Azure Weekly Newsletter Issue #386

powered by endjin

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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

• Kevin Raines explains how to Join Microsoft and NVIDIA experts at this Microsoft GTC Session WP41730 Watch Party
• Hugo Affaticati provides A quick start guide to benchmarking AI models in Azure: MLPerf Inference v2.1
• Bea Stollnitz blogs about Creating batch endpoints in Azure ML without using MLflow
• Barret Blake blogs about Azure Back to School 2022 – Saving Customer Relationships with Azure Cognitive Services
• Joakim Astrom walks through a project to Predict steel quality with Azure AutoML in manufacturing

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: Managed private endpoint support to Synapse SQL output, and General availability: Up to 45% performance gains in stream processing and Generally available: Kusto Emulator
• The Azure Updates Team announces Public preview: Stream Analytics no-code editor updates in August 2022
• Sid Ramadoss covers Azure Stream Analytics September 2022 Update
• On the endjin blog, James Broome discusses Insight Discovery part 1 – why do data projects often fail
• Mark Kromer (@kromerbigdata) describes Azure Data Factory Updated Pipeline Designer
• Daniel Coelho writes about New query optimization techniques in Apache Spark for Azure Synapse
• Arshad Ali walks through Building the Lakehouse - Implementing a Data Lake Strategy with Azure Synapse
• Shaf Mahmood blogs about Introducing Conversion Functions in KQL
• Dany Hoter discusses Return of the Power BI join with Kusto
• Kevin Chant writes about the Allow list for Databricks Repos

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

• David Justo provides A walkthrough of Durable Entities
• Mei Jin blogs about Azure Windows Virtual Machine Activation: two new KMS IP addresses and why you should care

Containers

Covering: Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Red Hat OpenShift, CNAB, CNCF, Container Instances, Container Registry, Porter, WSL, Web App for Containers

• On the endjin blog, Jonathan George (@jon_george1) describes Bye bye Azure Functions, Hello Azure Container Apps: Introduction
• Also on the endjin blog, James Dawson (@James_Dawson) discusses Using Azure CLI Authentication within Local Containers
• Taiseer Joudeh (@TJoudeh) describes Azure Container Apps with Dapr Bindings Building Block – Part 7 and discusses Azure Container Apps Monitoring and Observability with Application Insights – Part 8
• Kendall Roden explains how to Go Cloud Native with Azure Container Apps
• Thomas Thornton (@tamstar1234) talks about Deploying Azure Container Apps into your virtual network using Terraform and AzAPI
• Brandon Smith discusses Reminder - Updates to Windows Container Runtime Support

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 writes about General availability: Azure Database for PostgreSQL output in Stream Analytics
• Vandhana Mehta writes about On-demand backups, server logs, and more, now available in Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server
• Amit Khandelwal talks about SQL Server 2022 Release Candidate 0 is now available on Linux
• On the Data Exposed show, Anna Hoffman (@AnalyticAnna) and Jody Donetti (@jodydonetti) discuss Caching made easy in Azure SQL DB with FusionCache
• Siddhant Sawant explains How to reclaim storage space with Azure Database for MySQL - Flexible Server
• Varun Dhawan explains covers How do I check logs for Azure Database forPostgreSQL?
• Radu Vunvulea (@RaduVunvulea) writes about My thoughts about Azure Cache for Redis Enterprise
• On SQL Server Central, dennes covers SQL Ledger: Protecting Data in Azure SQL
• Nicholas Xuan Nguyen explains How to Get Started with Azure Data Studio
• Rajendra Gupta (@rajendragupta16) presents a Guide to Build Graph Node and Edge Tables with Azure Data Studio
• Thomas Thornton (@tamstar1234) explains how to Create a PostgreSQL single server read replica in Azure using Terraform

Developer Tools

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

• David Ramel (@dramel) explains how to Improved IntelliSense Support for Jupyter Notebooks in VS Code
• On the Visual Studio blog, Mads Kristensen (@mkristensen) discusses Adding color to bracket pairs
• Stefan Schranz talks about Understanding the Visual Studio Docker FastMode integration

DevOps

Covering: Azure Artifacts, Azure Boards, Azure DevOps, Azure Pipelines, Azure Repos, Azure Test Plans, Azure DevTest Labs, DevOps tool integrations

• On episode 209 of the Azure DevOps Podcast, Jeffrey Palermo (@jeffreypalermo) is joined by Steve Smith to discuss Domain-Driven Design and Architecture
• Richard Fennell (@richardfennell) walks through Clearing the AssignedTo field on an Azure DevOps Work items with the AZ CLI
• Daniel Krzyczkowski (@DKrzyczkowski) discusses DevSecOps on Azure - part2: Incorporate security at an early stage
• On the Microsoft DevOps blog, Gloridel Morales blogs about Azure DevOps Graph connectors for Microsoft Search
• Bianca Corsatea talks about Keeping your dependencies updated with Azure Pipelines and Dependabot
• Rui Cunha talks about Automating the Publishing of Workspace Artifacts in Synapse CICD
• Thorsten Hans describes how to Provision AKS and NAT Gateway with Terraform
• Alan Kinane (@Azure_Alan) talks about Azure Chaos Studio
• Nikita Nallamothu explains how to Configure JMeter script to optimize utilization of test engines in Azure Load Testing

Hybrid + Multicloud

Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Stack

• Wim Matthyssen (@wmatthyssen) presents Azure Back to School 2022: Lets take a look at Azure Arc-enabled VMware vSphere
• Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) covers Run PowerShell Scripts with Azure Automation Hybrid Workers on-premises using Azure Arc

Identity

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

• On the Redmond magazine site, Kurt Mackie (@kurmac) describes Microsoft Adds Azure AD Security and Compliance Perks
• Sravani Saluru discusses User Managed Identity support for Auditing SQL Azure database:
• Robin Goldstein explains how to Say goodbye to unmanaged Azure AD accounts for B2B collaboration
• Arsen Vladimirskiy (@ArsenVlad) discusses Mapping Google Cloud IAM concepts to similar ones in Azure
• Brad Wyatt blogs about Creating a Microsoft 365 Automated Off-boarding Process with SharePoint, Graph API, and PowerShell

Integration

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

• The Azure Updates Team writes about General availability: Authenticate to Service Bus using managed identity
• Simon Waight (@simonwaight) blogs about Moving from Azure Logic Apps to Power Automate Flow
• On episode 437 of The Azure Podcast, the Azure Podcast team (@AzurePodcast) are joined by James Tabor from the Azure CXP CRE team to discuss Low Code Automation
• Pedro Almeida covers Listing Connectors by Logic App
• Wagner Silveira writes about Improved For-each loop performance in Stateless Workflows
• June Castillote (@junecastillote) explains how to Manage Office 365 With The Microsoft Graph Office 365 API
• Liam Mooney (@lg_mooney) describes how to Automate Excel in the Cloud with Office Scripts and Power Automate

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 writes about General availability: Azure Sphere OS version 22.09 expected on September 22
• Sander van de Velde covers Azure Data Explorer connector for Blob storage IoT Hub files

Learning

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

• Lee Stott (@lee_stott) says Create Your Azure Infrastructure with Cloud Development Kit for Terraform - LIVE SESSION 15th Sept
• Bethany Jepchumba describes How to maximize your Azure for Students benefit and reduce spend.

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

• Daichi Isami (@normalian) covers How to leverage Azure Monitor to meet functional and non-functional requirements - No.4 Storage/Disk
• Guillaume Beaud covers how to Scale your Azure Firewall monitoring with Azure Data Explorer
• John Folberth blogs about Tracking Azure History with Azure Resource Graph
• "agopinathan" explains How to use the "Lab Services should restrict allowed virtual machine SKU sizes" Azure Policy?
• Sergey Khimchenko asks Is your Data Estate Well-Architected?
• John Reilly (@johnny_reilly) explains how to Reverse engineering the Azure Application Insights Transactions URL
• Amit Khandelwal explains how to Deploy Always On Availability Groups AG on SQL Server RHEL based Azure VMs - The Ansible Way
• Robert Biro covers SAP on Azure high availability – change from SPN to MSI for Pacemaker clusters using Azure fencing
• On episode 150 of the Ctrl+Alt+Azure Podcast, Tobias Zimmergren and Jussi Roine talk about Azure Updates
• On the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast, Ben Stegink (@benstegink) and Scott Hoag (@ciphertxt) cover Clearing the deck for Ignite
• Manuel Pereira describes How to troubleshoot sensitivity Labels – Part 1

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

• Gustavo Modena talks about Exploring the New Resource Specific Structured Logging in Azure Firewall
• Saleem Bseeu walks through Configuring Azure Firewall in Forced Tunneling mode
• Tobi Otolorin explains how to Protect Applications in Google Cloud Platform GCP using Azure WAF
• Felipe Binotto talks about Fun with Azure VPN

Security

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

• Rijuta Kapoor discusses Power of Threat Intelligence sprinkled across Microsoft Sentinel
• Sam Cogan (@samcogan) talks about Azure Key Vault - A Conflict Occurred that Prevented the Operation from Completing

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: Resource instance rules for access to Azure Storage
• Daniel Neumann (@neumanndaniel) explains how to Migrate an Azure storage account from LRS to ZRS replication without downtime

Web

Covering: API apps, API Management, App Service (Web), Azure Cognitive Search, Azure SignalR Service, Azure Spring Cloud, Web apps

• Annina Keller describes how to Use Static Web Apps API and API Management Authorizations to integrate third party services
• Aditi Nagarkar covers Working with API management DevOps resource kit
• Edi Wang covers System Fonts on Azure App Service for Linux
• Gaurav Kumar discusses Azure Spring Apps - Config Server with SSH Authentication

Azure Virtual Desktop

Covering: Azure Virtual Desktop

• No content this week

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"!