Azure Weekly Issue 172: 29th April 2018

We're very excited about a recent addition to our team at endjin - the acquirement has been a work-in-progress for the last 8 years! Read about Jon's first week as an endjineer in this blog.

The big announcement this week is that Azure Container Instances now generally available.

Here are the announcements this week:

• Ability to redeploy a Lab Virtual Machine
• Replicated Tables now generally available in Azure SQL Data Warehouse
• Accelerate real-time big data analytics with Spark connector for Microsoft SQL Databases
• Azure Analysis Services integration with VNets via On-Premises Data Gateway
• HDInsight tools for VS Code now supports argparse and Spark 2.2
• Upcoming new capabilities in Azure Time Series Insights
• Azure IoT Hub SDK officially provides native iOS support
• Public preview: Event Hubs for Python and for Node.js
• Azure Toolkit for Eclipse integrates with HDInsight Ambari and supports Spark 2.2
• Azure Toolkit for IntelliJ integrates with HDInsight Ambari and supports Spark 2.2
• Deprecating the Log Search API for Azure Log Analytics

I've spent the last couple of weeks experimenting building a highly scalable architecture for APIs based on Azure API Management and Azure Functions. One of the first issues I wanted to tackle was a better local OpenAPI development experience. In my first proof of concept I used Darrel Miller's OpenAPI.NET SDK to create OpenAPI code generators for Visual Studio. I'll be writing more about these experiments in the coming weeks.

Elsewhere, Christos Matskas has written an interesting post on Serverless Text Moderation with Azure Functions and the Azure Cognitive Services and likewise Stéphane Fréchette with SQL Server HA using Kubernetes in Azure Container Services (AKS).

For those involved in The Nashville Azure bootcamp last week, Bill Zack has written a nice round-up, thanking everyone involved and reflecting on the day.

This week there's a new resource, perfect for .NET developers looking to get into Azure. Get the Azure Quick Start Guide for .NET Developers here.

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 Xamarin blog, Jim Bennett (@jimbobbennett) blogs about Using TensorFlow and Azure to Add Image Classification to Your Android Apps
• On TechNet, Theo van Kraay talks about Deploying externally generated Python/R Models as Web Services using Azure Machine Learning Studio
• On the Daily Dot Net Tips blog, Abhijit Jana (@AbhijitJana) walks through Connecting Your Azure Bots with QnA Maker Services
• Also on MSDN, Prashant Pratap writes about the Azure Bot Function

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) writes about the Azure Analysis Services integration with VNets via On-Premises Data Gateway
• On the Azure blog, Jenny Jiang announces that HDInsight tools for VS Code now supports argparse and Spark 2.2
• On the Database Journal site, Anoop Kumar writes about Kafka Integration with HDInsight
• Also on the Azure blog, Xiaochen Wu explains how to Accelerate real-time big data analytics with Spark connector for Microsoft SQL Databases
• On Channel 9, Scott Hanselman (@shanselman) shows us how to Ingest, prepare, and transform using Azure Databricks and Data Factory with Gaurav Malhotra
• On MSDN, José Lara discusses Keeping Data Lake Costs Under Control: Creating Alerts for AUs Usage Thresholds.
• Chris Webb (@cwebb_bi) describes Dynamically Changing A Chart Axis In Power BI Using Bookmarks And Buttons
• On the MSSQL Tips site, Siddharth Mehta (@siddhumehta) describes Multi-Variate Quantitative Analysis with Radar Charts in Power BI Desktop and Koen Verbeeck talks about Calculating Employee Attrition Rate with DAX Part 1
• Devin Knight (@knight_devin) covers Power BI Custom Visuals Class Module 100 – Flow Map

Compute

Covering: Virtual Machines, Functions, Batch, Service Fabric, Virtual Machine Scale Sets, Cloud Services, Linux Virtual Machines, SAP HANA on Azure Large Instances

• On MSDN, Tanmayee Kamath provides a Feature update: Redeploy a Lab Virtual Machine
• Christos Matskas (@ChristosMatskas) discusses Serverless Text Moderation with Azure Functions and the Azure Cognitive Services
• On the Kloud blog, Asish Padhy describes Promoting and Demoting Site pages to News in Modern SharePoint Sites using SPFx extension and Azure Function
• On MSDN, Bernard Apolinario and Ajay Tanikella write Blockchain in a nutshell

Containers

Covering: Container Registry, Container Instances, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Web App for Containers

• On the Azure blog, Corey Sanders (@CoreySandersWA) announces that Azure Container Instances now generally available
• On Channel 9, Scott Hanselman (@shanselman) talks about the Azure Container Instances GA: A new compute primitive with Justin Luk and provides a Virtual Kubelet Introduction with Ria Bhatia
• Vincent-Philippe Lauzon (@vplauzon) describes Getting started with Docker Containers in Azure and writes Azure Container Instance – Getting Started
• Stéphane Fréchette (@sfrechette) describes SQL Server HA using Kubernetes in Azure Container Services (AKS)
• On Channel 9, Robert Green presents Containers and Existing .NET Apps (Part 2) with Aditi Dugar
• Also on MSDN, the Service Fabric Team provides an Update on the Service Fabric 6.2 Release Roll-out
• Also on MSDN, Deep Kapur blogs about Monitoring Service Fabric clusters with Dynatrace
• On Microsoft + Open Source, Karen Chu writes Countdown to KubeCon + CloudNativeCon EU 2018

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, Ron Ortloff announces that Replicated Tables now generally available in Azure SQL Data Warehouse
• Also on the Azure blog, Rafat Sarosh blogs about Azure CosmosDB: Secure, private, compliant
• On MSDN, Ali Mazaheri discusses Migrating MongoDB databases from Mongo Lab to Cosmos DB
• On the MSSQL Tips site, Fikrat Azizov blogs about Cross-database query performance in Azure SQL Database
• Also on MSDN, Jose M Jurado (@jmjuradodiaz) writes Lesson Learned 41: Using VNET with Azure SQL Database and writes Lesson Learned 42: Creating an alias for my Azure SQL Database Server
• Also on MSDN, Jovan Popovic blogs about Azure SQL Database – the database engine that cannot die, writes about the Azure SQL Database – scalability and describes How Azure SQL Database makes database management easier
• On the MSSQL Tips site, John Miner (@JohnMiner3) explains How to Schedule T-SQL Statements to Run with Azure Functions
• On Code Project, Vivek Johari blogs about Azure SQL Database Pricing Models and Service Tiers
• Also on MSDN, rickcau writes Accidentally deleted all my production data in Azure Table Storage! What now?

Developer Tools

Covering: Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, SDKs, Developer tool integrations, CLIs, Blockchain Workbench

• On the Azure blog, Jenny Jiang writes that Azure Toolkit for Eclipse integrates with HDInsight Ambari and supports Spark 2.2 and writes that Azure Toolkit for IntelliJ integrates with HDInsight Ambari and supports Spark 2.2
• On the Azure blog, Buck Hodges (@tfsbuck) covers What's brewing in Visual Studio Team Services: April 2018 Digest
• Also on MSDN, Willy-P. Schaub lists the Top stories from the VSTS community – 2018.04.20
• On the Black Marble blog, Richard Fennell (@richardfennell) discusses Backing up your TFVC and Git Source from VSTS
• On MSDN, Art Garcia talks about Using VSTS API with PowerShell to scaffold Team Projects
• Also on MSDN, Najib Zarrari walks through Deploying Linked ARM Templates with VSTS
• On Channel 9, Donovan Brown (@DonovanBrown) interviews TQ (Thomas Quinn) about Microservices Versioning
• Michael Crump (@mbcrump) writes Azure Tips and Tricks Part 118 - FREE E-book titled Azure Quick Start Guide for .NET Developers
• Also on Channel 9, Scott Hanselman (@shanselman) talks about Get started with Azure for .NET developers with Barry Luijbregts
• Also on MSDN, University College London IXN Project Group COMP214P Team 22 introduces Mastermind: Powerful and Simple Deployment, Scaling, Load Balancing and Testing of Applications in the Cloud

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 TechNet, Yuri Diogenes (@yuridiogenes) writes about the Azure Security Center Network Map
• On the Azure blog, Russell McDonald explains How Azure Security Center helps detect attacks against your Linux machines
• On MSDN, Sjoukje Zaal (@SjoukjeZaal) writes Azure Content Spotlight – Password-less Sign-in to Azure & Windows 10
• On the Kloud blog, Darren Robinson (@darrenjrobinson) describes Protecting Application Credentials when implementing Modular Azure Functions with Microsoft Flow and explains How to use the FIM/MIM Azure Graph Management Agent for B2B Member/Guest Sync between Azure Tenants
• Also on MSDN, Frank Hu describes How to Get to the Keys/Secrets From Azure Active Directory
• Also on MSDN, the European IIS team explains How to find the Global Admin for your Azure AD tenant
• John Savill explains how to Add group members to another tenant via Azure AD B2B and PowerShell
• On the risual blog, Charlie Lennon provides an Azure Active Directory Password Writeback Overview
• On the Daily Dot Net Tips blog, Abhijit Jana (@AbhijitJana) writes about the Azure Key Vault connected service in Visual Studio 2017
• On Channel 9, Alena Hall (@lenadroid) presents Part 3 of 4: Create and use Azure Key Vault Secrets
• Also on TechNet, Tino Donderwinkel (@tdonde) discusses Managing Azure MFA Server with PowerShell

Integration

Covering: Service Bus, Logic Apps, Event Grid

• On the endjin blog, Howard van Rooijen (@HowardvRooijen) writes about the OpenAPI code generators for Visual Studio
• Tomas Restrepo (@tomasrestrepo) writes about the API Management Sign-in Tenant
• On the Azure blog, Lyle Dodge talks about Organizing subscriptions and resource groups within the Enterprise
• On MSDN, David Burg writes about the RegEx element value validation for Logic App escaping from Json to XML
• On TechNet, Mandar Dharmadhikari blogs about Logic Apps: Integrating LUIS Application With Logic Apps To Predict Intent in User Utterances
• On Channel 9, Cecil Phillip (@cecilphillip) talks about Azure Service Bus and the .NET Standard SDK with Clemens Vasters and Christian Wolf
• On the Azure podcast, the Azure podcast team and guest Jeremy Hollett present Episode 225 - Azure CXP

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, Yi Zhong writes that Azure IoT Hub SDK officially provides native iOS support and talks about it on Channel 9 with Olivier Bloch
• On the Azure blog, the Azure updates team writes about the Public preview: Event Hubs for Python and Event Hubs for Node.js
• Also on the Azure blog, Chandrika Shankarnarayan describes how to Propel your IoT platform to the cloud with Azure Time Series Insights
• On TechNet, Basim Majeed describes Using Query APIs to Unlock the Power of Azure Time Series Insights
• Also on the Azure blog, Erich Barnstedt blogs about Automating Industrial IoT Security
• On Code Project, Intel Corporation describes the MQTT Publication with Microsoft Azure
• On Microsoft Cloud Show, Chris Johnson presents Episode 248 | Microsoft Builds a Linux distro?! and other News and Announcements
• On Channel 9, Olivier Bloch (@obloch) gets A tour of the Microsoft AI & IoT Insider Labs from Marlina Hales

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, Julia White (@julwhite) writes that Migrating your apps, data and infrastructure to Azure is easier than ever
• On TechNet, Tim Tetrick talks about Azure Migrate
• On the risual blog, Joshua Rogers talks about Migrating your apps, data and infrastructure to Azure
• Simon Waight (@simonwaight) writes about Microsoft Application Insights – APM for Everyone
• On Channel 9, Cecil Phillip (@cecilphillip) talks about Analyzing your applications with Application Insights with Michael Milirud
• Also on the Azure blog, the Azure updates team writes about the Deprecation of the Log Search API for Azure Log Analytics
• On the Catapult Systems blog, Cameron Fuller describes Extending alerts for Log Analytics into Azure and walks through Adding alerts for Log Analytics in Azure
• John Savill delves into Delivering a Customizable, Graphical Insight into Azure VM Security, Health and Connectivity Using Several Azure Services Together
• On MSDN, Steve Michelotti explains How to use Azure Monitor for Azure Government with Sachin Dubey
• Michael Crump (@mbcrump) writes Azure Tips and Tricks Part 116 - Easily Upload and download Azure dashboards
• On the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast, Ben Stegink and Scott Hoag present Episode 60 – Azure Cloud Shell (or 30 Minutes About A Text Box)
• Andy Thomas writes Azure to Terraform (az2tf)
• On MSDN, Timothy Warner (@TechTrainerTim) describes how to Schedule VM Downtime With Azure Automation And PowerShell

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) explains how to Connect to Azure Stack from Azure Cloud Shell

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, Fidelis Ekezue blogs about Azure Load Balancing Solutions: A guide to help you choose the correct option
• Also on MSDN, markga explains How to setup Global VNet peering in Azure

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

• Jen Stirrup describes Modelling your Data in Azure Data Lake
• On the Azure blog, Ben Cotton discusses Storage scenarios for Cray in Azure
• James van den Berg (@JamesvandenBerg) blogs about Azure Storage Tools AzCopy and Azure Storage Explorer

Web

Covering: App Service (Web), API Management, Content Delivery Network, Azure Search, Web apps, Azure SignalR Service

• On the Daily Dot Net Tips blog, Abhijit Jana (@AbhijitJana) describes how to Directly deploy non-containerized application to Azure App Service on Linux From Visual Studio
• Michael Crump (@mbcrump) writes Azure Tips and Tricks Part 117 - Enable HTTP 2.0 support for Azure App Service
• On MSDN, Michael S. Hansen describes a FHIR Server in Azure PaaS
• On MSDN, David Buchanan writes about Building your own educational visualisation learning platform with .Net Core & Azure
• On Microsoft + Open Source, Brad Bock describes How to deploy a production-ready Node.js HA Stack on Azure
• On Channel 9, James Montemagno (@JamesMontemagno) talks about Using Lottie for Beautiful Animations with Matt Soucoup