Azure Weekly

Azure Weekly Issue 273: 3rd May 2020

This week we'd like to highlight some content around CosmosDB. Firstly, the Azure team have announced that Spatial geometry in Azure Cosmos DB now generally available. We explored some of this as part of a recent project, it's powerful stuff and definitely worth a look if you're working with spatial data!

And, to assist with this, Deborah Chen has joined the team on the Azure Podcast to further discuss the new Cosmos DB Free Tier. We've mentioned this a few times, but I think it's really worth highlighting that you can now take advantage of the powerful features of Cosmos without breaking the bank.

The updates team has also announced that Managed identity support in AKS is now available. Managed identities mean that all of the credential management is done for you, and therefore massively reduce the security risks around authentication. It's great to see this feature become available in a wider range of services!

Alongside this, YAML CD features in Azure Pipelines are now generally available. We've been using YAML for our build and release definitions for a while now, and wholeheartedly recommend this as a way of managing CI/CD processes.

Finally, on the endjin blog, Carmel has written a blog around handling upheaval and navigating uncertain times. This isn't strictly Azure related, but I think it's important to recognise that many of are struggling to comprehend the scale of the current global changes. This post runs through a few general strategies for managing the extra mental workload.

And finally, if you're in the UK, please check out https://www.bytesforheroes.com and see if you can help.

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

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

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

Developer Tools

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

DevOps

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

Hybrid

Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Stack

Identity

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

Integration

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

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

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

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

Mobile

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

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

Security

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

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

Azure Weekly Archive

If you would like to read more interesting articles from the Azure ecosystem check out our archive where you will find all of the back issues.

Contribute Content

If you would like to contribute any content to the Azure Weekly newsletter, please email azureweekly@endjin.com