Azure Weekly Newsletter Issue #381

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@HowardvRooijen | @endjin

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 blogs about Azure Neural TTS previews a new contextual voice model for long-form paragraph reading
• Fei Zuo talks about Microsoft expands global language support for Speech-to-Text & Text-to-Speech
• Miles Judd Porter blogs about Using Azure Machine Learning in winning the Microsoft & Oxford's Tale of Two Cities Hackathon
• Tom Hirshberg writes about When AI meets fashion: Azure Video Indexers new model for detecting Featured Clothing in videos
• On Code Project, Intel blogs about Speeding Up the Databricks Runtime for Machine Learning
• Hugo Affaticati provides A quick start guide to benchmarking AI models in Azure: MLPerf Training v2.0

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

• Mark Kromer (@kromerbigdata) describes Cast transformation added to mapping data flows
• Michal Bar writes about ADX Web Explorer updates – July 2022
• Clinton Ford (@clintonwford) announces the preview of Serverless compute for Databricks SQL on Azure Databricks
• Noelle Li covers Azure Data Factory July 2022 Monthly Update
• Bhadresh Shiyal explains how to Connect DEP Enabled Synapse Spark to On-Prem Apache Kafka
• On the Data Exposed show, Anna Hoffman (@AnalyticAnna) is joined by Chuck Heinzelman (@SQLBoyWonder) and Shireen Bahadur to discuss Azure Synapse Link for SQL
• Shaf Mahmood describes How to create the output schema from Kusto query
• Dany Hoter discusses Use fresh and unlimited volume of ADX data Kusto from your favorite analytic tool - Excel pivot

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 announces the Public Previews of: .NET 7 support in Linux Consumption Plan and Azure Dedicated Host support for Ultra SSD
• Bhavya Tadikonda writes about Automatic extension upgrade of Desired State Configuration DSC extension for Linux
• Hugo Affaticati describes Getting started with Multi-Instance GPU MIG on the NC A100 v4 series
• Shuai Hao explains How to integrate Azure Batch pool with Azure Storage Account configured with firewall

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 covers Public preview: AMD-based confidential VMs for Azure Kubernetes Service AKS, Ananya Garg announces that Confidential VM node pool with AMD SEV-SNP protection available on AKS in public preview, The Azure Updates Team announces the General Availability of: AKS node pool user start/stop feature and FIPS compliant nodes for Windows in AKS
• Gerasimos Alexiou presents a kubectl commands cheat sheet for daily kubernetes administration
• Felip Miguel Puig walks through Using Azure Container Registry to build Docker images for Java projects
• Vinicius Apolinario (@vrapolinario) talks about Upgrading your container app from Windows Server 2019 to 2022 on Azure Kubernetes Service
• Steve Buchanan (@buchatech) provides A Guide to Navigating the AKS Enterprise Documentation & Scripts
• Joji Varghese covers Upgrading AKS using REST API

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 the General Availability of: Audit log for continuous mode with Azure Cosmos DB, and the Public Previews of: RedisJSON available in Azure Cache for Redis Enterprise and Migration tool feature with Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Flexible Server
• Ankit Sharma walks through Auto scaling Azure Redis Clustered Cache using cache metrics alerts
• On the SQL Server Blog, Pieter Vanhove (@Pieter_Vanhove) explains how to Establish digital trust in your data with ledger in SQL Server 2022

Developer Tools

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

• On .NET Rocks, Carl Franklin (@carlfranklin) and Richard Campbell (@richcampbell) discuss Azure Developer Tools with Scott Hunter
• On the Visual Studio blog, Mads Kristensen (@mkristensen) walks through Differentiating Visual Studio instances
• On Code Project, Mark Pelf covers Git – Comparing Visual Studio 2022 with MeGit/EGit and SourceTree

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, Sprint 208 Update
• Travis Roberts (@Ciraltos) covers Azure DevOps Pipelines with Terraform and Stages
• Gregor Suttie (@gregor_suttie) discusses how to Reverse Engineering Arm Templates to use with Bicep
• Brian Moore talks about Using Azure templateSpecs with a Custom UI

Hybrid + Multicloud

Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Stack

• The Azure Updates Team writes about Generally available: Azure Automanage - Enforcement mode of machine configuration previously guest configuration
• Sarah Cooley writes about AKS on Azure Stack HCI and Windows Server - July 2022 update
• Amira Youssef discusses NVIDIA and Microsoft host Azure Percept on Azure Stack HCI Bootcamp
• The Azure Updates Team discusses Azure StorSimple 8000/1200 series will no longer be supported starting 31st December 2022
• Holger Linke writes about Bidirectional Transactional Replication in SQL Managed Instance
• Niko Neugebauer discusses how to Prevent Data Exfiltration in Azure SQL Managed Instance
• On episode 433 of The Azure Podcast, Cynthia Kreng, Kendall Roden, Cale Teeter, Evan Basalik, Russell Young and Sujit D'Mello cover the Azure Relay Service

Identity

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

• June Castillote (@junecastillote) explains how to Keep in Sync with Microsoft Azure AD Sync Password Writeback
• Damien Bowden (@damien_bod) explains how to Disable Azure AD user account using Microsoft Graph and an application client
• Vinil Vadakkepurakkal covers Integrating Third-Party User Management Systems into CycleCloud
• Sandro Pereira (@sandro_asp) explains How to retrieve Azure Key Vault Secrets using Azure Functions Part I

Integration

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

• Mark Brimble (@BrimbleMark) describes Batching Messages – Integration Account Batch Mode
• Sandro Pereira (@sandro_asp) blogs about Testing Azure Logic Apps with Mock Data
• Bill Baer explains how to What's new for Microsoft Graph connectors, August 2022 Update

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

• Sander van de Velde blogs about Using ADX table update policies projecting raw messages to target tables
• Pete Gallagher discusses walks through Connecting a Raspberry Pi Pico W to Microsoft Azure IoT Hub using MicroPython and MQTT
• Sander van de Velde  blogs about Extending the AZ-220 Digital Twins hands-on lab with 3D visualization

Learning

Covering: Microsoft Certifications, Azure Certifications, Microsoft Learning Paths, Certification Pathway Information

• Orin Thomas discusses Azure Stack HCI on 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 announces the General Availability of: Application Insights in China North 3 and China East 3, and Azure Log Analytics in China North 3 and China East 3 and Azure Monitor metric alerts dynamic thresholds outage detection
• The Azure Updates Team announces the Public Previews of: Enable VM insights using Azure Monitor agent, and Policy blocking the deployment of vulnerable images
• Luke Kim discusses Auto-update of Azure Log Analytics agent and Diagnostics Extension for Linux extension available
• Shemer Steinlauf blogs about Improving the tools for monitoring Log Analytics workspace health
• Daniel Stocker writes about Well-Architected Go-Live now available on the Microsoft Assessment Platform
• On the Azure blog, Mayunk Jain (@mayunkj) writes about 5 steps to prepare developers for cloud modernization
• On episode 145 of the Ctrl+Alt+Azure podcast, Tobias Zimmergren and Jussi Roine discuss Azure Updates
• Baskar Rao Dandlamudi writes about Azure Application Insights – Cost Save with this Simple Optimization
• Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) explains how to Update Azure Backup Policy at Scale using PowerShell
• David Mebane walks through Safeguard holds with the Windows Update for Business deployment service

Media

Covering: Azure Media Player, Content Protection, Encoding, Live and On-Demand Streaming, Media Analytics, Media Services, Video Indexer

• No content this week

Migration

Covering: Azure Database Migration Service, Azure Migrate, Data Box

• No content this week

Mobile

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

• No content this week

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: Azure Public IPv6 offerings are free as of July 31, and Next hop IP support for Route Server and Azure Firewall Premium is now ICSA labs certified
• Jose Moreno (@erjosito) describes Importing Palo Alto policies to Azure Firewall
• Pierre Roman (@pierreroman) writes Securely Manage my On-prem Server Using Cloud services.
• Daniel Neumann (@neumanndaniel) talks about Preventing SNAT port exhaustion on Azure Kubernetes Service with Virtual Network NAT

Security

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

• Rijuta Kapoor writes about New Threat Intelligence features in Microsoft Sentinel and discusses Bring Threat Intelligence from Kaspersky using TAXII data connector
• Joel Vickery presents The RC4 Removal Files Part 3 – The Everything Else Of It
• Yoav Daniely explains how to Protect critical information within SAP systems against cyberattacks
• Ryan Hausknecht blogs about Introducing the Azure Threat Research Matrix
• Matt Lowe presents Intro to KQL Workbook - Summer Update

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

• Jerry Zhang writes about 403 Access Denied authorization error caused by Sticky Bit in ADLS Gen2

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 the General availability: Azure App Service Environment v3 support for custom domain suffix
• Aaron Powell (@slace) describes Controlling Blazor Environments on Static Web Apps
• Yeongseon Choe describes How to configure URL Rewrite in Tomcat Java App on Azure App Service.
• On episode 204 of the Azure DevOps Podcast, Jeffrey Palermo (@jeffreypalermo) discusses Blazor Futures with Daniel Roth
• Sam Cogan (@samcogan) explains how to Create an App Service for Containers with Bicep

Azure Virtual Desktop

Covering: Azure Virtual Desktop

• Seneca Friend announces General Availability of Autoscale for Pooled Host Pools on Azure Virtual Desktop

Useful Links

• Azure Resource Inventory - Azure Resource Inventory is a powerful script written in PowerShell to generate an Excel report of any Azure Environment you have read access
• Azure Quickstart Templates - Learn how to deploy to Azure using ARM Templates. Over 850 examples in this repo.
• Azure CNAB Quickstarts Library - You can deploy to the Cloud, on Prem and on the Edge using CNAB & Porter. This library provides a number of quickstart templates to help you get started, fast!
• Power BI Weekly - Interested in Power BI? Sign up to our sister newsletter Power BI Weekly to receive all the week's Power BI news.
• Azure Resources - A fantastic collection of resources contained in this repo. Issue a PR if you have resources to share. Managed by Azure MVP Gregor Suttie.
• Azure Charts - Azure Charts is a set of auto-rebuilt charts to keep you updated on Azure changes, news, stats. Public updates, RSS channels and web pages are used as data sources
• The Developer’s Guide to Microsoft Azure (2nd Edition) - ebook from Microsoft showcasing architectural approaches and common design patterns you face when building modern applications.
• Azure Virtual Datacenter - ebook from Microsoft highlighting an approach to isolation, security, and trust in the Microsoft cloud.
• Cyber Security Demystified - ebook from Microsoft describing how to keep your organisation safe.
• Microsoft's What is Azure poster - a visual overview of Azure's services and features.
• Microsoft Azure Essentials: Fundamentals of Azure - a free ebook from Microsoft Press, by Michael S. Collier and Robin E. Shahan.
• Data Science in the Cloud with Microsoft Azure Machine Learning and R - a free ebook on Azure Machine Learning, by Stephen F. Elston.
• Protecting Data in Microsoft Azure - a whitepaper that describes the various mechanism you can you can leverage for managing sensitive data in the Azure platform.
• Azure Architecture Center - guidance from the Patterns & Practices team covering API Design, API implementation, Autoscaling, Background jobs, CDN, Caching, Data partitioning, Monitoring and diagnostics, Retry, Scalability and availability.
• Azure Architect's Reference - if you are an architect responsible for building an application on Azure, or are trying to figure out how you could migrate an application and need to dig deep into the workload, cost, security, capacity, availability, deployment and operational modelling this invaluable resource should be your first stop. An open source project, with contributions from several experienced architects, it gathers data from many different references into a single, useful guide that is constantly updated by the community.
• Azure Table Storage Design Guide - a guide from the storage team.
• Azure infrastructure services implementation guidelines - key design and implementation guidelines for deploying an IT workload in Azure infrastructure services.
• Azure Speed Test - a simple web tool that measures the latency between you and Azure Datacenters to suggest which might be fastest for you location.
• Azure Websites Cheatsheet - everything you need to know about configuring & managing Azure Websites on a single page.
• Data Migration Assistant - enables you to upgrade to a modern data platform by detecting compatibility issues that can impact database functionality on your new version of SQL Server and Azure SQL Database. It recommends performance and reliability improvements for your target environment.
• Azure SQL DTU Calculator - a tool to help you determine the number of DTUs for your existing SQL Server database(s) as well as a recommendation of the minimum performance level and service tier that you need before you migrate to Azure SQL Database.
• Microsoft Azure Symbol/Icon Set - a set of Visio and PowerPoint shapes for use in architecture diagrams / presentations.
• Service Bus Explorer - a free and open source tool for managing and exploring Azure Service Bus(including Event Hubs).
• Best practices for designing Azure Resource Manager Templates - guidance based on the whitepaper 'World Class ARM Templates Considerations and Proven Practices'.
• Microsoft Cloud Networking for Enterprise Architects - a downloadable guide to Azure networking, covering topics such as cloud migration and networking for PaaS and SaaS services
• Whitepapers for Power BI - numerous whitepapers ranging various Power BI topics
• Azure Serverless Computing Cookbook - ebook from Microsoft, including use cases, hands-on steps, and tutorials for quickly configuring your own serverless environments.
• Executive Summary: Enterprise Cloud Strategy - executive summary of the 140-page e-book from Microsoft. Learn about the basics of adopting a cloud computing strategy for your enterprise.
• Migrating SQL Server to Azure SQL Database Managed Instance—A Step-by-Step Guide - ebook from Microsoft providing breakdown of tactical steps for implementing a quick, simple, and low-impact data migration with Azure SQL Database Managed Instance.
• Azure Backup Deep Dive Whitepaper - a deep dive by Adin Ermie and Charbel Nemnom describing Azure Backup
• Azure Stack: An extension of Azure - whitepaper from Microsoft detailing how you can extend Azure Stack to make Azure services available on-premises
• Azure Strategy and Implementation Guide - For Azure users - ebook from Microsoft outlining recommended general architecture and cloud design principles, DevOps, approaches to service management, and overall governance.
• Azure Data Factory: SSIS in the Cloud - eBook from Microsoft explaining why you would want to migrate your existing SSIS workloads to Azure Data Factory and addressing common considerations and concerns. Includes technical details of creating an Azure-SSIS IR and then walk-throughs of how to upload, execute, and monitor your packages through Azure Data Factory
• Parallel Virtual File Systems on Microsoft Azure - ebook from Microsoft documenting the results of a series of performance tests on Azure to see how scalable Lustre, GlusterFS, and BeeGFS are
• Build and deploy a multi-container application in Azure Service Fabric - ebook from Microsoft which shows how to create a sample multi-container application using ASP.NET Core and Docker and deploy it on an Azure Service Fabric cluster.
• Azure ebook/whitepaper resources - White papers, analyst reports, and e-books landing page with an abundance of extra resources.
• Farmer - This is a DSL for ARM template creation - "Making repeatable Azure deployments easy"!