Azure Weekly Issue 266: 15th March 2020
This week, in the Machine Learning space, Ming Zhong has written about Helping Scientists Protect Beluga Whales with Deep Learning. It's a great article, and highlights the many ways in which ML can be used to drive positive change worldwide. Over the past year we have been working with a not-for-profit called OceanMind who are similarly passionate about protecting the world's oceans using the power of technology. I'm excited to see how these technologies can continue to assist in making a global positive change!
Vitor Montalvao has also written a blog around Azure Cost Optimization Best Practices, and, as we highlighted last week, Azure Cosmos DB free tier is now available. Since then there has been various other CosmosDB updates which can be found in the Databases section of this newsletter.
And here at endjin, James Broome has written another great blog on Azure Analysis Services, around How to execute a DAX query from .NET - definitely worth a read!
AI + Machine Learning
Covering: Anomaly detector, Azure Bot Service, Azure Machine Learning, Azure Open Datasets, Bing APIs, Cognitive Services, Computer Vision, Content moderator, Custom vision, Data Science Virtual Machines, Face, Form Recogniser, Immersive Reader, Ink Recogniser, Language Understanding (LUIS), Machine Learning Studio, Microsoft Genomics, ML.NET, Personaliser, Project Cortex, QnA Maker, Speaker Recognition, Speech-to-Text, Speech translation, Text Analytics, Text to Speech , Translator Speech, Translator Text
- On Channel 9, Gary Pretty (@garypretty) talks about Building awesome experiences in Microsoft Teams (Part 1 of 3)
- On the DEV site, Dmitry Soshnikov discusses Using Azure Machine Learning for Hyperparameter Optimization
- Tobias Zimmergren & Jussi Roine (@CtrlAltAzure) writes about Powering your apps with Azure Cognitive Services
- On the Azure Medium blog, Ming Zhong discusses Helping Scientists Protect Beluga Whales with Deep Learning
- On Code Project, Syed Shanu (@syedshanu3) covers Getting Started with ML.NET Model Builder for using in ASP.NET Core
Analytics
Covering: Apache Spark for HDInsight, Apache Storm for HDInsight, Azure Analysis Services, Azure Data Explorer, Azure Data Share, Azure Databricks, Azure Stream Analytics, Azure Synapse Analytics, Data Catalog, Data Factory, Data Lake Analytics, Event Hubs, HDInsight, .NET for Apache Spark, R Server for HDInsight
- On the endjin blog, James Broome (@broomej) has blogged about Azure Analysis Services: How to execute a DAX query from .NET
- Chris Webb (@cwebb_bi) discusses Visualising Power BI Premium And Azure Analysis Services Query Parallelism
- On the MSSQL Tips site, Ron L'Esteve discusses how to Load Data Lake files into Azure Synapse Analytics Using Azure Data Factory
- The Azure updates team announces Improved resource governance for Azure Analysis Services and talks about how Azure Analysis Services is preparing for transport layer security 1.2
Blockchain
Covering: Azure Blockchain Service, Azure Blockchain Tokens, Azure Blockchain Workbench
Compute
Covering: Azure CycleCloud, Azure Dedicated Host, Azure Functions, Azure VMware Solution by CloudSimple, Batch, Cloud Services, Linux Virtual Machines, SAP HANA on Azure Large Instances, Service Fabric, Virtual Machines, Virtual Machine Scale Sets
- On the SQL Server Blog, the SQL Server Team (@SQLServer) writes about When to use Azure SQL Virtual Machines
- Also on the Azure blog, Jeff Hollan (@jeffhollan) highlights that Microsoft named a leader in The Forrester New Wave: Functions-as-a-Service Platforms
Containers
Covering: Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Red Hat OpenShift, CNAB, CNCF, Container Instances, Container Registry, Porter, WSL, Web App for Containers
- On Channel 9, Ruchika Gupta talks about how to Secure access to your API server using authorized IP ranges in AKS
- Steve Buchanan (@buchatech) explains how to Build & release a Container Image from Azure DevOps to Azure Web App for Containers
Databases
Covering: Azure Cosmos DB, Azure Database for MariaDB, Azure Database for MySQL, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Database Edge, Azure Cache for Redis, SQL Data Warehouse, SQL Server on virtual machines, SQL Server Stretch Database, Table storage
- The Azure updates team has made a lot of announcements around Azure CosmosDB: We have highlighted that the Azure Cosmos DB free tier is now available. Azure Cosmos DB logical partition size has increased to 20 GB, Azure Cosmos DB—Limit of 25 collections per database is introduced, you can use Azure Cosmos DB—Save up to 33 percent on multi-master accounts, Azure SQL Database managed instance now enforces TLS 1.2 on outbound connections and Azure SQL Database default configurations are changing
- Greg Low (@greglow) talks about Getting local date and time in Azure SQL Database and Setting local date and time for a session in Azure SQL Database
- On Channel 9, Kirill Gavrylyuk talks about Azure Cosmos DB Free Tier and Autopilot
- On the Azure SQL Database blog, Jovan Popovic (@jocapc) discusses Change hardware generation on Managed Instance
- On the MSSQL Tips site, Eduardo Pivaral talks about Execution Plans in Azure Data Studio
Developer Tools
Covering: App Configuration, Azure Lab Services, CLIs, Developer tool integrations, SDKs, Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio Online
- Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) explains how to Create and Manage Azure VMs from VS Code
- On the DEV site, Chris Noring (@chris_noring) announces a Free workshop on .NET Core + GraphQL + Serverless
DevOps
Covering: Azure Artifacts, Azure Boards, Azure DevOps, Azure Pipelines, Azure Repos, Azure Test Plans, Azure DevTest Labs, DevOps tool integrations
- On the Azure podcast, Jonathan Mills discusses Data Architecture in Azure
- On the Daily Dot Net Tips blog, Abhijit Jana (@AbhijitJana) blogs about how to Group Shared Variables in Azure DevOps Pipelines
- Benny Michielsen (@bennymichielsen) describes Multi tenant apps with Azure and Azure DevOps
- Scott Hanselman (@shanselman) describes Adding a git commit hash and Azure DevOps Build Number and Build ID to an ASP.NET website
- Jessica Deen (@jldeen) discusses the Things to consider when running visual tests in CI/CD pipelines: Azure Devops & GitHub Actions (Part 2)
- On the Black Marble blog, Richard Fennell (@richardfennell) writes about: A major new feature for my Cross-platform Release Notes Azure DevOps Pipelines Extension–Handlebars Templating Support
- David O'Brien (@david_obrien) talks about Cloud Governance - The Best Way
- On the Microsoft DevOps blog, Gloridel Morales talks about the March patches for Azure DevOps Server and Team Foundation Server
- Also on the Microsoft DevOps blog, Justin Chung discusses an Update: Support for TLS 1.0/1.1 in Azure DevOps Services Extended
- Also on the Microsoft DevOps blog, Steven Murawski lists the Top Stories from the Microsoft DevOps Community
- On the Premier Developer blog, Andy Moore talks about Azure DevOps Cross-Organization Reporting and Analysis using Power BI
- On his blog, Gunnar Peipman (@gpeipman) describes Updating SQL Azure database using Visual Studio database project and Azure DevOps
- Also on Azure medium, Maninderjit Bindra (@maniSbindra) discusses CI/Deployment for JavaScript Azure Functions using Azure Pipelines
Hybrid
Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Stack
Identity
Covering: Azure Active Directory (AD), Azure Active Directory B2C, Azure Active Directory Domain Services
- The Azure updates team announces that Azure Stream Analytics managed identity authentication to Power BI is now available
- Christos Matskas (@ChristosMatskas) talks about Getting started with Microsoft Identity for Developers (AAD)
- Stephane Lapointe (@s_lapointe) highlights that There is a new way to reference managed identity in ARM template
Integration
Covering: Azure API for FHIR, Event Grid, Logic Apps, Service Bus
- On the Planet Geek blog, Daniel Marbach (@danielmarbach) provides a Azure Service Bus .NET SDK Deep Dive – Content, Creating queues and Sending a message
- On the Azure blog, Heather Jordan Cartwright (@hjc_microsoft) talks about Data agility and open standards in health: FHIR fueling interoperability in Azure
- On the Premier Developer blog, Bryan Soltis (@bryan_soltis) walks through Updating Cosmos DB Documents with Azure Logic Apps
- On the Serverless360 blog, Balasubramaniam Murugesan compares Azure Service Bus Topics .vs. Event Grid
- On the Codit blog, Toon Vanhoutte (@ToonVanhoutte) explains How Azure Serverless Helps her Grandmother During Corona Isolation
Internet of Things
Covering: Azure Digital Twins, Azure IoT Central, Azure IoT Edge, Azure IoT Hub, Azure IoT solution accelerators, Azure Maps, Azure Sphere, Azure Time Series Insights, IoT DevKit, WildernessLabs, Windows 10 IoT Core Services
- On the Azure blog, Cory Newton-Smith blogs about Reimagining healthcare with Azure IoT
- The Azure updates team announces that the Azure Sphere 20.03 update now available for compatibility testing
- On Channel 9, Stepan Bechynsky talks about Andon manufacturing methodology modernized with Azure IoT
- On the Azure blog, Sam George (@samjgeorge) highlights a IoT Signals healthcare report: Key opportunities to unlock IoT’s promise
Management and Governance
Covering: Automation, Azure Advisor, Azure Backup, Azure Blueprints, Azure Lighthouse, Azure Managed Applications, Azure mobile app, Azure Monitor, Azure Policy, Azure Resource Manager, Azure Service Health, Azure Site Recovery, Cloud Shell, Cost Management, Microsoft Azure portal, Sceduler
- Radu Vunvulea (@RaduVunvulea) provides A subjective feature comparison between Terraform and Azure ARM / AWS CloudFormation
- Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) explains how to Keep control of your Azure environment with Azure Policy
- The Azure updates team provides a Azure Site Recovery update rollup 45, announces that Azure Security Center supports integration with Azure Monitor alerts, Azure Application Insights now available in US Gov Arizona, Azure Monitor Application Insights now supports Python and Azure Monitor Application Insights now supports Python
- On the Sharegate blog, Stephane Lapointe and Jussi Roine talk about how to elevate your governance from plan to best practice
- On Azure 4 everyone, Adam Marczak (@MarczakIO) describes ARM Templates Orchestration
- Martin Brandl (@martin_jib) explains how to Manage Azure Function Keys using PowerShell
- Roy Kim (@roykimyyz) covers Managing Azure with AZ CLI and Windows Subsystem for Linux
- Stanislav Zhelyazkov (@StanZhelyazkov) writes about His Thoughts on Azure Naming Conventions and Tags Usage
- On the MSSQL Tips site, Vitor Montalvao blogs about Azure Cost Optimization Best Practices
- The Azure updates team announces that Public Preview for Azure Automation is now available in the US Gov Arizona region
- Daniel Neumann (@neumanndaniel) explains how to Install Homebrew for Linux in Azure Cloud Shell
- Yung Chou (@yungchou) discusses Deploying an Azure VM with Diagnostics Extension and Boot Diagnostics
- On the DEV site, Michael Crump (@mbcrump) asks: Azure Free Account? Is it really free?
Media
Covering: Azure Media Player, Content Protection, Encoding, Live and On-Demand Streaming, Media Analytics, Media Services, Video Indexer
Mixed Reality
Covering: Kinect DK, Remote rendering, Spatial anchors
Migration
Covering: Azure Database Migration Service, Azure Migrate, Data Box
- On the Azure blog, Hanaa Musa discusses how to Plan migration of physical servers using Azure Migrate
- Deepak Kaushik (@ThinkForDeepak) describes Building Azure Monitoring, Logging and Alerting Foundation for SAP applications
Mobile
Covering: App Service (Mobile), Mobile apps, Notification Hubs, Visual Studio App Centre, Xamarin
- On Channel 9, James Montemagno (@JamesMontemagno) talks about Geolocation (Xamarin.Essentials API of the Week) and Binding Swift Libraries
- On the Azure SQL Database blog, Davide Mauri (@mauridb) talks about how to Sync Mobile Apps with Azure using Change Tracking API
- On Azure medium, Davide Mauri (@mauridb) highlights An amazingly simple solution for Mobile Apps to sync with the Cloud
Networking
Covering: Application Gateway, Azure Bastion, Azure DNS, Azure ExpressRoute, Azure Firewall, Azure Firewall Manager, Azure Front Door, Azure Internet Analyzer, Azure Private Link, Content Delivery Network, Load Balancer, Network Watcher, Traffic Manager, Virtual Network, Virtual WAN, VPN Gateway, Web Application Firewall
- The Azure updates team announces that Web Application Firewall with Azure Front Door service now supports exclusion lists and Virtual Network NAT now generally available
- On Azure medium, Michael Crump (@mbcrump) describes how to Secure your application with a Web Application Firewall (WAF)
- On the Kloud blog, Lucian Franghiu (@lucianfrango) discusses Hub and Spoke network topology in Azure
- On Microsoft Cloud Blogs, the Intune Team delves into how Microsoft Endpoint Manager expands ecosystem of VPN partners to support customer needs
- The Azure updates team blogs about Preparing for TLS 1.2 in Microsoft Azure and announces that Azure DNS private zones preview API is being deprecated
Security
Covering: Azure DDoS Protection, Azure Information Protection, Azure Sentinel, Key Vault, Security Center
- The Azure updates team announces that Vulnerability scanning for images in Azure Container Registry is now generally available and talks about the Improved just-in-time experience in Azure Security Center
- On his blog, Tao Yang (@MrTaoYang) discusses Managing Azure Resource Tags using Azure Policy Modify Effect
- On the DEV site, Adi Polak (@AdiPolak) writes: Help! Hackers are mining my cloud for Bitcoin
- Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) writes about Secure On-Premises Servers With Azure Security Center And Windows Admin Center and explains How To Integrate Azure Security Center With Azure Monitor Alerts
- On the Tallan blog, Byron Branning describes Azure Governance – Azure Policies and Initiatives
Storage
Covering: Archive Storage, Avere vFXT for Azure, Azure Data Lake Store, Azure FXT Edge Filer, Azure HPC Cache, Azure NetApp Files, Blob Storage, Disk Storage, File Storage, Managed Disks, Queue Storage, Storage Accounts, Storage Explorer, StorSimple
- The Azure updates team talks about how Azure Monitor Source Map Integration with Azure Blob Storage Enables Faster Debugging
- Sam Cogan (@samcogan) talks about SMB File Sharing In Azure
Web
Covering: API apps, API Management, App Service (Web), Azure Cognitive Search, Azure SignalR Service, Azure Spring Cloud, Web apps
- Radu Vunvulea (@RaduVunvulea) covers Improving the upload experience inside an Azure web application
- On the Azure Medium blog, Itay Podhajcer walks through Using Azure API Management to Limit Access to a Parity Ethereum Node
- On Code Project, Hugo G Fernandez walks through Creating a RESTful API with automatic documentation on Azure App Service.
Windows Virtual Desktop
Covering: Windows Virtual Desktop
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