (@lucianfrango) writes about an Azure ARM architecture pattern: a DMZ design with a firewall appliance and writes Azure ARM architecture pattern: the correct way to deploy a DMZ with NSGs
- John Savill writes about the Azure NSG Integration with Storage and Other Services
- On TechNet, Richard Spitz describes a PowerShell script to determine if an IP Range is part of the Azure Datacenter IP Range
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
- On MSDN, Jos Lara writes Delivering Consistency and Accuracy: Improvements for Data Lake Store Reporting
Web
Covering: App Service (Web), API Management, Content Delivery Network, Azure Search, Web apps, Azure SignalR Service
- On the Azure blog, Brian Benz (@bbenz) announces the Public preview of Java on App Service, built-in support for Tomcat and OpenJDK
- Also on the Azure blog, Yitao Dong writes Build Spring Boot 2.0 apps with Azure Starters and new VSCode extensions
- On MSDN, Kurt Schenk talks about Monitoring a Java App Service Web App
- Also on MSDN, Michal Chmielus explains how to Authenticate Azure App Service with Azure AD Security Group
- Also on MSDN, Michael S. Hansen describes Using App Service Environment as a Private Reverse Proxy with User Authentication, discusses Using App Service Environment ASE without a wildcard SSL certificate and blogs about Configuring and Testing SSL Settings on App Service Environment ASE
- Also on MSDN, Wael Kdouh (@waelkdouh) describes Hosting an Angular Progressive Web Application PWA With Azure
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