Azure Weekly Newsletter Issue #497

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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

• Ece Kamar discusses Introducing Phi-4: Microsoft's Newest Small Language Model Specializing in Complex Reasoning
• Garfield He blogs about Inuktitut: A Milestone in Indigenous Language Preservation and Revitalization via Technology
• zteutsch talks about Getting Started with the AI Dev Gallery
• Sharda Kaur discusses Embracing Responsible AI: A Comprehensive Guide and Call to Action
• Dieter Gobeyn discusses Azure AI vs NuGet: How to Choose the Right Language Detection
• Hyo Choi delves into Building custom AI Speech models with Phi-3 and Synthetic data
• Joe Carlyle (@wedoAzure) covers Festive Tech Calendar: Adopt AI like a PRO with Azure Essentials
• Geert Baeke (@GeertBaeke) writes about Using the Azure AI Inference Service
• Joinal Ahmed writes about Optimizing Azure AI Search: A Deep Dive into Vector Quantization & Storage Optimization

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, Rick Xu talks about Microsoft Fabric approved as a Service within the FedRAMP High Authorization for Azure Commercial, Patrick LeBlanc talks about Fabric 2024 Holiday recap and Guy Haycock announces the preview of the REST API for Livy for Data Engineering.
• Anshul Sharma discusses Synapse Data Explorer SDX to Eventhouse Migration Capability Preview
• Drew Skwiers-Koballa blogs about Source control integration for SQL database in Microsoft Fabric
• Frederic Van Kelecom explains hoq to Monitor Fabric Spark applications using Fabric Real-Time Intelligence
• Argenis Fernandez (@DBArgenis) discusses Microsoft Fabric API for GraphQL for Azure Cosmos DB Mirroring
• James Serra (@JamesSerra) discusses Ways to land data into Fabric OneLake
• Kevin Chant (@kevchant) blogs about T-SQL Tuesday 181 – The premise of Microsoft Fabric and discusses Two ways to perform CI/CD for SQL databases in Fabric using YAML Pipelines
• John Miner walks through Virtualizing GCP data by using Fabric Shortcuts: Data Engineering with Fabric
• Murat covers DDIA: Chapter 11 - Stream Processing
• Jose Barreto covers MGDC for SharePoint FAQ: How to use Excel for analytics

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

• Kashan K explains How Microsoft Ensures the Quality of Linux VM Images and Platform Experiences on Azure

Containers

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

• Carlos Mendible (@cmendibl3) blogs about AKS: Enabling NAP with Terraform
• On episode 510 of The Azure Podcast, the Podcast team (@AzurePodcast) are joined by Stephane Erbrech to talk about Azure Fleet
• Inbal Beitler writes about AKS Security Dashboard

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

• No content this week

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, Brady Gaster (@bradygaster) writes about Effortless publishing to Azure WebJobs on Linux and writes about Effortless publishing with Azure Functions Flex Consumption
• Jessie Houghton covers Boost your Git confidence with the new file rename notification
• Leah Tran explains how to Keep working with non-blocking Code Cleanup
• On Visual Studio Magazine - Blogs, David Ramel (@dramel) writes about Visual Studio Dev Vexed by Copilot's Obtuse 'Responsible AI' Refusal and blogs about OpenSilver 3.1 Unveils Drag-and-Drop XAML Designer for VS Code
• Adam Bertram (@adbertram) walks through Setting Up VS Code for PowerShell Development: A Beginners Guide
• John Reilly (@johnny_reilly) delves into npx and Azure Artifacts: the secret CLI delivery mechanism

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 Rollout Expectations
• Richard Fennell (@richardfennell) covers Why am I getting no private key is available error when I try to digitally sign files in my Azure DevOps Pipeline
• Christos Galanopoulos devles into the Microsoft Graph Bicep Extension
• Dan Rios (@danonazure) explains how to Get Azure cost estimates in Azure DevOps PR comments with Bicep
• Brad Wyatt explains how to Automatically Detect and Prevent Secrets Leaked into Code within Azure DevOps
• Sarah Lean (@TechieLass) blogs about Understanding Microsofts Terraform Providers for Azure: AzureRM vs AzAPI
• Tale Tom writes about AI for Operations

Hybrid + Multicloud

Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Local

• No content this week

Identity

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

• Damien Bowden (@damien_bod) walks through Using Entra External ID with an Auth0 OpenID Connect identity provider
• Luke Murray (@lukemurraynz) writes about Authenticating Azure OpenAI with Managed Identity

Integration

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

• Achraf Ben Alaya delves into Azure Communication Services Email Sending Simplified: From Setup to Execution and Monitoring

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

• On the Azure blog, Ryan Peterson describes Geocoding: The first step towards unlocking location intelligence
• Sander van de Velde (@svelde) blogs about Azure IoT Operations: Sending commands via EventGrid MQTT

Learning

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

• Mindy Rosenthal talks about Coming soon in December: AZ-2009, writes about New Data & AI 4-day course coming your way, discusses Coming soon: AI-3024 & AI-3025 and covers ATTENTION: Applied Skills Update
• Lanna Teh explains how to Strengthen your responsible AI stance with Microsoft Learn Plans
• On episode 327 of the Azure DevOps podcast, Jeffrey Palermo (@jeffreypalermo) is joined by Ravi Ram to talk about TechBash & Community Conferences

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 Intune Support Team discusses Updates to Beta APIs for Windows Endpoint security and Administrative templates
• On the Azure blog, Mike Hulme discusses Real-world success with continuous modernization
• On Microsoft Security blog, Herain Oberoi And Rudra Mitra writes about New Microsoft Purview features help protect and govern your data in the era of AI
• On epiosode 268 of the Ctrl+Alt+Azure podcast, Tobias Zimmergren and Jussi Roine are joined by Jasper Oosterveld to discss Microsoft Purview
• Alan Kinane (@Azure_Alan) covers Tidings of Comfort and Joy with Azures Business Continuity Center
• Wim Matthyssen (@wmatthyssen) writes Jingle All the Way to Savings: Automate Azure Bastion with Azure Automation
• Santosh Pargi explains how to Collect IIS logs from multiple locations into Sentinel Log Analytics Workspace.
• On the Azure FinOps Essentials site, Michiel van Oudheusden (@mivano) shares Azure Carbon Optimization: Driving Sustainability in the Cloud

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

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

• Jose Moreno (@erjosito) delves into Interregional traffic in hub-and-spoke
• Aidan Finn (@joe_elway) explains how to Manage Existing Azure Firewall With Firewall Policy Using Bicep

Security

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

• Matt Lowe explains how to What's New: View Microsoft Sentinel Workbooks Directly from Unified SOC Operations Platform
• Rutuja Dange explains how to Protect your single-core Linux servers with Defender
• Stanislav Zhelyazkov (@StanZhelyazkov) covers Azure Resources CMK Encryption with Azure Bicep

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

• Anthony Mashford (@anthonymashford) explains how to Updated Plug-in for AVS Cloud Backup for VMs
• Geert van Teylingen (@teylemans) talks about Building scalable and persistent AI applications with LangChain, Instaclustr, and Azure NetApp Files and covers SAP System Refresh and Cloning operations on Azure NetApp Files with SnapCenter
• Srini Thumala discusses Azure Backup vs. Azure Site Recovery: Key Differences Explained
• Cary Sun (@SifuSun) walks through Creating Microsoft Azure Accounts for non-Immutable Backup Repositories: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4
• Neha Tiwari discusses Resiliency Best Practices You Need For your Blob Storage Data
• Travis Roberts (@Ciraltos) talks about Monitoring Azure File Shares: Performance Metrics, Alerts, and Action Groups Explained

Web

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

• Glaucia Lemos writes about This Month in Azure Static Web Apps 10/2024

Azure Virtual Desktop

Covering: Azure Virtual Desktop

• Ryan Clark writes about Unidirectional clipboard for Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365
• Swarnim Srivastava discusses Enhancing your ability to move Windows 365 Cloud PCs

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"!