Azure Weekly Newsletter Issue #399

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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

• On the Azure blog, Andy Beatman explains how to Improve speech-to-text accuracy with Azure Custom Speech
• On the Azure Medium blog, Valentina Alto blogs about Image Classification with Azure Machine Learning
• Freist Li explains how to Create a Skill Bot from Azure Question Answering Service

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

• Arshad Ali and Giuliano Rapoz delve into Synapse – Data Lake vs. Delta Lake vs. Data Lakehouse
• Jean Hayes describes how to Leverage Copy Data Parallelism with Dynamic Partitions in ADF/Synapse Meta-Data Driven Pipelines
• Fikrat Azizov explains how to Enforce data integrity rules on your Delta tables using Synapse Mapping Data Flow
• Adi Eldar writes about Multivariate Anomaly Detection in Azure Data Explorer
• Kasun Indrasiri covers Log Compaction in Azure Event Hubs
• Dany Hoter writes To Star or not to Star, More about data modeling in Power BI using ADX

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 announce Public preview: New Memory Optimized VM sizes - E96bsv5 and E112ibsv5
• Rene van den Bedem covers Azure VMware Solution Advanced Monitoring
• Utkarsh Ayachit writes about Interactive Web-based 3D Visualization of large scientific datasets using Azure Batch
• Akshita Vijay describes how to Manually roll over a Common Name based Service Fabric cluster certificate using resources.azure.com
• Wolfgang De Salvador discusses Automating HPC Images customization with Azure Image Builder
• Wim Matthyssen (@wmatthyssen) presents an Azure Tip: Quickly find out if an Azure VM is Domain Joined or not via the Azure Portal

Containers

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

• On the Redmond magazine site, Kurt Mackie (@kurmac) discusses Microsoft's Azure Kubernetes Service Getting Bolstered by Isovalent's Security, Networking and Observability Solutions
• Hannah Hunter explains how to Migrate from Dapr Open Source to the AKS Dapr Extension with zero down-time
• Daniel Neumann (@neumanndaniel) covers Azure Kubernetes Service – Using Kubernetes credential plugin kubelogin with Terraform
• Cenk Caglar covers Deploying Kubernetes Cluster on Azure VMs using kubeadm, CNI and containerd
• Thomas Thornton (@tamstar1234) a lab on how to Deploy your first container app using Terraform and GitHub Actions
• On the Azure blog, Deepak Bansal announces that Microsoft and Isovalent partner to bring next generation eBPF dataplane for cloud-native applications in Azure

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

• Shreya R. Aithal writes about New series of monthly Live Webinars on Azure Database for MySQL
• Azure AD Authentication for Azure Database for MySQL - Flexible Server now in General Availability and Customer Managed Keys for Azure Database for MySQL - Flexible Server now in General Availability from vivekgk
• Manvendra Singh explains how to Configure Auto-Failover Group for Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instances for SQL Server
• David Engel explains how to Update: ODBC Driver 17.10.2 for SQL Server Released
• On the Data Exposed show, Anna Hoffman (@AnalyticAnna) is joined by Subbu Kandhaswamy to discussUnderstanding Connectivity issues in SQL Database
• Sarah Dutkiewicz presents a series on creating a catalogue with Cosmos DB: Creating a Holiday Creatures Catalog in Azure with Secure Credentials, Work with Custom Roles for RBAC with Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL, Create a .NET Console app to load the data and Create a Web application to read the data

Developer Tools

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

• On the Visual Studio blog, Dante Gagne covers Whats new in Visual Studio productivity
• Mads Kristensen (@mkristensen) explains how to Get your developer news
• Elio Struyf talks about DevHack: using the VSCode's URI Handler in codespaces
• Michael Shpilt writes about My Christmas Wish List from Visual Studio and the C# Build System

DevOps

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

• Charlotte Gayton provides a step-by-step guide to help you secure your Software Supply Chain in How to sign your git commits
• On the Microsoft DevOps blog, Gloridel Morales writes about Now available: Azure DevOps Server 2022 RTW
• Gerasimos Alexiou describes how to dynamically set dependsOn using variables – Azure devops
• Leo van Der Meulen describes how to Move your product backlog to another team in Azure DevOps
• Hang Wang explains how to  Provision Azure Spring Apps using Terraform
• Pritam Kumar Sinha walks through Deploying an application with Azure CI/CD pipeline to a Service Fabric cluster

Hybrid + Multicloud

Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Stack

• Brett Tanzer explains how to Accelerate mainframe application modernization with IBM and Microsoft
• Sarah Lean (@TechieLass) blogs about Azure Stack HCI: The best of the cloud and on-premises

Identity

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

• Bhalchandra Atre discusses Notes from the field: Using app-only authentication with customized RBAC roles in Exchange Online
• Balasubramanian Delli explains how to Update 2211 for Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager current branch is now available
• Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) explains How to Connect to Azure AD PowerShell In 6 Easy Steps The Beginners Guide
• On episode 311 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast, Ben Stegink (@benstegink) and Scott Hoag (@ciphertxt) talk about Entra all the things
• Mayuri Bhavsar describes How to Create Azure AD Security Group using Microsoft Graph APIs Postman & Python Code Sample
• Atil Gurcan discusses Creating MFA Policies with Zero Trust Advanced Deployment Guide in Microsoft 365
• Steef-Jan Wiggers (@SteefJan) blogs about Azure AD application registration monitoring: All you need to know

Integration

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

• Divya Swarnkar covers Azure AD OAuth Proof of Possession PoP for Azure Logic Apps
• Mohammed Barqawi describes Logic App Standard Flow History Cleaner
• Sonja Gu explains how to Take full advantage of Low-Code as a code-first developer
• On the Microsoft Mechanics show, Jeremy Chapman (@deployjeremy) and Evan Lew discuss Control & Visibility for the Power Platform with Managed Environments
• Thomas Brndl walks through Mitigating PrintNightmare With Azure Universal Print

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

• No content this week

Learning

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

• No content this week

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 writes about Generally available: Azure Site Recovery update rollup 65 - November 2022
• Davis-Joseph explains how to Accelerate your digital Cloud transformation with Microsoft Assessments
• Daniel Hidalgo announces new pricing and capabilities in Compliance Manager premium templates
• Jim Cheng describes How Microsoft cloud security benchmark MCSB helps you succeed in your cloud security journey
• Brandon Wilson presents a Quick Reference: Understanding Azure Reservations vs Savings Plans
• Srinath Vasireddy explains How to automate On-Demand Azure Backup for Azure Virtual Machines using PowerShell
• On episode 163 ofthe Ctrl+Alt+Azure Podcast, Tobias Zimmergren and Jussi Roine talk about Azure Updates
• Alan Kinane (@Azure_Alan) asks Why are you not using Azure Hybrid Use Benefit
• David Giard (@DavidGiard) talks with Sara Benhamron about Sustainability in Azure
• On the Azure Enablements show, David Blank-Edelman talks to the Armchair Architects, Uli Homann and Eric Charran: Armchair Architects: So, you want to build a platform
• James Havens presents a series on Microsoft Puview and modern work: Part 1 - Overview, Part 2 - Collaboration Overview, Part 2a - SharePoint Sites and Files, Part 2b - OneDrive Files, Part 2c - Teams Sites and Files, Part 3 - Communication Overview, Part 3a - Exchange Email Messaging, Part 3b - Teams Chats and Streams

Media

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

• Daysha Carter talks about Azure Communication Services December 2022 Feature Updates

Migration

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

• Ajith Krishnan explains how to Build data driven business case for SQL Server migration to Azure
• Luis Silva explains how to Migrate databases from Amazon RDS for SQL Server to Azure SQL Database – Part 1

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

• Gerald Buchholz explains how to Simplify cloud adoption with Aviatrix intelligent cloud networking
• Mahmoud Elsayed covers Architectural Guidance – Azure Monitor private links with Microsoft Sentinel
• Saleem Bseeu writes about Zero Trust with Azure Network Security
• Shabaz Shaik covers Automated Detection and Response for Azure WAF with Sentinel
• Daniel Cazzulino blogs about Azure DNS updater using Powershell and Azure CLI
• Travis Roberts (@Ciraltos) covers Azure Networking, User Defined Routes, and Network Virtual Appliances

Security

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

• On the Azure blog, John Walton discusses Microsoft Azure's defense in depth approach to cloud vulnerabilities
• On the Azure Medium blog, Andre Camillo talks about Microsoft Defender Endpoint & Microsoft Defender for Servers
• Preeti Krishna (@PreetiKr007) discusses introduces Standalone and OOTB content management at-scale actions
• Ron Marsiano writes about Dynamic alert details - The force awakens
• Kavish Bakshi introuduces Microsoft Sentinel solution for ServiceNow bi-directional sync
• Natalie Anillo writes about 4 Factors Customers Used in Selecting Microsoft Defender for Cloud

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

• Jurgen Willis talks about Azure Storage Mover–A managed migration service for Azure Storage
• Mark Heath (@mark_heath) describes Copying Blob Tags and Metadata with the V12 Storage SDK
• Geert van Teylingen explains how to Optimize HANA deployments with Azure NetApp Files application volume group for SAP HANA

Web

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

• John Reilly (@johnny_reilly) delves into Deep linking with Azure Static Web Apps and Easy Auth
• Similoluwa Adegoke explains how to Build an Appointment Bot using Twilio SMS and Google Calendar API with C and ASP.NET Core
• On episode 222 of the Azure DevOps Podcast, Jeffrey Palermo (@jeffreypalermo) is joined by Jeff Fritz to talk about Evolving Cloud Architecture
• On the Azure podcast, the Podcast team(@AzurePodcast) are joined by Reza Rahman to talk about Java Jakarta EE Applications

Azure Virtual Desktop

Covering: Azure Virtual Desktop

• Ben Murphy announces the Public Preview of AVD Insights at Scale
• Rinku Dalwani announces general availability of RDP Shortpath
• Steve Downs writes about Confidential Virtual Machine support for Azure Virtual Desktop now in Public Preview
• Tom Hickling describes Azure Virtual Desktop Metadata Database is now available in India
• On the Microsoft Mechanics show, Matt McSpirit (@mattmcspirit) gives an Azure Virtual Desktop Essentials Intro and Full Tour

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"!