Azure Weekly Newsletter Issue #491

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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

• Martin Ca explains how to Customize the Phi-3.5 family of models with LoRA fine-tuning in Azure
• On the Azure blog, Steve Sweetman explains how to Accelerate scale with Azure OpenAI Service Provisioned offering
• Seth Patton explains how to What's New In Microsoft 365 Copilot October 2024
• Will Guyman announces Healthcare AI Models in Azure AI Model Catalog
• Meera Kurup writes about New controls for model governance and secure access to on-premises or custom VNET resources
• Dela Nakhaei blogs about Leveraging Microsoft Purview and Copilot for AI Adoption in organisations
• Panu Oksala explains how to Access Real-Time Data from LLM using Semantic Kernel
• Nitya Narasimhan writes The Future of AI Is: Model Choice - From Structured Process To Seamless Platform
• Yuanzhuo Hu covers ONNX and NPU Acceleration for Speech on ARM
• Vinayak Hegde writes about Responsible AI Mitigation Layers

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, Estera Kot writes about Native Execution Engine available at no additional cost, Gali Reznick describes Usage reporting for Data Activator is now live, Leo Li writes about New Features and Enhancements for Virtual Network Data Gateway and Rie Merritt highlights Fabric Influencers Spotlight October 2024
• Vaibhav Shrivastava discusses Simplifying Migration to Fabric Real-Time Intelligence for Power BI Real Time Reports
• Kevin Chant (@kevchant) provides Fabricators guide to version control in Microsoft Fabric
• Martine Thiphaine describes SQL Konferenz: A Transformative Gathering of Data Experts
• Karan Shah blogs about Introducing Lineage Tracking for Azure Databricks Unity Catalog in Microsoft Purview
• Joost van Rossum (@ssisjoost) explains how to Execute Synapse pipeline right after deployment
• Katie Cummiskey writes about Boosting Power BI Performance with Azure Databricks through Automatic Aggregations

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

• Ian Griffiths (@idg10) shares part 3 in his series about Modern Compute - Compute-Intensive Workloads
• Darko Mocelj covers Benchmarking 6th gen. Intel-based Dv6 preview VM SKUs for HPC Workloads in Financial Services
• Kyle Ikeda walks through Upcoming Changes to Instance Size Flexibility Ratios for Reserved VM Instances for M-series: What Yo
• Mamta Giri delves into Introducing the Open Targets Dataset: Now Available on Genomics Data Lake on Azure
• Adam Bertram (@adbertram) explains how to Create Your First PowerShell Azure Function: A Step-by-Step Guide
• Henry Yan announces availability of AlmaLinux as an endorsed Linux distribution in Azure and talks about Linux and Open Source on Azure Quarterly Update - October 2024

Containers

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

• On Diagrid Blog, John Allwright blogs about Dapr Day: All the Videos and Zoey Morck describes Diagrid & Dapr KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2024
• On the Microsoft Open Technologies site, Brendan Burns (@brendandburns) describes Flatcar accepted into CNCF at incubating level
• Karol Pieciukiewicz covers Azure Container Apps secrets by Terraform part 7

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

• On episode 321 of the Azure DevOps podcast, Jeffrey Palermo (@jeffreypalermo) and Bob Ward talk about SQL Server
• Franklin Lindemberg Guimaraes walks through Connecting to Azure SQL Database using SQLAlchemy and Microsoft Entra authentication

Developer Tools

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

• On IT Next, Saeed Zarinfam blogs about Reasons behind the recent changes in JetBrains products licensing model
• Jan Kalis talks about Application Insights Code Optimizations for .NET is now generally available
• On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Chris Harris explains how to Streamline Your Azure Workflow: Introducing GitHub Copilot for Azure in VS Code
• Akshay Kakar describes Azure at GitHub Universe: New tools to help your devs accelerate project completion times
• Geert Baeke (@GeertBaeke) walks through Creating a Copilot declarative agent with VS Code and the Teams Toolkit
• Luis Henrique Demetrio presents a ServiceNow Declarative Agent for M365 Copilot non-official

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, Angel Wong writes about No new Azure DevOps OAuth apps beginning February 2025
• Asif Waquar discusses the Difference between Power Platform In built pipelines and Power Platform Azure DevOps pipelines.
• Gerasimos Alexiou covers Automating chaos experiment execution with Azure DevOps
• Richard Fennell (@richardfennell) explains ProjectFileIndexer exceptions in SonarQube
• On The Azure Podcast, the Podcast team (@AzurePodcast) are joined by Gabriel Monteiro Nepomuceno to talk aboy Episode 507 - Azure Verified Modules
• Steven Ma writes about Unlocking the Best of Azure with AzureRM and AzAPI Providers
• Gregor Suttie (@gregor_suttie) walks through Deploying a Log Analytics Workspace Using Azure Verified Modules and Implementing Azure SQL Server Firewall Rules with Bicep and Azure Verified Modules

Hybrid + Multicloud

Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Stack

• Rene van den Bedem delves into VMware HCX Design with Azure VMware Solution

Identity

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

• Joseph Dadzie explains how to Manage Microsoft Entra ID role assignments with Microsoft Entra ID Governance
• Nitika Gupta (@_nitika_gupta) explains how to Update to security defaults
• Stanislav Zhelyazkov (@StanZhelyazkov) explains The Resource Type behind Azure Update Manager Dynamic Scope
• Travis Roberts (@Ciraltos) covers Microsoft Entra ID Licensing: Free, P1, P2, and the Entra Suite Explained
• Sharon Choi covers Use GDAP to set up least privilege access in Microsoft 365 Lighthouse

Integration

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

• Zachary Cavanell talks about Microsoft 365 Copilot-Small Business Guide to Set Up Copilot
• Luis Rigueira provides a Friday Fact: VS Code Do Not Allow Logic Apps Standard Incremental Workflow Deployment

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

• Barbara Andrews explains how to Don't miss out: Six Copilot learning opportunities for everyone
• Mohamed Faraazman covers How to Pass the Microsoft Fabric Exam: A Comprehensive Guide
• On episode 262 of the Ctrl+Alt+Azure podcast, Tobias Zimmergren & Jussi Roine (@CtrlAltAzure) discuss Expectations on Microsoft Ignite 2024
• Amy Boyd (@AmyKateNicho) covers GitHub Copilot for Azure: 6 Must-Try Features

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

• Michael Clifford explains how to Updated management features roll out for Microsoft Intune Suite
• Tao Yang (@MrTaoYang) discusses Azure Resource Graph Query for Subscription Owner Role Assignments
• Luke Murray (@lukemurraynz) talks about Azure Resource - Change Analysis
• Jake Walsh (@jakewalsh90) discusses Getting the right Foundation – what makes a GREAT Landing Zone
• Richard Fennell (@richardfennell) asks Why is my SnipeIT instance suddenly slow?
• Bhalchandra Atre announces General Availability of Inbound SMTP DANE with DNSSEC for Exchange Online
• Bhalchandra Atre discusses IPv6 updates for Exchange Online

Media

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

• Sean Keegan describes Azure Communication Services Ideas Board: Share your feedback with the product team
• Clemens Schotte explains how to Enhance Azure Maps with Overture Maps Data using PMTiles
• Milan Kaur walks through creating a Multichannel Notification System with Azure Communication Services and Azure Functions: Part 1 and Part 2

Migration

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

• 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

• David Frazee blogs about IPv6 Adoption: Enhancing Azure WAF on Front Door
• Ricardo Martins (@ricmmartins) delves into Dynamic Multi-Cloud Networking: Configuring a BGP-Enabled VPN Between Azure and AWS
• Rob McNaught delves into Azure Virtual Hubs and Next-generation firewalls and talks about Protecting your route tables with Azure Route-maps

Security

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

• Nancy Tandy blogs about Skill up to strengthen your organizations cybersecurity posture
• Rob Lefferts describes Microsoft now a Leader in three major analyst reports for SIEM

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

• Amy Colyer covers Microsoft Copilot in Azure - Securing Storage Accounts
• Luis Filipe discusses Azure Storage - TLS 1.0 and 1.1 retirement
• Sam Cogan (@samcogan) writes 'WTH is Planned Failover for Azure Storage'
• Vishal Kugaji writes about Efficient Management of Append and Page Blobs Using Azure Storage Actions

Web

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

• Ringe Chen delves into the Configuration File in Azure Static Web Apps
• Kevin Guo announces Serverless Support for Socket.IO in Azure Web PubSub service
• Denver Brittain shows how to Deploy Intelligent SpringBoot Apps Using Azure OpenAI and Azure App Service
• Sander van de Velde (@svelde) covers Custom email alerts for Azure Function/Web apps

Azure Virtual Desktop

Covering: Azure Virtual Desktop

• No content this week

Community 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 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
• 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.
• Farmer - This is a DSL for ARM template creation - "Making repeatable Azure deployments easy"!