Azure Weekly Newsletter Issue #464

powered by endjin

If you have any content you'd like to contribute to the newsletter, please tweet @AzureWeekly or ping an email to AzureWeekly@endjin.com.

Interested in Power BI? Sign up to our sibling newsletter Power BI Weekly or follow on Twitter @powerbiweekly to receive all the week's Power BI news.

@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

• Suniti Panwar explains how to Join tech enthusiasts at MS Build '24: Exploring AI, Machine Learning, Azure, and More
• Danny Wigg writes Reducing the Environmental Impact of Generative AI: a Guide for Practitioners
• Malena Lopez-Sotelo says Imagine, Integrate, Innovate: Join Microsoft's GenAI Hackathon - LIVE NOW
• On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Glaucia Lemos (@glaucia_lemos86) shows Extending Copilot for Microsoft 365 using TypeScript Azure Developers JavaScript Day 2024
• Gana Chandrasekaran blogs about the Path to Production Azure OpenAI Instances - PowerSchool Power Buddy
• Matthew Anderson discusses Webinar: How Takeda used generative AI to create a report generation app
• Demir Senturk discusses AI Frontiers: Human insights on AI training
• Elad Tal covers Next-Gen Customer Service: Azure's AI-Powered Speech, Translation and Summarization
• Gia Mondragon writes about Improving RAG performance with Azure AI Search and Azure AI prompt flow in Azure AI Studio
• Lo Kinfey (@Ljh8304) talks about Getting Started - Generative AI with Phi-3-mini: A Guide to Inference and Deployment
• Oscar Garcia Ozkary (@ozkary) discusses Generative AI: Create Code from GitHub User Stories - Large Language Models
• John Reilly (@johnny_reilly) walks through Using Kernel Memory to Chunk Documents into Azure AI Search
• Cedric Vidal discusses GoEX: a safer way to build autonomous Agentic AI applications
• Lu Zhang walks through A Heuristic Method of Merging Cross-Page Tables based on Document Intelligence Layout Model
• Mahesh covers Unveiling Generative AI Bulk Processing and Ingestion Pattern

Analytics

Covering: Apache Spark for HDInsight, Azure Analysis Services, Azure Data Explorer, Azure Data Share, Azure Databricks, Azure Stream Analytics, Azure Synapse Analytics, Data Factory, Event Hubs, HDInsight, Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Fabric

• On Microsoft Fabric Blog, Jason Himmelstein blogs about Microsoft Fabric April 2024 Update
• On Microsoft Fabric Blog, Liliam Leme describes Fabric Change the Game: Embracing Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL
• Ravi Sharma writes about AI/ML with Microsoft Fabric and SAS Viya. A Match made in the AI God's Heaven
• Assaf Fraenkel delves into Microsoft Fabric - Multi-Tenant Architecture
• Subashri Vasudevan covers Azure Data Factory Synapse Analytics: Validate File Folder before using
• The Azure Updates Team say The billing meter for Azure Databricks materialized views and streaming tables will change 1 May 2024

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

• No content this week

Containers

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

• Nate Ceres discusses Key announcements for AKS from KubeCon Europe 2024
• Houssem Dellai (@HoussemDellai) describes Controlling AKS egress using an HTTP Proxy

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 General availability: HNSW vector index in vCore-based Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB, and Generally Available: Index Advisor in Azure Cosmos DB helps optimize your index policy for NoSQL queries, and General availability: Azure Cosmos DB for PostgreSQL geo-redundant backup and restore, and General availability: Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server enhanced disaster recovery features and General availability: Semantic caching with vCore-based Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB
• The Azure Updates Team announces Public preview: Filtered vector search in vCore-based Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB
• Claire Giordano (@clairegiordano) writes about About Talk Selection for POSETTE: An Event for Postgres 2024
• Abhishek Kumar discusses Release: Azure SQL Migration extension for Azure Data Studio v1.5.4
• Kalyan Kaki announces Oracle Database @ Azure in United Kingdom South
• Sandip Khandelwal discusses Database Schema Compare Tool
• On the Data Exposed show, Anna Hoffman (@AnalyticAnna) and Davide Mauri discuss Approximate Vector Search with KMeans and Azure SQL
• Sam Garth covers SQL MI Restore with valid SAS key failing with Operating System Error 86

Developer Tools

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

• Hamna Khalil explains how to Build your first ML-Model with ML.NET Model Builder
• Laurent Bugnion (@LBugnion) discusses Implementing a functionality with GitHub Copilot for Visual Studio

DevOps

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

• Rakia Segev explains how to Trusted Signing is in Public Preview
• Richard Hundhausen (@rhundhausen) blogs about Azure DevOps + Mural Awesome Visualizations
• On episode 294 of the Azure DevOps podcast, Jeffrey Palermo (@jeffreypalermo) and Raziel Tabib (@RazielTabib) discuss GitOps
  
• Thomas Thornton (@tamstar1234) talks about Using Terraform tfvars for environment-agnostic deployments

Hybrid + Multicloud

Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Stack

• Cosmos Darwin explains how to Sneak peek at new Azure edge infrastructure at Hannover Messe 2024
• Kiana Harris talks about Public Preview of Edge Storage Accelerator
• Nathan Parikh covers Public Preview of Azure Arc Site Manager
• Sander van de Velde walks through Getting started with Azure Arc-enabled servers
• Wim Matthyssen (@wmatthyssen) covers Azure Arc: Validate ESU enrollment
• Sarah Lean (@TechieLass) provides an Introduction to Azure Arc Site Manager

Identity

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

• On the Redmond magazine site, Chris Paoli writes about Multi-Tenant Organization Hooks Released for Microsoft 365
• Joseph Dadzie explains how to Collaborate across M365 tenants with Entra ID multi-tenant organization
• Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) describes How to Safely Disable Security Defaults in Microsoft Entra ID: A Step-by-Step Guide and explains How to Restrict Non-Admin Users from Creating Tenants in Microsoft Entra ID: A Step-by-Step Guide
• On episode 235 of the Ctrl+Alt+Azure podcast, Tobias Zimmergren & Jussi Roine (@CtrlAltAzure) delve into Understanding Entra SSE

Integration

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

• Beena More walks through Unlocking the Power of Azure Integration Services: A Webinar You Can't Miss
• Rohitha Hewawasam (@_RohithaH) talks about A workbook for Logic App standard run history and resubmitting multiple runs.

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

• Lee Stott (@lee_stott) talks about Microsoft at the European Cloud Summit ECS 2024 Wiesbaden, Germany
• Mark Kashman (@mkashman) blogs about Microsoft at TechCon365 and PWRCON – Seattle, WA June 3-7, 2024

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 talks about Public Preview: Azure Monitor Agent Upload to Storage and Event Hubs
• Balasubramanian Delli explains how to Update 2403 for Microsoft Configuration Manager current branch is now available.
• The Intune Support Team provides A browser for schools - Microsoft Edge on Windows devices and Intune app management
• Kara Wang blogs about Microsoft Intune Remote Help adds full control for Mac
• James Bell writes about Multi-tenant organization capabilities now available in Microsoft 365
• Paolo Salvatori blogs presents Azure Orphan Resources Grafana Dashboard
• Tommy Falgout talks about Protecting your IP in the Azure Marketplace
• Justin Orcutt covers Data Discovery: The First Step to AI Readiness

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

• ronieuwe talks about IBM Maximo Application Suite migration and modernization with Azure Red Hat OpenShift

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 Azure Virtual Network Manager security admin rule generally available in all public regions, writes about General availability: Application Gateway Web Application Firewall WAF inspection limit & size enforcement and writes about General availability: Virtual network flow logs
• HarshaCS writes about Network traffic observability with virtual network flow logs
• Jason Medina delves into Dual-Region Azure VMware Solution design with Global Reach, using Secure Virtual WAN
• On the Wired for Hybrid show, Pierre Roman (@pierreroman) and Michael Bender cover What's New in Azure Networking
• Sourav Bera explains how to Perform bulk NSG rule rollout across multiple target NSGs

Security

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

• Dean Rubinstein talks about Microsoft Security Exposure Management introduces: Critical asset protection
• Giulio Astori describes Operationalizing Attack Path Insights
• Sochi Ogbuanya discusses Revoking vulnerable Windows boot managers

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

• No content this week

Web

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

• On episode 375 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast, Scott Hoag (@ciphertxt) and Ben Stegink (@benstegink) talk about Securing Your Digital World: An Intro to Global Secure Access
• Alibek Jakupov explains how to Deploy a Gradio Web App on Azure with Azure App Service: a Step-by-Step Guide

Azure Virtual Desktop

Covering: Azure Virtual Desktop

• No content this week

Useful Links

• Azure Resource Inventory - Azure Resource Inventory - It's a Powerful tool to create EXCEL inventory from Azure Resources with low effort
• Azure Quick Review (azqr) - A command-line interface (CLI) tool specifically designed to analyze Azure resources and identify whether they comply with Azure's best practices and recommendations.
• AzSaveMoney - Clean-up and save money by identifying and marking unused Azure resources/groups as subject for deletion by tagging.
• Azure Cost CLI - CLI tool to perform cost analysis on your Azure subscription
• Azure Code Samples - Explore Microsoft's samples and discover the things you can build.
• 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.
• Cyber Security Demystified - ebook from Microsoft describing how to keep your organisation safe.
• Azure Resource Center - Whitepapers, code samples, solution architectures
• 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.
• Design scalable and performant tables - a guide from the storage team.
• Azure Speed Test 2.0 - a simple web tool that measures the latency between you and Azure Datacenters to suggest which might be fastest for you location.
• 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).
• Microsoft cloud for IT architects illustrations - These cloud architecture posters give you information about Microsoft cloud services, including Microsoft 365, Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), Microsoft Intune, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and hybrid on-premises and cloud solutions.
• Whitepapers for Power BI - numerous whitepapers ranging various Power BI topics
• Farmer - This is a DSL for ARM template creation - "Making repeatable Azure deployments easy"!