Azure Weekly Newsletter Issue #282

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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, Mark Russinovich (@markrussinovich) covers how Microsoft are Advancing Azure service quality with artificial intelligence: AIOps
• The Azure updates team announces that Azure Speech Services REST API v3.0 is now available
• On Azure Medium, John 'JG' Chirapurath (@OriginalJGC) describes The next frontier in machine learning: driving responsible practices
• On Azure Tips and Tricks, Michael Crump (@mbcrump) explores Microsoft Power Virtual Agents based off Microsoft Bot Framework

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

• On the Azure blog, Kaiser Larsen (@kaiserlarsen) gives Five reasons to watch the Azure Synapse Analytics virtual event
• On the modern data & AI blog, Dave Ruijter (@daveruijter) writes about How To Trigger A Power BI Dataset Refresh Using An Azure Data Factory Web Activity
• Andy Leonard (@AndyLeonard) delves into Configuring and Managing ADF Azure-SSIS Integration Runtimes and describes Using the Azure Data Factory ForEach Activity
• On Azure Medium, Inderjit Rana provides some Practical Tips on Polybase data load to Azure Synapse

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

• On the Azure blog, Mayank Nayar explains how to Build, distribute, and deploy application updates to Azure virtual machine scale sets
• The Azure updates team announces that Durable Functions now supports Python, that Ephemeral OS disks for Azure Virtual Machines VMs now support additional VM sizes and that Automatic image upgrades for custom images are now available in Virtual machine scale sets
• On Microsoft + Open Source, Jeff Hollan And Mark Fussell announces the Azure Functions extension for Dapr
• On the Serverless360 blog, Nadeem Ahamed (@Nadeem_ahamed_r) gives us the highlights from Azure Functions Live (June 2020)
• Tobias Zimmergren & Jussi Roine (@CtrlAltAzure) discuss Running background jobs in the cloud
• On the MSSQL Tips site, Ryan Kennedy describes Getting Started with Azure Databricks

Containers

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

• Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) blogs about how to Run Azure Container Instances from the Docker CLI
• On the Azure blog, Mike Morton (@BigMorty) explains how to Deploy to Azure Container Instances with Docker Desktop
• Also on the Azure blog, Reshmi Mangalore (@rmangalore) highlights the new features around Securing container workflows with Azure Container Registry
• The Azure updates team announces that Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) support for proximity placement groups is now available
• On Channel 9, Brady Gaster (@bradygaster) talks about Deploying your Microservice to Azure Container Instances
• On the Whizlabs blog, Neeru Jain provides a Webinar on Introduction to Serverless and Container Services in Azure
• On Microsoft + Open Source, Sakthi Vetrivel (@SakthiVetrivel) announces Azure Service Operator for Kubernetes

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 has made a few announcements:
  Azure Cosmos DB transport layer security TLS 1.2 enforcement starts on July 29, 2020,
  Database engine auditing for Azure Database for MariaDB is now available,
  Database engine auditing for Azure Database for MySQL is now available,
  Case-insensitive string functions with Azure Cosmos DB now available
  and Wildcard indexes in Azure Cosmos DB's API for MongoDB
• On the DEV site, Abhishek Gupta (@abhi_tweeter) provides a tutorial on How to use MongoDB Change Streams (Part 1)
• On Channel 9, Kate Smith (@KateSmithSQL) talks about Elastic Jobs in Azure SQL Database - Part 2
• On the Azure SQL Database blog, Marisa Brasile highlights Private Link for Azure SQL Database - Part 1 and Part 2
• On the MSSQL Tips site, Ron L'Esteve explains How to Ace an Azure Data Engineer Interview
• Also on the MSSQL Tips site, Atul Gaikwad explains How to Restore Azure SQL LTR Backup After Azure SQL Instance Deleted
• On the SQL Server Blog, Kevin Farlee covers how to Unlock your free Azure replica for SQL Server with DH2i
• Also on the MSSQL Tips site, Mohammed Moinudheen explains how to Restore File Shares using Azure Recovery Services Vault
• Also on Channel 9, Anna Hoffman and Davide Mauri discuss Why Azure SQL is Best For Developers - Part 1

Developer Tools

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

• On the Daily Dot Net Tips blog, Abhijit Jana (@AbhijitJana) explains how to Create and Manage Azure VMs from Visual Studio Code and How to use the editor in Azure Cloud Shell
• The Azure updates team announces Azure SDK for embedded devices, highlights the Azure CLI June 2020 update and announces that Visual Studio Online meter names will change on August 1, 2020
• Tobias Zimmergren (@zimmergren) talks about Understanding Azure Policies with Visual Studio Code

DevOps

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

• Jeffrey Palermo (@jeffreypalermo) speaks with Chris Patterson on GitHub Actions
• On the Daily Dot Net Tips blog, Abhijit Jana (@AbhijitJana) discusses Setting up Continuous Delivery with Azure DevOps directly from Azure VMs
• On the MSSQL Tips site, Koen Verbeeck (@Ko_Ver) explains How to Add SQL Server Integration Services Projects to Azure Devops for Version Control
• On the .NET Curry blog, Gouri Sohoni provides 4 different scenarios for Migrating Code to Azure DevOps Repos
• Radu Vunvulea (@RaduVunvulea) describes How your team should access Azure DevOps
• The Azure updates team announces that you can now Create a formula in Azure DevTest Labs using a shared image gallery image and that Azure Pipelines now supports Linux/ARM64
• On the Black Marble blog, Richard Fennell (@richardfennell) talks about Timeout Errors 'Extracting Schema' when running SQLPackage for a Migration to Azure DevOps Services
• On the Microsoft DevOps blog, Gloridel Morales announces Azure DevOps Server 2020 RC1
• On the Premier Developer blog, Amin Lakhani spotlights 5 Super Useful Azure DevOps Extensions
• Praveen Kumar Sreeram (@PrawinSreeram) blogs about the fact that Force push permission is required to delete branches in Azure DevOps, covers Collaborative development of ADF pipelines using Azure DevOps and writes All about publish branch adfpublish in Azure Data Factory
• On Channel 9, Abel Wang and Neil Peterson discuss Creating Your First ARM Template
• On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Tanmayee Kamath talks about Specialized shared image gallery images in DevTest Labs

Hybrid

Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Stack

• Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) covers some Extensions for Azure Arc enabled Servers
• Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) explains how to Protect SQL Servers Running On-Premises With Azure Security Center
• James van Den Berg covers how to use Microsoft Azure ARC for Hybrid Infrastructure Management
• The Azure updates team announces Azure Automation updated DNS records

Identity

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

• The Azure updates team announces that Company branding feature is now available on your organization's Azure AD sign-in page and that Azure Active Directory B2C meter IDs will change on August 1, 2020
• David O'Brien (@david_obrien) talks about Using Microsoft Graph in Python
• On the DEV site, Abhishek Gupta (@abhi_tweeter) showcases Azure Event Hubs "Role Based Access Control" in action
• Travis Roberts (@Ciraltos) describes Azure B2B vs. B2C
• On Code Project, Jishan Kapadia describes a Secure Azure WebJob API with Azure AD Authentication
• On Azure Medium, Inderjit Rana describes Azure Custom Role Guidance and the Azure Data Factory Custom Operator Role

Integration

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

• Also on the MSSQL Tips site, Fikrat Azizov explains how to Terminate Long Running Azure Analysis Services Refresh Using Logic Apps - Part 4
• Gyanendra Kumar Gautam gives a Weekly Update on Microsoft Integration Platform & Azure iPaaS

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 Geeks with Blogs, Jeremy Morgan explains how to Get and Store Temperature from a Raspberry Pi with Go
• On the Azure blog, Ines Khelifi blogs about how Azure Digital Twins is Powering the next generation of IoT connected solutions
• The Azure updates team announces some Updates for monitoring and troubleshooting Azure IoT Hub message routing, that Azure Sphere OS quality update 20.06 is now available, Azure Maps private atlas meter names will change on August 1, 2020 and highlights that Disabling public network access for Azure IoT Hub will disable access to built-in Azure Event Hub endpoint on September 30, 2020
• On the DEV site, Paul DeCarlo talks about JulyOT - A month dedicated to learning and building IoT Projects, describes Intelligent Home Security with NVIDIA Jetson and discusses Artificial Intelligence at the Edge
• On Channel 9, Olivier Bloch (@obloch) discusses Bentley iTwin and iModel.js Integration with Azure Digital Twins and provides a Preview of Azure Digital Twins New Capabilities
• On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Morgan Mitchell (@livelovegeek) discusses some Fun IoT projects to do at home during JulyOT

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, Sceduler

• On the Azure blog, Michael Flanakin (@flanakin) highlights the Azure Cost Management + Billing updates
• The Azure updates team announces Improvements to Azure Monitor log alerts include new links and added dimensions
• David O'Brien (@david_obrien) highlights that you can now answer the question: What if I deployed this Azure ARM Template?
• On the Daily Dot Net Tips blog, Abhijit Jana (@AbhijitJana) explains How to Move an Azure Subscription to a different Management Group, covers Application Insights Telemetry Contrast trends using Pin Multiple Entry, Exploring App Service Diagnostics in Azure Portal, Getting Diagnostic Dumps for Azure App Service and explains How to check resources deployment operation details for Azure Services
• Radu Vunvulea (@RaduVunvulea) blogs about Application Insights and behavior analytics
• On the Azure blog, Ganga Narayanan (@ganganarayanan7) discusses the Azure Support API: Create and manage Azure support tickets programmatically
• On Channel 9, Geoff Langfield talks about How Fidelity Investments enabled Azure at scale for their developers
• On the Sharegate blog, Elle Crosby discusses Azure governance: The first steps to creating an organized cloud infrastructure
• Marcel Zehner (@marcelzehner) asks: Are you really ready to use Azure?
• On the Tallan blog, Joseph Tonski blogs about Cloud Development with Microservices in Azure

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

• On the Azure blog, Rashi Joshi discusses how to Plan your migration to Azure VMware solution using Azure Migrate
• On the Azure SQL Database blog, Marisa Brasile writes about the Best Options for Database Migration into Azure

Mobile

Covering: App Service (Mobile), Mobile apps, Notification Hubs, Visual Studio App Centre, Xamarin

• On Channel 9, Don Syme and Timothé Larivière talk about F# Fabulous - Beyond MVU Basics and Matthew Robbins discusses MFractor for Windows

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

• Aidan Finn (@joe_elway) blogs about Rethinking Firewall Management With Azure Firewall Manager
• On the Azure blog, Suren Jamiyanaa highlights some New Azure Firewall features
• On the Azure blog, Erich Robinson-Tillenburg introduces New Azure Load Balancer insights using Azure Monitor for Networks
• Also on the Azure blog, Gopikrishna Kannan highlights that Azure Firewall Manager is now generally available
• The Azure updates team talks about Azure Content Delivery Network standard rules engine is now available, blogs about Azure Front Door rules engine now generally available, covers Azure Firewall July 2020 update and describes Azure Firewall Manager is now generally available
• Also on the Azure blog, Reshmi Yandapalli explains how to Streamline connectivity and improve efficiency for remote work using Azure Virtual WAN
• On the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast, Ben Stegink and Scott Hoad (@msclouditpro) discuss Microsoft 365 Network Monitoring Goodness

Security

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

• On the Azure blog, Devrim Iyigun talks about how you can Stay ahead of attacks with Azure Security Center
• The Azure updates team announces that Azure Monitor for Key Vault is now in preview and highlights the Azure Security Center news and updates for June 2020
• On the Sharegate blog, Elle Crosby has rounded up Jussi Roine's answers on Azure security best practices
• Tobias Zimmergren & Jussi Roine (@CtrlAltAzure) discuss All things Security with Sami Laiho
• On the Microsoft site, a reporter describes how Allica Bank does business banking with a personal touch on Microsoft Azure

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 has made a lot of announcements:
  Azure Storage 200 TB block blob size is now in preview,
  Azure Data Lake Storage archive tier is now generally available,
  Azure Data Lake Storage immutable storage is now in preview,
  Azure Data Lake Storage file snapshots are now in preview
  and Azure Data Lake Storage static website now in preview

Web

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

• Rahul Nath (@rahulpnath) describes How To Continuously Deploy Your .NET Core Azure WebJobs
• Christos Matskas (@ChristosMatskas) covers Setting up Managed Identities for ASP.NET Core web app running on Azure App Service
• On the DEV site, Jen Looper (@jenlooper) provides a walkthrough of Unraveling the Azure Maya Mystery and Building A World
• On the Azure Medium blog, Jaunius Urbonas writes about how to share From Jupyter Notebook to Azure Web App in 5 Easy Steps
• On the Azure blog, Aaron Hogue talks about How Azure.com operates on Azure - Part 1: Design principles and best practices and Part 2: Technology and architecture
• On the Daily Dot Net Tips blog, Abhijit Jana (@AbhijitJana) blogs about Adding Extensions for Azure App Service
• On the Premier Developer blog, Chris Hanna discusses Azure Private Link vs. Azure Service Endpoint for App Services

Learning

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

• On the Premier Developer blog, Robin Smith discusses How Microsoft helps customers adopt Azure through developer education
• Sarah Lean (@TechieLass) talks about Azure Fundamental Exams
• On the Whizlabs blog, Neeru Jain highlights AI-900 and DP-900: New Additions in Azure Certification List
• Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) describes Passing AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator Exam
• and Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) also discusses how he Passed AZ-104 Exam: Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator Associate

Windows Virtual Desktop

Covering: Windows Virtual Desktop

• Freek Berson (@fberson) discusses Getting started with REST API for WVD ARM release
• Christiaan Brinkhoff (@Brinkhoff_C) covers Delivering remote desktops and apps from Azure with Windows Virtual Desktop

Useful Links

• 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!
• Azure Quickstart Templates - Learn how to deploy to Azure using ARM Templates. Over 850 examples in this repo.
• 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.
• A-Z of the Azure ecosystem - a slide deck outlining current Azure services.
• 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"!