Azure Weekly Issue 310: 7th February 2021
Welcome to issue 310 of Azure Weekly. You may have noticed we've had a bit of a long overdue makeover. If you experience any problems with the new design in your email client, please let us know!
To start off with there are two great articles from us this week; first Jonathan George kicks off his series about Configuration in Azure Functions - What's in the box? and Ed Freeman (curator of Power BI Weekly) shares a recent discovery in How to safely reference a nullable activity output in Azure Synapse Pipelines and Azure Data Factory.
A number of interesting articles in the AI / ML arena; first Build a natural custom voice for your brand using the Custom Neural Voice Text-to-Speech (TTS) feature of Speech in Azure Cognitive Services, Responsible ML updates in Azure Machine Learning is in public preview, and if you are interested in Knowledge Mining, creating QnA functionality with Azure Cognitive Search is very neat.
Finally, a service I've been following closely as a successor to Service Fabric is Dapr, and Mark Fussell provides a great intro to dapr. Check out the GitHub Org, there's a huge amount of community activity.
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
- Qinying Liao explains how to Build a natural custom voice for your brand, using the very cool new Custom Neural Voice Text-to-Speech (TTS) feature of Speech in Azure Cognitive Services.
- The Azure updates team announces that Responsible ML updates in Azure Machine Learning is in public preview, that Text Analytics' Named Entity Recognition v3 now supports 10 languages with improved AI quality and that Custom Neural Voice, a Text-to-Speech capability within Speech Service is generally available
- Also on Tech Community blog, Neha Rajput covers a QnA with 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, Azure Purview
- On the endjin blog, Ed Freeman (@edfreeman_) explains How to safely reference a nullable activity output in Azure Synapse Pipelines and Azure Data Factory
- Chris Webb (@cwebb_bi) continues his series on Comparing The Performance Of Importing Data Into Power BI From ADLS Gen2 Direct and Via Azure Synapse Analytics Serverless
- On the MSSQL Tips site, Ron L'Esteve talks about Getting Started with Azure Synapse Analytics Hyperspace for Spark Indexing
- Also on the MSSQL Tips site, Fikrat Azizov explains how to Build Appealing Dashboards using Azure Synapse Analytics
- Chenye Charlie Zhu highlights that Azure Data Factory is HITRUST Certified
- Clinton Ford (@clintonwford) explains how to Accelerate analytics from 4.5 hours to as fast as one hour with Azure Databricks
- On the Azure blog, Daniel Yu covers how to Gain real-time insights on SAP ERP data with Azure and Qlik Data Integration
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, Jonathan George (@jon_george1) covers Configuration in Azure Functions - What's in the box?
- On Code Project, Duncan Edwards Jones (@Merrion) discusses Event Sourcing on Azure Functions
- On SQL Server Central, Vitor Montalvao explains how to Create an Azure VM from a VHD image
- Ping Wu walks through a troubleshooting solution: Stateless/Stateful Services Cannot Be Started In Service Fabric cluster
- Antti K. Koskela (@koskila) explains How to upgrade your Azure Function app plan when you originally selected Consumption
Containers
Covering: Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Red Hat OpenShift, CNAB, CNCF, Container Instances, Container Registry, Porter, WSL, 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 announces that Stop/start functionality for Azure Database for MySQL is generally available
- On Channel 9, Erez Atiya talks about how RedisLabs is Accelerating Data Engineering with Azure
- Jakub Szymaszek (@JakubSzymaszek) writes about the Always Encrypted with secure enclaves in Azure SQL Database preview
Developer Tools
Covering: App Configuration, Azure Lab Services, CLIs, Developer tool integrations, SDKs, Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio Online
- Tobias Zimmergren & Jussi Roine (@CtrlAltAzure) discuss End-to-end testing with Playwright on Azure
- On Channel 9, Pierre Roman, Joey Aiello and Jason Helmick provide a PowerShell Deep Dive
DevOps
Covering: Azure Artifacts, Azure Boards, Azure DevOps, Azure Pipelines, Azure Repos, Azure Test Plans, Azure DevTest Labs, DevOps tool integrations
- On the Microsoft DevOps blog, Martina Hiemstra highlights a Delivery Plans 2.0 Update
- Bradley Ball discusses CI/CD in Azure Synapse Analytics (Part 4 - The Release Pipeline)
Hybrid
Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Stack
- Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) highlights some Azure Hybrid Cloud Deep Dive Sessions
- Rick Claus (@RicksterCDN) provides a recording of the All Things Hybrid Event - Mark Russinovich Keynote
Identity
Covering: Azure Active Directory (AD), Azure Active Directory B2C, Azure Active Directory Domain Services
- Damien Bowden (@damien_bod) explains how to Implement app roles authorization with Azure AD and ASP.NET Core
- Meagan Longoria (@mmarie) covers Granting ADLS Gen2 Access for Power BI Users via ACLs
- On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Andreas Helland walks through Creating a JWT Validation Web App
- Alex Simons (@Alex_A_Simons) explains how to Strengthen your hybrid identity with these new Azure AD Connect releases and highlights that Search, Sort, and Filter for Conditional Access is now in public preview
- Sameer Sitaram highlights that Azure Active Directory IDs are now in Yammer Data Export API
- Yixuan Wang covers how to Use the Azure Portal to enable AAD authentication for Service Fabric management endpoint
Integration
Covering: Azure API for FHIR, Event Grid, Logic Apps, Service Bus
- The Azure Updates Team announces that Azure Event Grid is now in public preview for Azure Cache for Redis, that IT Service Management Connector ITSMC is now certified with ServiceNow Paris version and that Azure Log Analytics in Australia Central 2 is in public preview
- On the DEV site, Mark Fussell (@mfussell) provides an Intro to daprdev
- Also on the DEV site, Justin Yoo (@justinchronicle) discusses WebSub to EventGrid via CloudEvents, and Beyond...
- On the Microsoft site, a reporter describes how the NHS moves millions of mailboxes to Microsofts Azure cloud, giving staff access to the latest digital tools and services that support modern ways of working
- On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Ricardo Duncan provides A Deep Dive into Serverless Applications on Power Apps and Azure
- On Azure Sentinel Blog, Cristhofer Munoz explains how to Centralize your security response with Azure Sentinel & PagerDuty
- Mark Brimble (@BrimbleMark) walks through A Custom Tracking ID & Service Bus Triggers in Azure Logic Apps
- Michael Crump (@mbcrump) walks through How to use the VS Code Logic Apps extension to create stateless workflows
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 Channel 9, Sudeep Gowrishankar and Sudhanshu Kashyap talk about "When industrial AI meets IoT"
- Sander van de Velde describes IoT Plug and Play, modeling IoT Central devices
- Richard Taylor highlights The new, flexible, and programmable Azure Sphere CLI
- Charlie Han discusses how HoloLens 2 Industrial Edition brings mixed reality to regulated environments
Learning
Covering: Microsoft Certifications, Azure Certifications, Microsoft Learning Paths, Certification Pathway Information
- On the DEV site, Jay Gordon (@jaydestro) highlights a live session: Learn Cloud Elasticity with Microsoft Learn (Feb 19th)
- Sandra Marin discusses the Azure Database Administrator Associate Certification
- Radu Vunvulea (@RaduVunvulea) discusses The journey to get all Microsoft Azure Certifications in 6 months time
- Adam Marczak (@MarczakIO) continues his series on AZ-900, covering The core tenets of Security, Privacy, and Compliance
- Lee Stott (@lee_stott) highlights Azure Digital Twins on Microsoft Learn
- Lee Stott (@lee_stott) explains how to Automate your Cloud with Carnegie Mellon University & Microsoft Learn
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, Scheduler, Azure Purview
- The Azure Updates Team has made some announcements:
Support for more workloads, tag based policies now in Backup Center public preview,
Support for SAP Application NetWeaver and Operating System Linux telemetry in Azure Monitor for SAP Solutions, General availability: Azure Log Analytics in UAE Central & Japan West,
New Azure Monitor Agent available on latest Linux distros and new regions,
and General availability: Application Insight in UAE Central & Japan West - Daniel Perlovsky walks through Friendly display names for Resource Sets in Azure Purview Data Map
- Paul Lee describes How to debug unexpected Azure Policy compliance status for Azure resources
- Scarlett Liu discusses: Whats the length of Azure Policy assignments name?
- Sam Cogan (@samcogan) discusses Using Multiple Accounts with Azure
- Pantelis Apostolidis (@papostolidis) provides a template for Deploying a VM from Azure SIG in new Resource Group
- On Channel 9, Siddharth Deekshit talks about Zone to Zone Disaster Recovery with Azure Site Recovery
- Yvette O'Meally highlights the Manage console extensions in Configuration Manager Technical Preview 2101
- Aidan Finn (@joe_elway) covers Everything You Need to Know About Azure Infrastructure
- Sandro Pereira (@sandro_asp) describes How to create robust monitor solutions with PowerShell, Azure Functions and Logic Apps
- Richard Burrs describes how to use Azure Policy to Deny Creation of All Resources
Media
Covering: Azure Media Player, Content Protection, Encoding, Live and On-Demand Streaming, Media Analytics, Media Services, Video Indexer
Migration
Covering: Azure Database Migration Service, Azure Migrate, Data Box
- Radu Vunvulea (@RaduVunvulea) covers Things to consider during a transition to Azure China Regions
- Jim Toland discusses PostgreSQL to Azure DB for PostgreSQL – Hyperscale Citus online migrations now generally available
- Vamshi Polasa talks about Migrating SAP on Oracle Workloads to Azure
- Sachin Ghorpade asks Which service or product is perfect for my requirements?
Mobile
Covering: App Service (Mobile), Mobile apps, Notification Hubs, Visual Studio App Centre, Xamarin
- On Channel 9, Javier Suarez Ruiz explains why Templated Controls are Awesome and talks about TabView (Xamarin Community Toolkit)
- Saumitra Agarwal discusses Evolution of Microsoft Lens
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
- Brad Watts covers Network Security Group Monitoring
- On the Azure podcast, Vishal Munde discusses Streaming telemetry for NVAs
Security
Covering: Azure DDoS Protection, Azure Information Protection, Azure Sentinel, Key Vault, Security Center
- On the Azure blog, Alethea Toh describes Azure DDoS Protection—2020 year in review
- The Azure updates team has made a few announcements:
Azure Security Center—Public preview updates for January 2021,
Azure Security Center—General availability updates for January 2021,
Support for Azure API Management certificates in Azure Key Vault has reached general availability.,
Microsoft Azure Attestation is now generally available,
Azure achieves its first PCI 3DS certification
and 172 Azure offerings achieve HITRUST certification - On Azure Sentinel blog, Cristhofer Munoz talks about Support for formatted comments and comments editing and deleting in Azure Sentinel
- Also on Azure Sentinel blog, Hesham Saad describes the Azure Sentinel All-In-One Accelerator
- Tiander Turpijn writes: New Year - New Official Azure Sentinel PowerShell Module
- Matt Lowe talks about how to Move Your Azure Sentinel Logs to Long-Term Storage with Ease
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
- Mark Heath (@mark_heath) talks about Archiving Blobs with the Storage SDK
- Frank Pan explains How use Azure Data Lake Store REST API to upload file via AAD access token
Web
Covering: API apps, API Management, App Service (Web), Azure Cognitive Search, Azure SignalR Service, Azure Spring Cloud, Web apps
- On .NET Rocks, Jeff Fritz discusses Blazor Static Web Apps with Jeff Fritz
- Kylie Liang discusses Whats New in Azure Spring Cloud after GA
- Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) explains how to Serve Static Content in Azure Files With Nginx
Windows Virtual Desktop
Covering: Windows Virtual Desktop
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