Azure Weekly Issue 366: 3rd April 2022
Lots and lots of updates this week. One that made me sit up and take notice was: Azure classic storage accounts will be retired on 31 August 2024 - I know we still have lots of classic storage accounts across our subscriptions. Time to modernise! Another storage feature that's reached GA is Access time-based lifecycle management rules for Data Lake Storage Gen2, which allows you to automatically move data between storage tiers - ideal for reducing the cost of data you need to keep, but don't access very often.
Another big announcement from this week: introducing the new Azure Front Door: Reimagined for modern apps and content. I'm a big fan of ACA, and always enjoy reading Thorsten's posts: Custom health probes with Azure Container Apps. I also enjoyed reading Boost your Infrastructure as Code with Bicep
Two other posts that provide a good high-level overview are: Data Cataloging with Azure Purview and Where does AAD App Proxy fit with other Azure reverse proxies. Finally, I enjoyed this example of combining different technologies to build an interesting IOT solution: Build an AI-powered predictive maintenance solution with TinyML, Azure Sphere, and Microsoft Teams.
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
- The Azure Updates Team announces Public preview: Azure Percept DK March 2203 software update
- The Azure Updates Team announces General availability: Azure Cognitive Search implements debug sessions
- Qinying Liao writes Try out Custom Neural Voice in 5 minutes with a Lite project
- Alexandre Vilcek provides A Solution Template for Soft Sensor Modeling on Azure - Part 1
- James Nguyen discusses Teaching Machine Learning System Efficiently with Active Learning
- Foteini Savvidou presents part 2 of Translate your notes with Azure Translator and Python
- Jarek Szczegielniak presents Deploying Models at Scale on Azure - Part 1: Deploying XGBoost Models, Part 2: Deploying and Scaling PyTorch Models and Part 3: Deploying and Scaling TensorFlow Models
- Neta Haiby covers Extracting information from unstructured document e.g., contracts with Azure Form Recognizer
- Ben Brauer writes about Well-Architected Branches for Assessing Workload-Types
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
- The Azure Updates Team announces General availability: Azure Data Explorer supports Conditional Access
- The Azure Updates Team announces Generally available: Azure Stream Analytics in 10 new regions
- Saveen Reddy highlights the Azure Synapse Analytics updates for March 2022
- Jianlei Shen writes about New Connectors Available in Mapping Data Flow
- Mark Kromer (@kromerbigdata) blogs about Flowlets and Change Feed now GA in Azure Data Factory and blogs about Data Preview and Debug Improvements in Mapping Data Flows
- Ron L'Esteve writes about Advanced Schema Evolution using Databricks Auto Loader
- Tobias Zimmergren (@zimmergren) explains how to Obfuscate strings in KQL queries
- Chenye Charlie Zhu writes about AND logic - Many Pre-processing Jobs - Part 1
- Drew Furgiuele covers Exporting AWS CloudWatch Logs to Azure Data Explorer
- Lewis Gavin presents Streaming at Scale with Azure Event Hubs, Azure Functions, and Cosmos DB Part 3: Analyzing and Visualizing the Data
- Anshul Sharma presents Azure Data Explorer: Zero Trust Security with Conditional Access
- Anil Dwarakanath writes about Managed Virtual Networks and DNS for Synapse Analytics to enable a seamless data estate
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
- The Azure Updates Team writes about General availability: On-demand capacity reservations
- The Azure Updates Team announces teh General Availability of Azure Batch supports Spot Virtual Machines and Node.js 16 in Azure Functions
- The Azure Updates Team announcs that retirement has been extended to August 31st 2023 of NC-series Azure Virtual Machines and NV-series and NV Promo Azure Virtual Machines and NC v2-series Azure Virtual Machines and ND-series Azure Virtual Machines.
- The Azure Updates Team announces Public preview: Simplified compute node communication
- On the Azure blog, Rani Borkar explains how to Accelerate silicon design innovation on Azure with Synopsys Cloud
- Bill DeForeest blogs about Guarantee capacity access with on-demand capacity reservations—now available
- Lukasz Miroslaw discusses Benchmarks and scalability of Hexagon simulation portfolio on Azure
- On the Data Exposed channel, Anna Hoffman (@AnalyticAnna) is joined by Tim Radney (@tradney) to talk about What You Need to Know About Azure VM Sizing
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 the Public Preview of Node auto-drain for AKS, and Azure dedicated host support in AKS and Capacity reservation support in AKS
- Vinicius Apolinario (@vrapolinario) blogs about Troubleshooting Windows containers apps on Azure Kubernetes Service
- Thorsten.hansgmail.com Thorsten Hans write about Custom health probes with Azure Container Apps
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 announce the General Availability of Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Hyperscale Citus now FedRAMP High compliant and Always Encrypted for Azure Cosmos DB and the Public preview: Azure Cosmos DB partition key advisor notebook
- The Azure Updates Team announces Azure SQL - Public preview updates for late March 2022
- The Azure Updates Team announces Public preview: Azure SQL Migration extension with Azure PowerShell and CLI support
- David O'Brien (@david_obrien) describes Cosmos DB - Defender for Cloud
- On the Data Exposed channel, Anna Hoffman and Abby Sassel cover Instant Realtime GraphQL on Azure SQL with Hasura
- Dimitri Furman (@DimitriFurman) provides A new way to troubleshoot out-of-memory errors in the database engine
- N V Sudhir Kumar Raparla covers Monitor Database Restore progress at more granular level
- Jose M Jurado (@jmjuradodiaz) blogs about Lesson Learned 192: Remote Query Timeout vs Application Command Timeout
- Greg Robidoux explains how to Get Ready for SQL Server 2022
- Niko Neugebauer describes How-to restore across different SQL Managed instances when using TDE with Customer Managed Keys
- Des FitzGerald describes Database Migration / Reverse Migration between Azure SQL DB/MI and SQL Server using SmartBulkCopy
- Mohamed Kabiruddin (@mdkabir) explains how to Migrate SQL Server databases at scale to Azure using PowerShell / CLI
Developer Tools
Covering: App Configuration, Azure Lab Services, CLIs, Developer tool integrations, SDKs, Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio Online
- On Visual Studio Magazine, David Ramel (@dramel) blogs about Microsoft Offers Visual Studio 2019 in New Azure VM for Game Development
- On the Visual Studio blog, Jordan Matthiesen (@JMatthiesen) writes about Visual Studio 2022 for Mac Preview 8
- Antti K. Koskela (@koskila) explains How to fix Graph API returning null properties for Users
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, Dan Hellem writes about New Boards Hub Public Preview
- On episode 186 of the Azure DevOps Podcast, Jeffrey Palermo (@jeffreypalermo) is joined by Kevin Kirkus to discuss Automated Testing Embedded Code
- John Reilly (@johnny_reilly) covers Azure DevOps: consume a private artifact feed
- Rui Cunha covers CICD in Synapse SQL: How to deliver your database objects across multiple environments
- Kevin Chant explains how to Connect a Database Project in Azure Repos to Azure Pipelines
- Sarah Lean (@TechieLass) blogs about Getting Started with Azure Bicep
- Gregor Suttie (@gregor_suttie) blogs about Bicep Access policies and Managed Identity and describes Config Mapping in Bicep – cool stuff
- Sam Cogan (@samcogan) explains how to Develop Bicep Deployment Scripts with Docker and VS Code
- Jeroen Van Den Burg says Boost your Infrastructure as Code with Bicep
Hybrid + Multicloud
Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Stack
- On Microsoft Security blog, Lauren Goodwin writes about 3 steps to secure your multicloud and hybrid infrastructure with Azure Arc
- Or Serok-Jeppa blogs about Security posture management and server protection for AWS and GCP are now generally available
- The Azure Updates Team discusses Public preview: Azure Arc integration with VMware vSphere and Azure VMware Solution
- On the Redmond magazine site, Kurt Mackie describes Microsoft Previews Azure Arc for Managing Azure Stack HCI Virtual Machines
- Kilol Surjan announces Public Preview of Arc enabled Azure Stack HCI
Identity
Covering: Azure Active Directory (AD), Azure Active Directory B2C, Azure Active Directory Domain Services
- The Azure Updates Team writes about General availability: Azure Bastion native client support
- Alex Simons Azure announces Azure AD RBAC: Custom roles & administrative units for devices now available
- On episode 127 of the Ctrl+Alt+Azure Podcast Tobias Zimmergren and Jussi Roine discuss Joiners, Movers and Leavers in Azure AD
- Andreas Helland covers Getting rid of credentials in Azure - Part 2 EasyAuth
Integration
Covering: Azure API for FHIR, Event Grid, Logic Apps, Service Bus
- The Azure Updates Team announces IoT connector preview feature in Azure API for FHIR retiring on 30 September 2022
- Duan Walker explains how to Authenticate Standard Logic Apps using OAuth 2.0 Bearer Token
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 Sphere Team announce General Availability: Azure Sphere OS version 22.04 expected on April 11
- James Serra (@JamesSerra) blogs about Azure IoT Central
- Felix Kollmar explains how to Connect industrial machines to Azure IoT within minutes using CloudRail
- Dave Glover (@dglover) explains how to Build an AI-powered predictive maintenance solution with TinyML, Azure Sphere, and Microsoft Teams
- Taylor Anderson presents Rewind the Metaverse with Data History for Azure Digital Twins
Learning
Covering: Microsoft Certifications, Azure Certifications, Microsoft Learning Paths, Certification Pathway Information
- Josefa Sepulveda discusses Microsoft Sentinel Ninja Training - the March 2022 update
- Travis Roberts (@Ciraltos) blogs about AZ-900 Part 4, Describe Core Resources Available in Azure: Compute and Networking
- Liberty Munson presents Exam AZ-720 beta: Prove your skills as an Azure support engineer for connectivity
- Lee Stott (@lee_stott) presents Web Dev, IoT, ML or Data science Open-Source Microsoft Curricula Webinar
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
- On the Azure blog, Michael Flanakin (@flanakin) discusses Azure Cost Management and Billing updates – March 2022
- Jack Cantwell discusses Potential breaking changes for VM Insights Linux customers - Update your Dependency Agent
- Febiyan Rachman covers Data Cataloging with Azure Purview
- On episode 418 of the Azure Podcast, the team are joined by David Starr to talk about the Azure Marketplace
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
- The Azure Updates Team announces Generally available: Copy data directly to Archive Storage with Data Box
- Amy Colyer blogs about Azure VMware Solution AVS for VMware Admins - Assessment and Migration
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 announces the General Availability of The new Azure Front Door – a modern cloud CDN service, and Support or Calico network policy for Windows node pools and Bring your own IP ranges to Azure
- On the Azure blog, Sunil Kishen talks about Introducing the new Azure Front Door: Reimagined for modern apps and content
- On the Azure blog, Brian Lehr announces that Bring your own IP addresses BYOIP to Azure with Custom IP Prefix
- Charles Pluta presents Walkthrough: Configuring end-to-end TLS with Application Gateway and Internet Information Services
- Jose Moreno (@erjosito asks Where does AAD App Proxy fit with other Azure reverse proxies
- Ricardo Martins (@ricmmartins) walks through Deploying Apache Guacamole on Azure
- Jose Moreno (@erjosito) writes Where do I put my SDWAN
- Pierre Roman (@pierreroman) is joined by Amy Colyer (@wyrdgirl) to present the AzUpdate podcast S04E07: VNET & Changes in IP addresses, Azure Dedicated Host SKUs, ARM Templates & more.
Security
Covering: Azure DDoS Protection, Azure Information Protection, Azure Sentinel, Key Vault, Security Center
- Daniel Naim blogs about Microsoft Defender for Identity Response Actions
- Yuri Diogenes (@yuridiogenes) writes about New Ransomware Recommendation Dashboard in Microsoft Defender for Cloud
- Giulio Astori discusses Automation to block compromised identity detected by Microsoft Defender for Resource Manager
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
- The Azure Updates Team announces Generally available: Cross-region snapshot copy for Azure Disk Storage and General availability: Azure Ultra Disk Storage in Sweden Central
- Mark Heath (@mark_heath) writes about Copying Blobs with the V12 Storage SDK
- The Azure Updates Team writes about Generally available: Access time-based lifecycle management rules for Data Lake Storage Gen2
- The Azure Updates Team announces Generally available: On-demand capacity reservation with Azure Site Recovery safeguards VMs failover and Azure classic storage accounts will be retired on 31 August 2024
Web
Covering: API apps, API Management, App Service (Web), Azure Cognitive Search, Azure SignalR Service, Azure Spring Cloud, Web apps
- Sean Li announces Spring Cloud Azure 4.0 has reached GA
- The Azure Updates Team announces App Service Environment version 1 and version 2 will be retired on 31 August 2024
- On episode 1787 of the .NET Rocks Podcast, Carl Franklin and Richard Campbell (@carlfranklin and @richcampbell) are joined by Stacy Cashmore to discuss Azure Static Web Apps
- Damien Bowden (@damien_bod) discusses Implementing OAuth2 APP to APP security using Azure AD from a Web APP
Azure Virtual Desktop
Covering: Azure Virtual Desktop
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