Azure Weekly Issue 269: 5th April 2020
This week Microsoft have made a couple of announcements around how they are supporting those who are now working remotely:
Firstly, Azure DevTest discounts are now available. Azure DevTestLabs provide a way to easily provision, manage and de-provision Azure VMs. They have also announced that they will be Optimizing for stability during the global health pandemic, and halting feature releases for Azure DevOps for the time being. Alongside this, Gary Ciampa has shared an example of enabling remote workers with Azure Windows Virtual Desktop Infrastructure. And, on a less practical note, Em Lazer-Walker has written a post about How YOU Can Use Computer Vision to Avoid Touching Your Face!
Here at endjin, Jess Panni has released our Office 365 Wardley Mapping Templates (we use this technique to help senior stakeholders understand the benefits/tradeoffs of adopting various Azure services), and shows how to use them.
And Jon George has written a series of blogs on Integration Testing Azure Functions with SpecFlow and C# - this is based on our real-world experiences of Azure Functions over the last few years:
- An Introduction
- Using step bindings to start Functions
- Using hooks to start Functions
- Controlling your Functions with additional configuration
- Using Corvus.SpecFlow.Extensions in a build pipeline
Bill Zack got in contact to highlight that Microsoft MVP Tim Warner's Nashville Microsoft Azure Users Group presentation on "How to Get and Stay Current with Microsoft Azure" - is now available on YouTube (and, of course Azure Weekly gets a mention!).
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 the DEV site, Chloe Condon (@ChloeCondon) walks through Making Sense of the Senses- Our Top 5 Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services Combos
- On Channel 9, Gary Pretty (@garypretty) talks about Bot Framework – Using custom adapters to surface your bot anywhere (Part 3 of 3)
- On the Azure blog, John Chirapurath discusses Extending the power of Azure AI to Microsoft 365 users
- The Azure updates team announces that Neural Text to Speech has new voice styles in Azure Cognitive Services
- On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Sjoukje Zaal (@SjoukjeZaal) delves into What's New with Cognitive Services
- On Channel 9, Seth Juarez (@sethjuarez) gives a Azure Cognitive Search Overview
- On Azure medium, Em Lazer-Walker writes about How YOU Can Use Computer Vision to Avoid Touching Your Face
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 MSSQL Tips site, Koen Verbeeck (@Ko_Ver) writes about Incremental File Load using Azure Data Factory
- Andy Leonard (@AndyLeonard) highlights his Azure Data Factory Execution Patterns Recording
- The Azure updates team announces that Azure Data Explorer has extended geospatial functionality
- On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Jeffrey Chilberto spotlights Azure Data Factory
- On the DEV site, Abhishek Gupta (@abhi_tweeter) discusses how to Use Azure Functions to process real-time data from Azure Event Hubs and persist to Azure Cosmos DB
Blockchain
Covering: Azure Blockchain Service, Azure Blockchain Tokens, Azure Blockchain Workbench
- On Channel 9, Cale Teeter (@Windozer) provides a Digital ecosystems deep dive: Developer experience on alternative ledgers - VS Code
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
- Callon Campbell (@flying_maverick) covers how to Extend Execution Timeout Past 5 Minutes in Azure Functions
On the endjin blog, Jonathan George (@jon_george1) has written a great series of blogs about integration testing:
An introduction
Using step bindings to start functions
Using hooks to start functions
Controlling your functions with additional configuration
Using Corvus.SpecFlow.Extensions in a build pipeline- On the Azure blog, Yuemin Lu highlights the General availability of new Azure disk sizes and bursting
- On the Premier Developer blog, Chris Hanna and Frank Chen walk through Connecting A Durable Function to SharePoint Online
Containers
Covering: Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Red Hat OpenShift, CNAB, CNCF, Container Instances, Container Registry, Porter, WSL, Web App for Containers
- Daniel Neumann (@neumanndaniel) walks through Upgrading AKS Kubernetes version does not upgrade node pools (Terraform)
- On the Premier Developer blog, Greg Roe covers how to Push an ASP.NET Core API Container to Azure Container Registry Part 2 of 2
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
- On the Database Journal site, Marcin Policht discusses some Considerations for Deploying Azure SQL Database Managed Instances
- The Azure updates team announces Azure Database for PostgreSQL—Logical decoding and wal2json for change data capture and Azure SQL Database—Subnet delegation enforcement for managed instances
Developer Tools
Covering: App Configuration, Azure Lab Services, CLIs, Developer tool integrations, SDKs, Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio Online
- On the Premier Developer blog, Adel Ghabboun describes a Use case for TelemetryClient flush calls to Application Insights
DevOps
Covering: Azure Artifacts, Azure Boards, Azure DevOps, Azure Pipelines, Azure Repos, Azure Test Plans, Azure DevTest Labs, DevOps tool integrations
- On the .NET Curry blog, Saumilkumar Shah blogs about Delivering Automated Terraform CI/CD with Azure DevOps
- On the Microsoft DevOps blog, Gloridel Morales blogs about how they are Optimizing for stability during the global health pandemic
- On Channel 9, Marcel de Vries talks about Zero Downtime Deployments with Azure PaaS
- Callon Campbell (@flying_maverick) explains how to Publish Nuget packages in Azure DevOps Pipelines
- The Azure updates team announces that Azure DevTest discounts are now available
Hybrid
Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Stack
- The Azure updates team announces: Integration of Azure Security Center with Windows Admin Center is now available, Azure Stack HCI with accelerated AI and machine learning and Direct Upload of Azure Managed Disks is Generally Available
- On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Sjoukje Zaal (@SjoukjeZaal) describes Azure Arc for Servers: Applying policies and Azure Arc for Servers: Getting started
Identity
Covering: Azure Active Directory (AD), Azure Active Directory B2C, Azure Active Directory Domain Services
- Steve Buchanan (@buchatech) provides a "Delete Azure App Registrations" Script
- On the Black Marble blog, Richard Fennell (@richardfennell) talks about his Experiences setting up Azure Active Directory single sign-on SSO integration with GitHub Enterprise
- Stanislav Zhelyazkov (@StanZhelyazkov) writes about Inside Azure Management v4 – Implementing Process Automation
- Christos Matskas (@ChristosMatskas) writes about Secure app development with Azure AD, Key Vault and Managed Identities
- Sam Cogan (@samcogan) explains how to Provide Admin Consent for Azure AD Applications Programmatically
- On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Sjoukje Zaal (@SjoukjeZaal) spotlights Password-less Sign-in to Azure & Windows 10
- On the Azure SQL Database blog, Mirek Sztajno blogs about Azure AD pass-through and password hash authentication support for SQL DB, DW and Managed Instance
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 – Expiry and one on Deadlettering
- On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Jeffrey Chilberto discusses Azure Event Grid - Serverless event-based applications
- Jeremy Likness and Scott Hanselman discuss Enterprise integration with Azure Logic Apps
- On the Serverless360 blog, Ezhilarasi Chezhiyan writes about 5 Challenges with Service Bus Explorer
- Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) talks about Export Azure Security Center Alerts And Recommendations To Azure Event Hubs
- On Channel 9, Anthony Chu talks about Real-time applications with Azure SignalR Service
- On the Azure Developer Community Blog, John Wargo walks through Using Azure Notification Hubs in Apache Cordova and Ionic Apps
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
- Callon Campbell (@flying_maverick) blogs about Azure IoT Central and talks about how Microsoft partners with the industry to unlock new 5G scenarios with Azure Edge Zones
- The Azure updates team announces that Azure Edge Zones extends Azure services to the edge
- On Channel 9, Olivier Bloch (@obloch) talks about Remote Patient Monitoring with Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)
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
- The Azure updates team announces:
Azure Monitor for containers now supports GPU monitoring on AKS GPU-enabled node pool,
Azure Advisor data in Azure Resource Graph is now available,
Azure Backup solution for SAP HANA databases is now available
and Azure Ultra Disks—Shared disk capability is now in preview - Also on the DEV site, Michael Crump (@mbcrump) checks out the Azure CLI Interactive Mode
- James van Den Berg describes how Microsoft Azure Resource Graph is a Powerful Tool
On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Stephane Eyskens (@stephaneeyskens) has provided several architecture maps:
The Azure Kubernetes Service AKS Architecture Map
The Cloud-native Azure Application Architect Map
The Azure Infrastructure Architect Map
The Azure Solution Architect Map
and The Azure Security Architect Map- Daniel Örneling discusses ARM Templates: Working with naming conventions
- On the Premier Developer blog, Laurie Atkinson (@JoyfulCoder) writes about Angular How-to: Add Application Insights to an Angular SPA
- John Savill (@NTFAQGuy) covers Isolation and Resiliency Guidance in Azure
- On the .NET Curry blog, Subodh Sohoni (@subodhsohoni) covers Using Application Insights in Azure for Monitoring health of Web Apps
- On the DEV site, Julien Dubois (@juliendubois) covers Using the new Gradle plugin for Azure Functions to deploy Spring Boot serverless applications
- On Azure Tips & Tricks, Michael Crump (@mbcrump) explains how to Write queries and create dashboards using the full power of Azure Resource Graph
Media
Covering: Azure Media Player, Content Protection, Encoding, Live and On-Demand Streaming, Media Analytics, Media Services, Video Indexer
- On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Sjoukje Zaal (@SjoukjeZaal) spotlights Offline media import for Azure
Mixed Reality
Covering: Kinect DK, Remote rendering, Spatial anchors
- The Azure updates team announces that Azure Kinect DK is now available in Japan, Germany, and the UK
Migration
Covering: Azure Database Migration Service, Azure Migrate, Data Box
Mobile
Covering: App Service (Mobile), Mobile apps, Notification Hubs, Visual Studio App Centre, Xamarin
- On Channel 9, James Montemagno (@JamesMontemagno) talks about Theme Detection (Xamarin.Essentials API of the Week) and Awesome Xamarin.Forms Controls
- On the Azure SQL Database blog, Davide Mauri (@mauridb) discusses how to Sync Mobile Apps with Azure using Change Tracking API
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
- On the TechKB blog, Michael Coutanche (@mum3LE5) asks: What is Azure Private Link?
- The Azure updates team announces that IPv6 for Azure Virtual Network is now generally available
- Tobias Zimmergren & Jussi Roine (@CtrlAltAzure) speak about The basics of Azure CDN, and how you can protect it
- On Microsoft Cloud Blogs, the Intune Team talks about how Microsoft Endpoint Manager expands ecosystem of VPN partners to support customer needs
Security
Covering: Azure DDoS Protection, Azure Information Protection, Azure Sentinel, Key Vault, Security Center
- Henry Been (@henry_been) blogs about Loading settings for an Azure Function from Azure Key Vault- a better way
- The Azure updates team announces Azure Security Center - Continuous export of security recommendations and alerts and Workflow automation is now generally available
- Richard Hooper (@Pixel_Robots) explains how to Scan your Azure Container Registry container images with Azure Security Centre
- Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) explains how to Protect SQL Servers Running On Azure VMs With Azure Security Center
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
- On the Azure blog, Raman Kumar announces server-side encryption with customer-managed keys for Azure Managed Disks
- The Azure updates team announces:
New additions to the Azure Archive Storage partner network,
Azure Managed Disks—Incremental snapshots are now available,
Server-side encryption with customer-managed keys for Azure Managed Disks in GA now
and New Azure Disk sizes and bursting support are now available
Web
Covering: API apps, API Management, App Service (Web), Azure Cognitive Search, Azure SignalR Service, Azure Spring Cloud, Web apps
Windows Virtual Desktop
Covering: Windows Virtual Desktop
- Joseph Landes and Amol Dalvi discuss Windows Virtual Desktop
- On the Premier Developer blog, Gary Ciampa walks through Enabling remote workers with Azure Windows Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
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