Azure Weekly Issue 272: 26th April 2020

This week, on the Azure blog, James Baker has written a post about how we can Optimize cost and performance with Query Acceleration for Azure Data Lake Storage. We've not had a chance to try this out yet, but it's definitely something we'll be looking into!

The updates team have also announced that the Azure Support API is generally available. This means that there is now an easy way to automate the mnanaging of Azure Support tickets.

And, on Azure Tips and Tricks, Michael Crump has explained how you can Use Azure Functions Premium Plan to avoid cold-starts. Not only this but, as we recently found out when carrying out a performance investigation, upgrading to premium can have a huge effect on performance due to the improved hardware and removal of limits on connections. It's definitely an idea to keep this option in mind when investigating how to improve the performance of a serverless system!

There have also been a couple of great DevOps related posts: Martin Brandl has provided an easy-to-follow walkthrough on How to deploy Azure Resource Manager ARM templates with GitHub Actions. And Mahendar Madhavaram and Eduardo Bottcher have provided an example of How to retrieve all work items associated with a release pipeline using Azure DevOps API.

We've been quite DevOps focused here at endjin over the past few weeks, with the exciting addition of James Dawson to our team. We're excited to see how we can improve our own CI/CD processes using his expertise! And, on our blog, Carmel has highlighted that the Recording of her and Jess' Azure Oxford talk: Combatting illegal fishing with Azure for less than £10/month is now available. Definitely worth a watch if you have the time!

And now something aimed at the UK Tech Sector...

Bytes For Heroes are looking for UK technology companies to help us with a COVID-19 based charity initiative that we launched last week; they're on a mission to provide hot meals to 1,000,000 NHS front line workers that are putting their lives on the line to save others.

By partnering with local catering firms, they're funding them to provide hot meals, and make a tangible difference to the lives of those who are doing what we can't do.

They kicked off with a pilot programme in Bristol at Southmeads Hospital, and have provided over 2000 NHS heroes with hearty meal, which went down really well! But they've got such a long way to go.

They've signed up Amazon AWS and UKCloud among a number of other technology companies that want to know they're making a difference.

Since launching, they've received some great press, including an article on Tuesday in The Register.

If you want to make a real difference and can get on board with their cause, they're looking for help in a number of ways:

• Funding of meals - You can choose to either support the national effort, or support your local hospital directly. Meals are ranging between £2 and £5 per meal dependent on location.
• Helping to raise awareness - Publicly supporting the cause via your social media channels and sales teams.
• Lending a hand - If any of your teams want to volunteer to support our cause, and can help with PR, marketing, fund raising or want to be involved in the front line logistics, they'll help to make that happen.

How they can help you:

• Your logo on our website with a link back to your website. This will be in "Our Supporters" section.
• Social media highlighting your company as a supporter and thanking you.
• Statistics from our app (Launching Friday 24th April) which will give you data on how many people the overall effort is supporting and how many NHS Heroes your donations have specifically provided.

They're not stopping there!

The next version of the app will allow you to provide a personalised message back to the NHS hero that redeems their meal voucher. Allowing you to say a special thankyou from your business for the work that they're doing.

And don't worry!

The team at Bytes for Heroes is 100% volunteer driven and 100% of all donations go straight to catering teams who are delivering these services at cost! Your money will go straight to feeding those who they want to support.

Get in touch now at https://www.bytesforheroes.com

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, Adi Polak (@AdiPolak) writes: Data Scientist or Machine Learning Engineer? - a look into the different roles in the data science field.
• On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Morgan Mitchell (@livelovegeek) writes about Responsible AI: With great power (A part of #AIApril)
• On Code Project, Kevin Mack explains how to use AI / Analytics Tools in Azure
• Cassie Breviu (@Cassieview) blogs about how to Deploy your ONNX model with C and Azure Functions
• Jim Bennett describes Recognizing words on a microcontroller using TinyML
• And Jim joins Seth Juarez (@sethjuarez) on Channel 9 to talk about Recognizing words on a microcontroller using TinyML AI Show
• On the Azure podcast, Jennifer Marsman discusses Azure Cognitive Search
• And, on Azure Medium, Aaron Bornstein has written a post about Protecting Personal Identifiable Information with Azure AI

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

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 endjin blog, Carmel Eve (@Carmel_Eve) has highlighted the Recording of her and Jess' Azure Oxford talk on combatting illegal fishing with Azure for less than £10/month
• On the DEV site, John Papa (@John_Papa) provies a Tutorial on how to refactor your Node.js and Express APIs to Serverless APIs with Azure Functions
• Sam Cogan (@samcogan) writes: WTH are Azure Spot VMs?
• On Azure Tips and Tricks, Michael Crump (@mbcrump) has described how you can Use Azure Functions Premium Plan to avoid cold-start

Containers

Covering: Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Red Hat OpenShift, CNAB, CNCF, Container Instances, Container Registry, Porter, WSL, Web App for Containers

• Jakob Ehn (@jakobehn) discusses Implementing Azure Container Registry Retention with Brigade
• On the Perficient blog, James Patterson explains How Azure Red Hat OpenShift Simplifies Processes to Drive Innovation
• On the DEV site, Chris Noring (@chris_noring) explains how to how we can get started with Docker and Kubernetes
• Tobias Zimmergren (@zimmergren) explains How Tokens and Scope Maps for Azure Container Registry introduces great repository-level access restrictions
• On Channel 9, Isaac Levin (@isaac2004) talks about Writing code and having fun with Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock
• On the Azure podcast, Joey Schluchter and Kendall Roden discuss Dapr, Arc and Cloud Native Innovations

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 brings us an Introduction to Azure SQL Database Instance Pools
• On the Azure SQL Database blog, Kate Smith (@aKateSmithSQL) discusses Creating an Elastic Jobs Agent, Credentials, and Jobs for Azure SQL Database using T-SQL and writes about Fundamental Concepts for Elastic Jobs in Azure SQL Database
• On the MSSQL Tips site, Koen Verbeeck (@Ko_Ver) writes about Azure-Enabled Integration Services Projects in Visual Studio

Developer Tools

Covering: App Configuration, Azure Lab Services, CLIs, Developer tool integrations, SDKs, Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio Online

• Marcel Zehner (@marcelzehner) discusses Managing Azure Front Door with the Azure CLI
• On ZDNet, Liam Tung highlights Microsoft's last major Windows Terminal preview: Azure Cloud Shell, Settings updates

DevOps

Covering: Azure Artifacts, Azure Boards, Azure DevOps, Azure Pipelines, Azure Repos, Azure Test Plans, Azure DevTest Labs, DevOps tool integrations

• On the Premier Developer blog, Mahendar Madhavaram and Eduardo Bottcher run through How to retrieve all work items associated with a release pipeline using the Azure DevOps API
• Jeffrey Palermo (@jeffreypalermo) speaks with Gael Fraiteur about DevOps at PostSharp
• On the Black Marble blog, Richard Fennell (@richardfennell) provides A video about Multistage YAML pipelines and a Fix for System.BadImageFormatException when running x64 based tests inside a Azure DevOps Release
• On the Microsoft BI Tools blog, Mark de Groot describes How to add publishing profiles for databases in Azure DevOps
• On Channel 9, Damian Brady (@damovisa) talks about Deploying to Azure with GitHub Actions The DevOps Lab

Hybrid

Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Stack

Identity

Covering: Azure Active Directory (AD), Azure Active Directory B2C, Azure Active Directory Domain Services

• On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Stephane Eyskens (@stephaneeyskens) walks through Building a multi-tenant Azure Architecture for a B2C scenario

Integration

Covering: Azure API for FHIR, Event Grid, Logic Apps, Service Bus

• On the Planet Geek blog, Daniel Marbach (@danielmarbach) provides an Azure Service Bus .NET SDK Deep Dive
• Mark Heath (@mark_heath) has written a series on Azure Service Bus, he asks: Why Use Messaging?, runs through The Challenges of Messaging and then Introduces Azure Service Bus
• On Code Project, Gustavo Mobrice walks through Using Azure Logic Apps with HTTP Requests
• On the Serverless360 blog, Ranjith Eswaran explains how to Encrypt Azure Service Bus Data at REST using User Keys

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

• The Azure updates team announces that the Azure Sphere 20.04 Update 1 is now available for compatibility testing
• On Channel 9, Olivier Bloch (@obloch) talks about The Azure Sphere Security Promise and runs through Defense in depth for IoT devices on Azure Sphere

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

• Martin Brandl (@martin_jib) explains How to deploy Azure Resource Manager ARM templates with GitHub Actions
• The Azure updates team announces that Custom views with view designer are migrating to Azure Monitor workbooks and talks about the new ways you can Monitoring your reservation and Marketplace purchases with Budgets
• The Azure updates team announces that Automatic instance repairs for virtual machine scale sets are now available
• On the Azure blog, Azure (@azure) explains how to achieve Business continuity with Azure
• The Azure updates team announces that the Azure Support API is generally available
• Daniel Örneling describes ARM Templates: Working with tags in Azure
• Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) explains How To Deploy an Azure VM From Windows Admin Center
• On the Serverless360 blog, Nishanth Prabhakaran describes how to use BAM to achieve end to end visibility in a Azure Serverless Application

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

• Mariano Gomez blogs about Power Apps - Mixed Reality 101

Migration

Covering: Azure Database Migration Service, Azure Migrate, Data Box

• The Azure updates team announces that Azure Migrate is now available in Azure Government

Mobile

Covering: App Service (Mobile), Mobile apps, Notification Hubs, Visual Studio App Centre, Xamarin

• The Azure updates team discusses Azure App Service—.NET Core 3.1 is now generally available
• On Channel 9, Maddy Leger talks about Controls for boolean, numeric, and date and time input

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 highlights the Azure Virtual Network NAT gateway meter name changes

Security

Covering: Azure DDoS Protection, Azure Information Protection, Azure Sentinel, Key Vault, Security Center

• On the Azure blog, Gilad Elyashar discusses some Azure Security Center enhancements
• The Azure updates team announces that Identity recommendations are now included in Azure Security Center free tier
• Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) explains how to Protect Azure Kubernetes Service AKS 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, Xin Huang highlights the Enhanced features in Azure Archive Storage which are now generally available
• On Channel 9, Anna Hoffman and Jeroen ter Heerdt talk about how to Load data from Azure Blob storage into Azure SQL
• On the Azure blog, James Baker explains how to Optimize cost and performance with Query Acceleration for Azure Data Lake Storage

Web

Covering: API apps, API Management, App Service (Web), Azure Cognitive Search, Azure SignalR Service, Azure Spring Cloud, Web apps

• On the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast, Ben and Scott dive into Azure Web App for Containers
• On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Jeffrey Chilberto writes about Azure on the Cheap - Azure Storage Static Website and Azure Front Door

Windows Virtual Desktop

Covering: Windows Virtual Desktop

• Christiaan Brinkhoff (@Brinkhoff_C) discusses Microsoft Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD)