Azure Weekly Issue 85: 17th July 2016
Confused by the cloud services offered by Microsoft, Amazon & Google? When organisations start to consider adopting the cloud, the first question is usually "which one?", and the second is often "how do we adopt it?". We’ve identified 5 common adoption strategies: Lift & Shift Scale Out, Lift & Shift Scale Up, Hybrid, Consume Platform Services, and Re-architect for Cloud. We used these to provide a side-by-side comparison of the three major cloud platforms (AWS, Azure & Google). Download for free from: https://endjin.com/thought-leadership/cloud-platform-comparison
On Azure this week, Chris Risner announces the release of the Azure Usage and Billing Portal and Rajesh Ramabathiran talks about the Azure audit logs UX refresh.
Marley Gray writes about Blockchain as a service update (#9) and Kevin Ngo unveils that Azure SQL Data Warehouse supports SSMS, higher DWUs and additional T-SQL features.
Mark Jewett talks about growing the Azure Ecosystem with Stack while Mike Neil looks at how Stack is delivering cloud infrastructure as integrated systems.
Finally, Richard Li reveals the Azure Media Services Motion Detector has added detection zones, sensitivity levels and more.
AI + Machine Learning
Covering: Azure Batch AI, Azure Bot Service, Microsoft Genomics, Machine Learning services, Machine Learning Studio, Cognitive Services, Bing APIs, Computer Vision API, Content moderator, Custom Services, Emotion API, Face API, Language Understanding (LUIS), Linguistic Analysis API, QnA Maker API, Speaker Recognition API, Text Analytics API, Translator Speech API, Translator Text API, Web Language Model API
Analytics
Covering: Azure Databricks, HDInsight, Data Factory, Stream Analytics, Data Lake Analytics, Event Hubs, Power BI, Azure Analysis Services, Apache Spark for HDInsight, Apache Storm for HDInsight, R Server for HDInsight, Data Catalog
On Channel 9, Scott Klein (@SQLScott) talks about advancements in Data Technology and announces the Azure SQL Data Warehouse general availability with Rohan Kumar.
On the Azure blog, Kevin Ngo announces that Azure SQL Data Warehouse supports SSMS, higher DWUs and additional T-SQL features.
On MSDN, Gaurav Hind writes about comparing an SQL Database PaaS with an SQL Server running on a Azure VM IaaS and the features that are not supported in the Azure SQL Database.
Compute
Covering: Virtual Machines, Functions, Batch, Service Fabric, Virtual Machine Scale Sets, Cloud Services, Linux Virtual Machines, SAP HANA on Azure Large Instances
On the Azure blog, Marley Gray (@HiroMarleyG) writes about Blockchain as a service update (#9).
Nino Crudele (@ninocrudele) writes about Big Data integration in a high scale scenario using Azure Service Fabric and GrabCaster.
On the Azure Blogger site, Jungcheol Kwon explains how to create VM with ARM Powershell for multiple subnets and multiple NICs.
On MSDN, Lee Stott (@lee_stott) walks through utilising Microsoft Azure Dev/Test Labs in your student projects and lab environments.
John Savill (@NTFAQGuy) walks through creating a VM with Azure Resource Manager.
Containers
Covering: Container Registry, Container Instances, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Web App for Containers
Databases
Covering: Azure SQL Database, Azure Cosmos DB, SQL Data Warehouse, Redis Cache, SQL Server Stretch Database, SQL Server on virtual machines, Table storage, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, Azure Database for MySQL
Developer Tools
Covering: Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, SDKs, Developer tool integrations, CLIs, Blockchain Workbench
DevOps
Covering: Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS), Azure DevTest Labs, DevOps tool integrations, Azure DevOps Projects, Azure Lab Services
Identity
Covering: Azure Active Directory, Multi-factor Authentication, Azure Active Directory Domain Services, Azure Active Directory B2C
On the Kloud blog, Lucian Franghiu (@lucianfrango) discusses the new Azure AD Connect built in user filter (adminDescription), and Shaun Stuart talks about accelerating Azure Multi Factor Authentication in Enterprise Organisation.
On MSDN, Wriju Ghosh (@wriju_ghosh) covers Azure Active Directory limits and restrictions.
On TechNet, Dishan Francis (@rebeladm) writes about enabling Azure Active Directory Domain Services password synchronization.
Robert Smit (@Clustermvp) looks at integrating Microsoft Azure Active Directory and Office 365 Readiness Wizard with your on-premises AD.
Integration
Covering: Service Bus, Logic Apps, Event Grid
On MSDN, John Taubensee (@jtaubensee) covers canceling scheduled messages.
Rod Trent (@rodtrent) reveals Microsoft's Azure Stack is delayed to allow partners time to certify hardware for Windows IT Pro.
On the Azure blog, Mark Jewett (@jmarkjewett) talks about growing the Azure Ecosystem with Stack.
Mike Neil talks about how Stack is delivering cloud infrastructure as integrated systems.
Internet of Things
Covering: IoT Hub, IoT Suite, IoT Edge, IoT Central, IoT solution accelerators, Time Series Insights, Azure Maps, Azure Sphere
Management and Governance
Covering: Backup, Site Recovery, App Insights, Azure Advisor, Sceduler, Automation, Log Analytics, Azure Monitor, Security & Compliance, Protection & Recovery, Automation & Control, Insight & Analytics, Azure Service Health, Microsoft Azure portal, Azure Resource Manager, Cloud Shell, the Azure mobile app, Azure Policy, Cost Management, Azure Managed Applications
Radu Vunvulea (@RaduVunvulea) shares the lesson learned after the Azure bill is 2 times more than normal.
On the Azure blog, Chris Risner (@chrisrisner) announces the release of the Azure Usage and Billing Portal.
Over on TechNet, Yuri Diogenes (@yuridiogenes) blogs about the Azure Security Center and going from planning to operations in 10 steps.
On the Unigma site, Kirill Bensonoff (@prankstr25) blogs about the best practices for monitoring Microsoft Azure.
Stefan Stranger (@sstranger) writes about using ARM policies to implement Runbook best practices.
Jan Egil Ring (@janegilring) looks at triggering Azure Automation runbooks from Microsoft OMS Alerts for Powershell Magazine.
On the Daily Dot Net Tips blog, Abhijit Jana (@AbhijitJana) explores related Telemetry Trends in the Application Insight search window in Visual Studio.
Also on Azure, Rajesh Ramabathiran (@rajram) talks about the Azure audit logs UX refresh.
On MSDN, Lee Stott (@lee_stott) talks about maximising your Azure Educator grants with Azure Automation.
Clemens Reijnen (@ClemensReijnen) takes you through configuring and working with the GIT VSTS Build and Release.
Media
Covering: Media services, Encoding, Live and On-Demand Streaming, Azure Media Player, Content Protection, Media Analytics, Video Indexer
On the Azure blog, Richard Li (@RichyLi) reveals the Azure Media Services Motion Detector has added detection zones, sensitivity levels and more.
Microsoft Azure Stack
Covering: Azure Stack
Migration
Covering: Azure Database Migration Service, Azure Migrate, Data Box
Mobile
Covering: App Service (Mobile), Notification Hubs, Mobile apps, API apps, Visual Studio App Centre, Xamarin
Networking
Covering: ExpressRoute, Azure DNS, Virtual Network, Traffic Manager, Load Balancer, VPN Gateway, Application Gateway, Network Watcher
Security
Covering: Azure Information Protection, Key Vault, Security Center, Azure DDoS Protection, Azure Advanced Threat Protection
Storage
Covering: Storage, StorSimple, Data Lake Store, Blob Storage, Disk Storage, Managed Disks, Queue Storage, File Storage, Storage Explorer, Archive Storage
On MSDN, Arsen Vladimirskiy (@ArsenVlad) walks through accessing Azure Storage Blobs from locally running Spark 1.6.
Web
Covering: App Service (Web), API Management, Content Delivery Network, Azure Search, Web apps, Azure SignalR Service
On MSDN, Rahul Garg (@rahulmsft) explains how Azure IOT is raising beverage service to new heights, saving millions of dollars with Smart Lighting and solving renewable energy challenges.
At Redmond magazine, Jeffrey Schwartz (@JeffreySchwartz) writes about how GE Pact validates Microsoft's Cloud and IoT chops.
On the Microsoft site, the Microsoft Reporter explains how the Rolls-Royce deal with Microsoft could mean fewer flight delays.
On the Xamarin blog, Mike James (@MikeCodesDotNet) blogs about creating a five-star search experience with Azure Search.
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