Azure Weekly Issue 276: 24th May 2020
As I'm sure most of you are aware, this week was the first virtual Microsoft Build! So, unsurprisingly, there have been a lot of exciting announcements and updates...
The first of these is around Azure Synapse Link. This is a cloud-native implementation of Hybrid Transactional Analytical Processing (HTAP), and is a game-changer as it provides a one-click, non-disruptive way to get real-time analytics from transactional data stored in operational databases. It is now available in Cosmos DB and will be added to other database types in the coming months!
Jess has written an excellent blog about why Azure Synapse Analytics should be on your roadmap, which is definitely worth a read if you want to learn more about this technology.
The updates team have also announced the Serverless pricing model for Azure Cosmos DB. This is an exciting step in bringing more cloud services towards a consumption-based pricing model!
Alongside this, Static Web Apps single page hosting in App Service is now in preview. Over the past few months we have begun to migrate a lot of our sites to single-page applications so this is something we'll definitely be making use of in the near future.
Also, Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 PowerShell and CLI are now generally available, which is excellent news for being able to automate the management of secure data architectures on Azure.
And finally, here is a run through of the Build updates for Azure Cognitive Search, and an update on the Azure DevOps Roadmap update for 2020 Q2.
For a full list of the updates this week, it is definitely worth having a skim through the Azure updates blog!
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 Tallan blog, Caitlyn Gardiner explains how to Classify Your Wardrobe Using Azure Custom Vision
- On Channel 9, Alicia Edelman Pelton talks about the New Features in Language Understanding
- Also on Channel 9, Sarah Bird talks about Protecting Sensitive Data using Differential Privacy
- On the DEV site, Ari Bornstein (@pythiccoder) describes Accelerating Model Training with the ONNX Runtime
- On the Azure blog, Eric Boyd (@eric_boyd) covers Meeting the challenges of today and tomorrow with Azure AI
- The Azure updates team has highlighted the Build updates for Azure Cognitive Search
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, Jess Panni (@JessPanni) lists 5 Reasons why Azure Synapse Analytics should be on your roadmap
- On the Azure blog, Raghu Ramakrishnan blogs about Azure Analytics: Clarity in an instant
- The Azure updates team announces the High throughput output from Stream Analytics to Azure Synapse Analytics preview
- On the Azure blog, Gayle Sheppard highlights Azure Synapse Analytics: Insights for all
- On the DEV site, Cecil L. Phillip highlights an On.NET Episode: Scaling .NET for Apache Spark processing jobs
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 Daily Dot Net Tips blog, Abhijit Jana (@AbhijitJana) walks through Running Azure Functions in a Docker Container
Containers
Covering: Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Red Hat OpenShift, CNAB, CNCF, Container Instances, Container Registry, Porter, WSL, Web App for Containers
- The Azure updates team announces that Azure Container Registry diagnostic logs are now generally available
- Pixel Robots. explains how to Build An Azure Kubernetes Service AKS Cluster with Windows support
- On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Stephane Eyskens (@stephaneeyskens) provides a Tip on how to run a cheap AKS lab
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 announced:
Serverless pricing model for Azure Cosmos DB,
Point-in-time-restore PITR for Azure Cosmos DB,
Change feed with full database operations for Azure Cosmos DB
and that you can now Authenticate Azure Stream Analytics to Azure SQL Database using managed identities (in preview) - On the Azure blog, Nikisha Reyes-Grange explains how to Build apps of any size or scale with Azure Cosmos DB
- On the Azure SQL Database blog, Marisa Brasile blogs about Private Link for Azure SQL Database Part 1 and Part 2
- On Code Project, Jeremy Likness (@jeremylikness) describes EF Core and Cosmos DB with Blazor WebAssembly
- On the SQL Server Blog, Alan Yu (@AlanYuSQL) highlights that the The May 2020 release of Azure Data Studio is now available
Developer Tools
Covering: App Configuration, Azure Lab Services, CLIs, Developer tool integrations, SDKs, Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio Online
- The Azure updates team announces some New Azure extensions for Visual Studio Code and that Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 PowerShell and CLI are now generally available
- On the DEV site, Lena Hall writes about Workspaces with CLI - Large-scale Data Analytics with Azure Synapse
- On the Microsoft BI Tools blog, Joost van Rossum (@ssisjoost) discusses how to Setup Visual Studio code for Azure Functions
DevOps
Covering: Azure Artifacts, Azure Boards, Azure DevOps, Azure Pipelines, Azure Repos, Azure Test Plans, Azure DevTest Labs, DevOps tool integrations
- Also on the Microsoft DevOps blog, Sidi Merzouk has walked through the Azure DevOps Roadmap update for 2020 Q2
- Jeffrey Palermo (@jeffreypalermo) has released a podcase centred on Microsoft Build
- On the Black Marble blog, Richard Fennell (@richardfennell) writes about an Azure DevOps Extension – access to test results and a Azure DevOps Task – commit/changeset file details
- Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) explains How To Set Up Deployment Stages In Azure DevOps
- On the DEV site, Jay Gordon (@jaydestro) has provided an Azure Web App Service and GitHub Actions Video Tutorial
- On the Microsoft DevOps blog, Rogan Ferguson highlights that Streaming for Auditing is now in Public Preview
- On the Premier Developer blog, Tom Ordille explains how to Set up Repository permissions in Azure DevOps
Hybrid
Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Stack
- On the Azure blog, Jeremy Winter discusses the Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes preview
- Also on the Azure blog, Natalia Mackevicius talks about the Azure Stack updates and how it enables intelligence at the edge
- The Azure updates team has made several announcements about Azure Stack:
Azure Stack Hub now supports cross-platform compatibility on PowerShell,
Azure Kubernetes Service AKS resource provider on Azure Stack preview,
Azure Stack Hub fleet management preview,
Azure VM Image Builder service will be generally available Q3 2020,
Easily deploy and manage Azure Stack through Avanade and
Support for Windows containers Azure Container Networking Interface on Azure Stack Hub coming soon in private preview - On the Azure SQL Database blog, Danimir Ljepava (@danimir) discusses the Monitoring options available for Azure SQL Managed Instance
- Also on the Azure SQL Database blog, Danimir Ljepava (@danimir) talks about Fine tuning backup storage costs on Managed Instance and explains Backup storage consumption on Managed Instance
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
- On the MSSQL Tips site, John Miner (@JohnMiner3) blogs about SQL Server Integration Services Flexible File Task with Azure Data Lake Storage
- On the Planet Geek blog, Daniel Marbach (@danielmarbach) has continued his Azure Service Bus .NET SDK Deep Dive – Transfer DLQ
- Radu Vunvulea (@RaduVunvulea) writes about why you Should(n't) peek and lock a message from Azure Service Bus for 5 hours
- Sean Feldman (@sfeldman) showcases Service Bus Explorer in Azure Portal
- On the Serverless360 blog, Balasubramaniam Murugesan describes How to encrypt a file using Azure Logic App
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 highlights that New Azure IoT Central features are now available
- On Channel 9, Olivier Bloch (@obloch) talks about NVIDIA DeepStream on Azure IoT Edge
- Also on Channel 9, Olivier Bloch and Pamela Cortez discuss the Azure IoT Developer Specialty Certification
- On the Microsoft site, Reporter highlights that Microsoft launches new cloud computing services in UK Azure regions, around IoT and more
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
- Robert Smit (@Clustermvp) talks about Starting With Azure Tags: What do my resources Cost?
- Callon Campbell (@flying_maverick) walks through Using Azure Monitor source map support to debug JavaScript errors
- The Azure updates team announces that Azure Stream Analytics now supports error codes in activity and resource logs
- Daniel Rneling describes ARM Templates: Working with nested templates in Azure
- On Channel 9, Mark Russinovich and Seth Juarez discuss Azure innovation and more
- On the Serverless360 blog, The serverless360 team discusses Azure Health Monitoring
- On Code Project, Kevin Mack provides a Key Rotation Gotcha in Terraform
Media
Covering: Azure Media Player, Content Protection, Encoding, Live and On-Demand Streaming, Media Analytics, Media Services, Video Indexer
- The Azure updates team announces that Azure Media Services is now available in Switzerland and Germany
- On the DEV site, Ari Bornstein (@pythiccoder) writes about Visual Brand Detection with Azure Video Indexer
Mixed Reality
Covering: Kinect DK, Remote rendering, Spatial anchors
- On the Azure blog, John 'jg' Chirapurath describes how HoloLens 2 expands markets; Azure mixed reality services now broadly available
Migration
Covering: Azure Database Migration Service, Azure Migrate, Data Box
- Sarah Lean (@TechieLass) runs through a Datacentre Migration Discovery Checklist
- On the MSSQL Tips site, Vitor Montalvao explains how to Migrate SQL Server database to Azure VM
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
- The Azure updates team discusses Azure Private Link support for sender clients is now available in preview for Azure Relay and Firewall support for Azure Relay is now in preview
- Tobias Zimmergren & Jussi Roine (@CtrlAltAzure) have Briefly chatted about Azure Front Door
- Sam Cogan (@samcogan) walks through Forcing HTTPS with Azure Front Door Rules
- On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Jeffrey Chilberto blogs about Azure Front Door caching vs Azure CDN (Azure on the Cheap)
Security
Covering: Azure DDoS Protection, Azure Information Protection, Azure Sentinel, Key Vault, Security Center
- The Azure updates team have walked though the News and updates for Azure Security Center (May 2020)
- Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) writes: I Have Azure Sentinel... Do I Need 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 Check your Logs blog, Rick Vanover (@RickVanover) explains How To Promote Azure Blob Storage to Hot Tier
- The Azure updates team announces that Azure Blob versioning public preview is now available, Routing preferences is now available for preview in Azure Storage and the Object replication public preview for Azure Blob storage
- On the MSSQL Tips site, Ron L'Esteve writes about a Fast Way to Load Data into Azure Data Lake using Azure Data Factory
Web
Covering: API apps, API Management, App Service (Web), Azure Cognitive Search, Azure SignalR Service, Azure Spring Cloud, Web apps
- The Azure updates team announces that Static Web Apps single page hosting option available in App Service is now in preview
- On the DEV site, Christopher Maneu walks through how to Deploy Blazor WebAssembly apps to Azure Static Web Apps
- Also on the DEV site, John Papa (@John_Papa) provides a First look at Static Web Apps
Windows Virtual Desktop
Covering: Windows Virtual Desktop
- Freek Berson (@fberson) provides a New PowerShell script on GitHub to add WVD Hosts to a host pool
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