Azure Weekly Issue 201: 18th November 2018
It's been a mammoth week this week in the Azure ecosystem. We suspect all of you in the US are winding down, getting ready for Thanksgiving.
Here are all of this week's announcements and updates:
- General availability: Azure Availability Zones in Southeast Asia
- General availability: Azure Kubernetes Service in South India
- Microsoft Azure Backup Server V3 Is Now Generally Available
- Released: Public Preview for SSRS 2017+ Management Pack with Power BI Reporting Server Support
- New H-series Azure VMs for HPC workloads are in preview
- Azure Kubernetes Service now in private preview in Azure China
- A preview of UX and UI changes in Visual Studio 2019
- Azure Event Grid—availability in Azure Government regions is in preview
- Azure Event Grid, Event Domains are in preview
- Update 18.11 for Azure Sphere in public preview
- Azure App Service—WildFly on Linux is in preview
- Azure JavaScript libraries preview release
- Azure Cognitive Services new enhancements
- Get started in minutes: Build your own enterprise grade virtual assistant
- Getting started with Azure Cognitive Services in containers
- Azure Toolkit for IntelliJ – Spark Interactive Console
- Azure Event Hubs for Apache Kafka is now available
- Azure HDInsight is now available in China North 2
- Power BI Desktop November 2018 Feature Summary
- Announcing new AI Capabilities for Power BI to make AI Accessible for Everyone
- Dataset size and count now available in Power BI Premium Capacity Metrics App
- Azure Functions 2.0 available in Azure Government and China regions
- In development: Azure Service Fabric Mesh Fall 2018 refresh
- Azure Bot Service enforcing transport layer security TLS 1.2
- Azure Monitor log support for Azure SQL Data Warehouse
- MongoDB Atlas free tier is now available on Azure
- Deploy, develop, and troubleshoot faster with Azure Blockchain Workbench 1.5.0
- Let AI help you be more productive with Microsoft Azure CLI
- Azure CLI support for Azure Database for MySQL read replicas
- In development: Azure Service Fabric runtime version 6.4 & SDK updates
- Xcode 8.0-8.3.2 Deprecation in Visual Studio App Center
- AI-assisted coding comes to Java with Visual Studio IntelliCode
- Introducing the Azure Blockchain Development Kit
- Draft pull requests and new work item text editor: Azure DevOps Sprint 143 Update
- Xcode 8.0-8.3.2 deprecation on Azure Pipelines hosted agents
- Azure Functions 2.0 available in IoT Edge
- Additional workload insights for advanced performance tuning with SQL Data Warehouse
- Azure Policy now audits applications installed inside virtual machines
- Azure Network Watcher enabled by default for subscriptions that contain virtual networks
- Protect Linux containers running in IaaS with Azure Security Center
- Microsoft Azure is now certified to host sensitive health data in France
A couple of new channels have been established this week on channel 9, each posting numerous videos: the first is all about blockchain and the second all about Cognitive Services. Take a look at them here: Blocktalk and Cognitive Services Live.
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, Lance Olson describes Getting started with Azure Cognitive Services in containers
- Also on the Azure blog, Eric Boyd talks about Bringing AI to the edge
- James van den Berg (@JamesvandenBerg) describes Getting started with Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services in Containers
- The Azure updates team highlights the Azure Cognitive Services new enhancements and writes about the Azure Bot Service enforcing transport layer security TLS 1.2
- On MSDN, Mathew Salvaris, Fidan Boylu Uz, and Daniel Greece provide the NEW REFERENCE ARCHITECTURE: Real-time scoring of Python Scikit-Learn and Deep Learning Models on Azure
- On TechNet, Amanda Buchholz explains how to Strengthen your Data & AI technical knowledge with a deep dive into Cognitive Services and Azure Data Bricks
- On Channel 9, Noelle Lacharite (@NoelleLaCharite) presents Taking a Look at Computer Visions Object Detection
- Also on the Azure blog, Tara Jana and Anil Kumble talk about the Power bat: How Spektacom is revolutionizing the game of cricket with Microsoft AI
- On Channel 9, Seth Juarez (@sethjuarez) asks Why Should I Care About Data Preparation? with Euan Garden
- On the Revolution Analytics blog, David Smith (@revodavid) writes an In case you missed it: October 2018 roundup
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
- The Azure updates team writes that Azure Event Hubs for Apache Kafka is now available and that Azure HDInsight is now available in China North 2
- Michael Crump (@mbcrump) writes Azure Tips and Tricks Part 172 - Getting Started with HDInsight
- On MSDN, the SQL Server Engineering Team writes Released: Public Preview for SSRS 2017+ Management Pack with Power BI Reporting Server Support
- On the Power BI blog, Amanda Cofsky provides the Power BI Desktop November 2018 Feature Summary, Arun Ulag announces the Announcing new AI Capabilities for Power BI to make AI Accessible for Everyone, Swati Gupta writes that the Dataset size and count now available in Power BI Premium Capacity Metrics App, and Christian Wade highlights that Analysis Services is 20 years old! and talks about the Modeling View in Power BI Desktop
- Devin Knight (@knight_devin) provides the Power BI Monthly Digest with Manuel Quintana – November 2018
- Chris Webb (@cwebb_bi) walks through Using OpenApi.Document To Create A Power BI Custom Connector For The Power BI REST API and writes about Nested Display Folders In Power BI
Compute
Covering: Virtual Machines, Functions, Batch, Service Fabric, Virtual Machine Scale Sets, Cloud Services, Linux Virtual Machines, SAP HANA on Azure Large Instances
- On the Azure blog, the Azure High Performance Computing Team tells us to Join Azure at Supercomputing 2018
- On MSDN, Ed Price (@UserEd_) provides some Guidance and framework for running HPC applications on Azure
- The Azure updates team writes that the New H-series Azure VMs for HPC workloads are in preview, writes In development: Azure Service Fabric Mesh Fall 2018 refresh, highlights that Azure Functions 2.0 available in Azure Government and China regions and highlights the General availability: Azure Availability Zones in Southeast Asia
- On Channel 9, Corey Sanders (@CoreySandersWA) talks about What's new with Azure VM Disk Images with Kay Singh
- On the TechKB blog, Michael Coutanche (@mum3LE5) talks about Azure: Installing the Microsoft Antimalware and Log Analytics extensions on VM Scale Sets
- On the Azure podcast, the Azure podcast team (@AzurePodcast) presents Episode 254 - Blockchain - DevCon 4 with Cale Teeter
- Also on MSDN, Stephen Abdo writes about Beyond Lift-and-Shift: Application Modernization with Microsoft Azure
Containers
Covering: Container Registry, Container Instances, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Web App for Containers
- On the Azure blog, Sean McKenna announces that Azure Kubernetes Service now in private preview in Azure China
- the Azure updates team writes about General availability: Azure Kubernetes Service in South India
- Daniel Neumann (@neumanndaniel) describes Using dysk in Azure Kubernetes Service – AKS cluster upgrade and its learnings from it
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, Donald Petersen announces that MongoDB Atlas free tier is now available on Azure
- Also on the Azure blog, Harini Gupta describes how to Monitor your Azure Open Source Databases (PostgreSQL and MySQL) using Azure Monitor
- The Azure updates team discusses the Azure Monitor log support for Azure SQL Data Warehouse and writes about the Additional workload insights for advanced performance tuning with SQL Data Warehouse
- On MSDN, Jovan Popovic explains how to Modify Azure SQL Database Managed Instance using Azure CLI and explains how to Create Azure SQL Managed Instance using Azure CLI
- Also on MSDN, Fernando Cobo Enriquez talks about a Cross-database Query in Azure SQL Database
- Also on MSDN, Sergio Fonseca (@FonsecaSergio) describes how to Change collation of existing Azure SQL database
- Also on MSDN, Bashar Hussein writes about Unable to view LTR Backups for Azure SQL Database servers and provides some Azure Database for PostgreSQL performance Quick Tips
- Also on MSDN, John Abele covers Synchronizing Azure Cosmos DB Collections for Blazing Fast Queries
- On Code Project, Srinivasa Dinesh Parupalli writes Custom API using .NET SDK for SQL API at Azure Cosmos DB
Developer Tools
Covering: Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, SDKs, Developer tool integrations, CLIs, Blockchain Workbench
- On the Azure blog, Marc Mercuri introduces the Azure Blockchain Development Kit
- Also on the Azure blog, Brenda Lee explains how to Deploy, develop, and troubleshoot faster with Azure Blockchain Workbench 1.5.0
- Also on the Azure blog, Jenny Jiang describes the Azure Toolkit for IntelliJ – Spark Interactive Console
- Also on the Azure blog, Lili Cheng tells us how to Get started in minutes: Build your own enterprise grade virtual assistant
- Also on the Azure blog, Jason R. Shaver explains how to Let AI help you be more productive with Microsoft Azure CLI
- The Azure updates team blogs about the Azure CLI support for Azure Database for MySQL read replicas, writes about In development: Azure Service Fabric runtime version 6.4 & SDK updates and writes about the Azure JavaScript libraries preview release
- Pascal Naber tells us to Stop using ARM templates! Use the Azure CLI instead
- On Channel 9, Scott Hanselman (@shanselman) describes how to Build real-time LiveOps into games with PlayFab with James Gwertzman
- On the Visual Studio blog, Xiaokai He writes that AI-assisted coding comes to Java with Visual Studio IntelliCode and Jamie Young provides A preview of UX and UI changes in Visual Studio 2019
- Also on Channel 9, Chris Heilmann (@codepo8) answers One Dev Question - What is Visual Studio Code? and answers another Dev Question - Why is VSCode a great editor to start web development with?
- On TechNet, Amanda Buchholz explains how to Get technical tips to successfully build Office 365, Azure and Dynamics 365 apps with Dev Chat
- On Microsoft Cloud Show, Andrew Connell (@andrewconnell) presents Episode 279 | Azure News + Rants on Guest Access and Microsoft Teams
- Also on MSDN, the AzureCAT team writes about the NEW WHITEPAPER: Structured review of Azure architectures
DevOps
Covering: Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS), Azure DevTest Labs, DevOps tool integrations, Azure DevOps Projects, Azure Lab Services
- The Azure updates team highlights the Draft pull requests and new work item text editor: Azure DevOps Sprint 143 Update
- On MSDN, Jessie Somekh writes about the New Advanced Text Editor on the Work Item Form
- Also on MSDN, David Staheli highlights the Xcode 8.0-8.3.2 deprecation on Azure Pipelines hosted agents
- Also on MSDN, Edward Thomson lists the Top Stories from the Microsoft DevOps Community – 2018.11.09
- Jason Roberts (@robertsjason) writes a series of posts about Azure Functions Continuous Deployment with Azure Pipelines: Part 1 - Overview, Part 2 - Getting Started, Part 3 - Creating an Initial Build Pipeline, Part 4 - Defining and Consuming Pipeline Variables, Part 5 - Adding Unit Tests, Part 6 - Creating an Azure DevOps Release Pipeline and Part 7 - Running Functional End-to-end Tests in a Release Azure Pipeline
- Gregor Suttie (@gregor_suttie) blogs about Azure Pipelines, and talks about Azure DevOps – How to do a fully automated release Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3
- Also on MSDN, Freddy Kristiansen (@freddydk) talks about Developing Business Central Extensions - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4
- Callon Campbell writes that Azure DevOps rolls out a dark theme preview
- Vincent-Philippe Lauzon (@vplauzon) writes about Azure DevOps – Task output to a variable
- On Code Project, Prabakaran Rajendran walks through Deploying Windows Service using Azure Pipeline
Identity
Covering: Azure Active Directory, Multi-factor Authentication, Azure Active Directory Domain Services, Azure Active Directory B2C
- On the Catapult Systems blog, David Broussard provides an Azure AD Dynamic Groups Walkthrough
- On TechNet, Aaron Guilmette writes about AAD Connect, a dedicated resource forest, a custom connector, and a bunch of transform rules: a GalSync story Part 1 and Part 2
- Also on TechNet, Edward Walton explains how to Keep your privileged access secure with Azure AD PIM and PAM in Office 365: Part 1
Integration
Covering: Service Bus, Logic Apps, Event Grid
- The Azure updates team talks about Azure Event Grid—availability in Azure Government regions is in preview and Event Domains are in preview
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, Ed Nightingale writes that Update 18.11 for Azure Sphere in public preview
- The Azure updates team writes that Azure Functions 2.0 available in IoT Edge
- Also on the Azure blog, Bert Van Hoof writes that View chooses Microsoft Azure IoT to accelerate development of smart building applications
- Also on the Azure blog, Tad Brockway writes that Microsoft and Intel donate Azure Hardware, AI Services to Advance Intelligent Edge Research at Carnegie Mellon University
- On MSDN, Zhiqing Qiu describes how to Setup Azure IoT Edge CI/CD Pipeline with ARM Agent
- On Channel 9, Olivier Bloch (@obloch) talks about Role Based Access Control in Azure IoT solution accelerators with Jill Bender and describes How to use Time Series Insights in Azure IoT solution accelerators with Aditi Dugar
- Daniel Neumann (@neumanndaniel) blogs Introducing breaking changes to the IoT Edge VK provider helm chart and deployment templates for Kubernetes
- Also on the Azure blog, Justin Slade talks about Three surprising IoT trends in smart buildings
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, Morgan Grobin describes How to get involved in the Azure Monitor AMA
- On the Kloud blog, John Downs talks about Automating Azure Instrumentation and Monitoring – Part 1: Introduction
- On the Catapult Systems blog, Cameron Fuller provides some QuickTricks: How to join unrelated data types in Log Analytics and explains How to re-write Log Analytics records in Flow
- The Azure updates team writes that Azure Policy now audits applications installed inside virtual machines
- On TechNet, Neha Garg writes about the Alerts in SCOM from Azure Application Insights with Azure Management Pack
- Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) highlights that Microsoft Azure Backup Server V3 Is Now Generally Available
- James van Den Berg discusses the Microsoft Azure Hub-Spoke model by Enterprise Design 2 of 4 Lift and Shift
- Michael Crump (@mbcrump) writes Azure Tips and Tricks Part 173 - Get the most out of Azure Advisor
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
- On the Azure blog, Ricardo Mendes blogs about Developing hybrid applications with Azure Stack
- On Code Project, Allen O'Neil (@ajsondev) writes Azure Stack explained
- On the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast, Scott Hoag (@ciphertxt) presents Episode 97 – Azure Stack with Michael Wells
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
- On the Xamarin blog, James Montemagno (@JamesMontemagno) writes about the Twitch Workshop: Build Your First Mobile App with C#, Xamarin, and the Cloud
- Also on the Xamarin blog, Paul Dipietro discusses Xamarin.Forms 3.4.0: Say Hello to ImageButton
- On Channel 9, Cecil Phillip (@cecilphillip) talks about Reactive Extensions for .NET Developers with Michael Stonis
- On Code Project, Silvia Campo explains how to Implement Dependency Injection in Xamarin using Autofac
- On MSDN, James S White writes about the Visual Studio App Center Unity Editor Extension- A Better Unity Experience
- Also on MSDN, Nilofer Rajpurkar highlights the Xcode 8.0-8.3.2 Deprecation in Visual Studio App Center
Networking
Covering: ExpressRoute, Azure DNS, Virtual Network, Traffic Manager, Load Balancer, VPN Gateway, Application Gateway, Network Watcher
- The Azure updates team highlights that Azure Network Watcher enabled by default for subscriptions that contain virtual networks
- On the Azure blog, Anupam Vij highlights that Holiday season is DDoS season
Security
Covering: Azure Information Protection, Key Vault, Security Center, Azure DDoS Protection, Azure Advanced Threat Protection
- On the Azure blog, Liza Mash Levin explains how to Protect Linux containers running in IaaS with Azure Security Center
- Also on the Azure blog, Avi Ben-Menahem writes about Four operational practices Microsoft uses to secure the Azure platform
- Also on the Azure blog, David Burt writes that Microsoft Azure is now certified to host sensitive health data in France
- Also on the Azure blog, Susie Adams provides Five lessons for building your roadmap to a secure hybrid cloud future
- On the Codit blog, Toon Vanhoutte writes that Key Vault Deployment Removes Access Policies
- On Code Project, Allen O'Neil (@ajsondev) provides an Overview of Azure Key Vault and blogs about Data Encryption in Azure
- On MSDN, the Azure Gov Team writes that Cloud-based capabilities help public safety agencies keep communities safe
Storage
Covering: Storage, StorSimple, Data Lake Store, Blob Storage, Disk Storage, Managed Disks, Queue Storage, File Storage, Storage Explorer, Archive Storage
- Michael S. Collier (@MichaelCollier) talks about Using Shared Access Signatures in Azure Templates
- Sam Cogan (@samcogan) explains how to Create Azure Storage Containers with ARM templates
- On MSDN, Kanchan Mehrotra, Tony Wu, and Rakesh Patil blog about Parallel Virtual File Systems on Microsoft Azure – Part 3: GlusterFS on Azure
Web
Covering: App Service (Web), API Management, Content Delivery Network, Azure Search, Web apps, Azure SignalR Service
- Henry Been (@henry_been) blogs about Creating a RBAC Role Assignment, using an ARM template
- On MSDN, Mike Barker walks through Completing the Redundancy Story of API Manager
- On Code Project, Allen O'Neil (@ajsondev) talks about Azure Search - a quick overview
- Also on MSDN, Lee Stott (@lee_stott) writes Building Medical Applications and need access to a FHIR Server welcome to FHIR on Azure
- Also on MSDN, Steve Read describes how to Set up Micro Focus CICS BankDemo for Micro Focus Enterprise Developer 4.0 in Azure
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