Azure Weekly

Issue #215 - 10th March 2019

It's been another busy week in the Azure space, and on Friday we celebrated International Women's Day. The Azure podcast team had guest Chloe Condon for their episode this week, speaking about her experiences as a woman in cloud computing - have a listen here: Episode 269 - Women in Azure.

Let's take a look at this week's announcements and updates:

⚙️ AI + Machine Learning

On the Azure blog, Gopi Kumar, Ravi Panchumarthy and Mattson Thieme announce that Intel and Microsoft bring optimizations to deep learning on Azure
Also on the Azure blog, Yochay Kiriaty (@yochayk) writes about the Conversational AI updates for March 2019
On the Premier Developer blog, Randy Park describes Exploring Feature Weights using R and Azure Machine Learning Studio
On the Kloud blog, Keith Coutlemanis writes about Intelligent Man to Machine collaboration with Microsoft TEAMS. -Robo Raptor
Simon Waight (@simonwaight) discusses Enriching SharePoint Image Libraries with Azure Cognitive Services
The Azure updates team highlights that Azure is Retiring Azure Batch AI

🔎 Analytics

On the Azure blog, Gaurav Malhotra describes how to Rerun activities inside your Azure Data Factory pipelines
On Channel 9, Lara Rubbelke (@sqlgal) talks about Rerun activities inside your Azure Data Factory pipelines with Guarav Malhotra
On the MSSQL Tips site, Fikrat Azizov describe how to Transfer Data to the Cloud Using Azure Data Factory
Also on the Azure blog, Yatharth Gupta blogs about Azure Databricks – New capabilities at lower cost
Faister describes how to Use SSH Tunneling to access Azure HDInsight Hive Server 2 ODBC/JDBC endpoint
Also on the MSSQL Tips site, Koen Verbeeck (@Ko_Ver) covers Azure-SSIS Integration Runtime Start-up and Shutdown with Webhooks - Part 2
Also on the MSSQL Tips site, Haroon Ashraf blogs about Azure Data Catalog Register Data Source - Part 2
The Azure updates team posts a number of updates: Azure HDInsight is now available in France Central, HDInsight networking resources provisioned in the HDInsight resource group, Control all Power BI Embedded visual menu actions programmatically, Schedule DirectQuery cache refresh for Power BI Embedded, Schedule refreshes with the Power BI Embedded REST API, Clone Visual API for Power BI Embedded, APIs for Power BI app content and Themes API for Power BI Embedded
On the Power BI blog, Yaron Canari describes the Power BI data lineage experience for dataflows
Also on the Power BI blog, David Magar announces the Power BI Multi Geo General Availability
Chris Webb (@cwebb_bi) writes that SQLBits Power BI And Analysis Services Videos Now Free To View Online
On Geeks with Blogs, Darren Gosbell (@darrengosbell) walks through Fixing incorrect date formats in Power BI Report Server when using Chrome or Firefox
Also on the MSSQL Tips site, Siddharth Mehta explains how to Transform Data in Power BI with R and Python
On MSDN, Christian Wade (@_christianWade) blogs about What's new for SQL Server 2019 Analysis Services CTP 2.3

🖥️ Compute

On the Azure blog, James Birdsall writes that Service Fabric Processor in public preview
On the Premier Developer blog, Kurt Schenk talks about Walk through Running Traefik on Service Fabric Local Cluster and blogs about Gathering real-time Perfmon Counters in a cluster
The Azure updates team writes that M-series virtual machines VMs are now available in the China North 2 region and highlights the General availability: Azure Availability Zones in East US
On Channel 9, John Papa (@John_Papa) talks about Five Things About Azure Functions with Jeff Hollan
Jason Roberts (@robertsjason) delves into Creating Custom Azure Functions Bindings and discusses Testing EventGridTrigger Azure Functions Locally Without Using ngrok
Also on Channel 9, Cale Teeter (@Windozer) talks about Privacy models for private consortiums

🚢 Containers

The Azure updates team highlights the General availability: Azure Kubernetes Service in France Central and summarizes the AKS 2019-03-07 release
On the Kloud blog, Nivlesh Chandra provides A scenario-based tutorial for Azure Kubernetes Service – Part 1
David Sebban (@davidsebban) writes about containers in: Back from Microsoft Ignite | The Tour – Berlin
On Microsoft + Open Source, Pui Chee Chan discusses Setting up Jenkins X on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Andreas Helland blogs Building Microservices with Azure Kubernetes Service and Azure DevOps - Part 1 and Part 2
Daniel Neumann (@neumanndaniel) describes Updating the base image of an VMSS aks-engine cluster
Tobias Zimmergren talks about AKS: Quickly switching context between multiple clusters in Azure Kubernetes Services with cmder aliases

🗄️ Databases

On Channel 9, Scott Hanselman (@shanselman) provides an Azure Cosmos DB update: SDKs, CORS, multi-region strong consistency, and more with Kirill Gavrylyuk and provides An intro to Azure Cosmos DB .NET SDK 3.0 with Kirill Gavrylyuk
Jeremy Lindsay (@jeremylindsayni) talks about Getting started with Azure Cosmos DB and .NET Core: Part 2 – string querying and ranged indexes
On the Azure blog, Brad Carlstedt writes that Microsoft continues to build the case for data estate modernization on Azure
Also on the Azure blog, Andrea Lam blogs about Scaling out read workloads in Azure Database for MySQL (GA)
Also on the Azure blog, Andrea Lam and Sumeet Mittal describe how to Secure server access with VNet service endpoints for Azure Database for MariaDB
On MSDN, Jovan Popovic (@jocapc) describes Analyzing wait statistics on Managed Instance, discusses Measuring file io performance on Managed Instance using QPI and describes Sending resource alerts on Managed Instance using db_mail
Also on MSDN, Jose M Jurado (@jmjuradodiaz) covers Lesson Learned 73: Azure Database for MySQL – CONVERTTZ returns null, Lesson Learned 74: The importance of having the Application Name parameter configured in your connection string and Lesson Learned 75: The importance of having the connection pooling parameter enabled in your connection string using PHP
Bhushan Gawale (@BhushanGawale) talks about Implementing database per tenant strategy in bots using Azure bot services and SDK v4
The Azure updates team writes that the Extended Security Updates for SQL Server 2008 are available now

🛠️ Developer Tools

On the Visual Studio blog, Jordan Matthiesen and Cody Beyer write about the Visual Studio 2019 for Mac Preview 3
On the Premier Developer blog, Andrew Kanieski discusses the Remediation of old versions of Visual Studio Isolated Shell
Also on the Premier Developer blog, Keith Beller explores Blazor with Visual Studio 2019
On the Visual Studio blog, Dmitry Lyalin (@LyalinDotCom) blogs about the Windows Desktop Developer Twitch (Workshop March 14, 2019)
On the Azure podcast, The Azure podcast team (@AzurePodcast) presents Episode 269 - Women in Azure with Chole Condon
Richard Seroter (@rseroter) writes Want to yank configuration values from your .NET Core apps? Heres how to store and access them in Azure and AWS.
On the AzureFabric blog, Michael Jonsson (@Michael_Jonsson) posts the Azure AZ-100 and AZ-101 Curated study links on GitHub

🔩 DevOps

On the Azure blog, Jamie Cool writes Now available: Azure DevOps Server 2019
On the Microsoft DevOps blog, Erin Dormier writes about the Azure DevOps Server 2019 RTW
Also on the Microsoft DevOps blog, Edward Thomson (@ethomson) lists the Top Stories from the Microsoft DevOps Community – 2019.03.01
Gunnar Peipman (@gpeipman) explains how to Fail build on Azure DevOps for low code coverage
On the Premier Developer blog, Drew Lewis covers Accessibility Testing with Azure DevOps Pipelines
Also on the Premier Developer blog, Brian Blackman (@VitaStudere) writes about the e-signature retirement in Azure DevOps service and Azure DevOps Server
On the MSSQL Tips site, John Miner (@JohnMiner3) writes about Azure DevOps for Agile Projects
Stefan Stranger (@sstranger) talks about Managed Identity in Azure DevOps Service Connections
Jessica Deen (@jldeen) describes How to use Azure DevOps open REST API with Curl
On Code Project, Florian Rappl (@FlorianRappl) talks about Azure Pipelines Building GitHub Repositories By Example
Also on the Azure blog, Miao Jiang explains how to Build a CI/CD pipeline for API Management
The Azure updates team writes about Continuous integration and deployment to Azure API Management
On MSDN, Tanmayee Kamath writes IMPORTANT!! DevTest Lab MSDN Team blog being retired by March 2019
On the Premier Developer blog, Mahendar Madhavaram and Sreedhar Pelluru discuss Classroom Labs with Azure Lab Services

🎭 Identity

Michael Crump (@mbcrump) writes Azure Tips and Tricks Part 184 - Quickly Set Up Azure Active Directory with Azure App Services

🔌 Integration

The Azure updates team writes that the Microsoft Azure Logic Apps Connector for 3270 Screens available now in Public Preview
On MSDN, David Burg (@david_burg) blogs about the Logic App SAP connector IDoc support – going under the hood
Also on MSDN, Marc Schweigert (@devkeydet) describes Integrating with SAP from PowerApps & Flow using Azure Logic Apps
Vincent-Philippe Lauzon (@vplauzon) writes My JSON gets serialized in a string – Logic Apps
On the Azure blog, Brian Levenson (@brian_levenson) provides some Azure Marketplace and Cloud Solution Provider updates – March 2019

💡 Internet of Things

On the Azure blog, Ed Nightingale covers Guardian modules: Bringing Azure Sphere security to brownfield IoT
Also on the Azure blog, Ron Zahavi presents Presenting the new IIC Security Maturity Model for IoT
On Channel 9, Olivier Bloch (@obloch) talks about Hardware Acceleration for AI at the Edge with Ted Way
Also on Channel 9, Pamela Cortez (@hello_techie) presents IoT Deep Dive Live: Location Intelligence for Transportation with Azure Maps with Ricky Brundritt and Outi Nyman

⚖️ Management and Governance

On the Azure blog, Tom Keane writes that Microsoft opens first datacenters in Africa with general availability of Microsoft Azure
Also on the Azure blog, Sami Kubba writes that the Azure Communications is hosting an "Ask Me Anything" session!
The Azure updates team writes about the New capabilities in Azure Monitor alerts, writes that Azure Monitor for VMs (preview) available in Central Canada and UK South, writes about Azure Blueprints - Built-in blueprints, highlights that Azure Monitor Log Analytics is now available in Azure China and explains how to Protect on-premises VMs in Azure by directly replicating to managed disks
On the Catapult Systems blog, Matthew Dowst (@MDowst) covers Creating an inexpensive Ping monitor for Azure Monitor
Also on the Catapult Systems blog, Cameron Fuller talks about Adding alerts and dashboards to the Ping solution for Azure monitor and walks through Creating next generation queries for CPU and memory KPIs in Log Analytics
Steve Buchanan (@buchatech) describes how to Require Many Tags on Resource Groups via Azure Policy
Sam Cogan (@samcogan) explains how to Enforce Budgets with Azure Automation
Gregor Suttie (@gregor_suttie) discusses Automation Accounts and Start/Stop VM Solutions in Azure
Radu Vunvulea (@RaduVunvulea) answers 10 Questions related to Cloudyn and Azure billing
Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) explains how to Automate Backup For Azure VMs Using PowerShell For Azure Backup
On the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast, Ben Stegink and Scott Hoag present Episode 115 – Thats One Way To Kill Your Own Product

⚙️ Microsoft Azure Stack

On the Azure blog, Spencer Shepler, David Armour and Tiberiu Radu write Azure Stack IaaS – part 3
Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) explains how to Automate Azure Stack Infrastructure Backup Configuration With Certificate
On the SQL Server Blog, the SQL Server Team writes Three reasons to choose Microsoft for your hybrid data platform

📱 Mobile

On the Xamarin blog, David Ortinau describes Beautiful Material Design for Android & iOS
Also on the Xamarin blog, Jayme Singleton (@JaymeSingleton1) highlights the Developer Community Events in March
Also on the Xamarin blog, Paul Dipietro writes about Xamarin.Forms 3.6: Visual Has Materialized
Also on the Xamarin blog, Sweeky Satpathy provides some Best Practices and Tips for Using Xamarin.UITest
On Channel 9, James Montemagno talks about Accelerometer (Xamarin.Essentials API of the Week)
On the Trailhead blog, Yuriy Holembyovskyy explains how to Accelerate creation of Xamarin.Forms custom controls with SkiaSharpFiddle
On Code Project, Stephen Marcus writes about A Smarter DI Container for Xamarin.Forms

🌐 Networking

On the Azure blog, Yair Tor announces the new capabilities in Azure Firewall
The Azure updates team highlights the General availability: Global VNet Peering in Azure Government regions, writes that Global VNet Peering now supports Standard Load Balancer and writes that Threat intelligence-based filtering for Azure Firewall is now available in preview
Aidan Finn (@joe_elway) asks Why Choose the Azure Firewall over a Virtual Firewall Appliance? and walks through Locking Down Network Access to the Azure Application Gateway/Firewall
Jose Moreno (@erjosito) provides some Azure Service Map REST API samples
On the Azure podcast, The Azure podcast team (@AzurePodcast) presents Episode 268 - ExpressRoute Roadmap with Paresh Mundade

🔐 Security

On the Azure blog, Gilad Elyashar announces the new Azure Security Center capabilities at RSA 2019
On Microsoft Cloud Blogs, Kim Kischel (@KimKischel) talks about Microsoft Cloud App Security @ RSAC 2019
On TechNet, Jon Shectman describes Project VAST and Azure Sentinel: a Match Made in the Cloud
Also on Microsoft Cloud Blogs, Jason Wilson introduces Investigation Priority built on User and Entity Behavior Analytics
Also on Microsoft Cloud Blogs, Jason Wilson and Itay Argoety write about Unified SecOps Investigation for Hybrid Environments
K. Scott Allen (@OdeToCode) writes await the async Letdown
On the Hanu blog, Dave Sasson explains How to Secure Your Data in the Azure Cloud
James van Den Berg (@JamesvandenBerg) provides a Microsoft Azure Sentinel (Preview) Overview

📦 Storage

On the Azure blog, Claus Joergensen announces the Azure Premium Blob Storage public preview
On TechNet, Arpita Duppala (@arnuwish) writes that Azure Blob Storage on IoT Edge now includes Auto-Tiering and Auto-Prune functionalities

🔗 Web

On the Azure blog, Zhidi Shang writes about Real-time serverless applications with the SignalR Service bindings in Azure Functions
Mark Heath (@mark_heath) covers Configuring Per-App Scaling on Azure App Service
On Microsoft + Open Source, Michel Luescher explains how to Make websites on WordPress and Joomla faster with Azure CDN
On Channel 9, Cecil Phillip and Brady Gaster talks about Real-time web applications with ASP.NET Core SignalR On .NET
The Azure updates team highlights the .NET Core February 2019 Update availability on App Service
On Channel 9, Donovan Brown (@DonovanBrown) provides An overview of Azure App Service Deployment Center with Byron Tardif