Azure Weekly Newsletter Issue #292

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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, John Doyle writes about Better outcomes with AI: Frost & Sullivan names Microsoft the leading AI platform for healthcare IT
• On Channel 9, Seth Juarez (@sethjuarez) presents You're Not Solving the Problem You Think You're Solving with Sarah Bird and Josh Lovejoy
• Jose Moreno (@erjosito) blogs about Azure Machine Learning inferencing on AKS under the covers
• On the Azure podcast, The Azure podcast team (@AzurePodcast) presents Episode 346 - Autonomous Systems with Scott Stanfield
• Adam Jackson (@adamj89) shares Coming soon: AI Edge Event

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

• James Serra (@JamesSerra) describes the Query options in Azure Synapse Analytics
• On the MSSQL Tips site, Fikrat Azizov explains how to Explore Your Data Lake Data Easily with Azure Synapse Analytics
• Also on the MSSQL Tips site, Koen Verbeeck (@Ko_Ver) explains how to Execute SSIS Package in Azure with DTEXEC Utility
• On the SQL Server Blog, Bob Ward talks about the Azure SQL digital event: Transform your applications with Azure SQL
• Inderjit Rana writes about the Azure Data Factory Mapping Data Flows Performance Pitfall to avoid
• Tobias Zimmergren & Jussi Roine (@CtrlAltAzure) present 047 - Managing the crops with Azure FarmBeats

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 writes that Azure Virtual Machines DCsv2-series are now available in Southeast Asia
• Daniel Neumann (@neumanndaniel) describes how to Downgrade the Linux kernel on an Azure Ubuntu VM
• Gunnar Peipman (@gpeipman) describes Hosting applications on Azure B-series virtual machines
• On the DEV site, Anthony Chu (@nthonyChu) describes Rendering PDFs with Razor Templates and PuppeteerSharp in Azure Functions
• Michael Crump (@mbcrump) posts Tip 277 - Azure Functions on Kubernetes with KEDA Part 1 of 2
• On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Lucie Šimečková (@lulucieva) shares Microsoft Create: Serverless live event - September 30, 2020

Containers

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

• On the Azure blog, MacKenzie Olson (@macolso) announces that Azure Container Instances - Docker integration now in Docker Desktop stable release
• Tony Chou describes how to Deploy a Full Stack Web App to Azure Kubernetes Service with Docker
• Jose Moreno (@erjosito) writes about Easy Auth on AKS with Ambassador
• Trevor Sullivan (@pcgeek86) explains how to Keep Docker Images Updated with Windows Task Scheduler and Windows Subsystem for Linux
• On ZDNet, Liam Tung (@LiamT) highlights that Microsoft: Windows 10 now lets you access Linux file systems in WSL 2
• On the Azure Medium blog, Stas Lebedenko (@angry_stas) blogs about Lifting your serverless app to on-premises with KEDA and K8s.

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 Channel 9, Anna Hoffman (@AnalyticAnna) describes How to Shut Off Public Connectivity to Azure SQL Database with Rohit Nayak
• Kevin Chant explains how to Update both SQL Server 2019 and Azure SQL Database objects using one commit
• On the DEV site, Aaron Powell (@slace) wonders Can we make GraphQL type safe in code?
• Davide Mauri (@mauridb) describes a Serverless REST API with Azure Functions, Node, JSON and Azure SQL and writes about Fast loading data into Azure SQL: a lesson learned.

Developer Tools

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

• The Azure updates team announces the Application Insights .NET SDK version 2.15
• Richard Seroter (@rseroter) writes Let's compare the CLI experiences offered by AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform
• On Microsoft Security blog, Justin Campbell and Mike Walker highlights that Microsoft announces new Project OneFuzz framework, an open source developer tool to find and fix bugs at scale

DevOps

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

• Also on the Microsoft DevOps blog, Steven Murawski (@StevenMurawski) lists the Top Stories from the Microsoft DevOps Community – 2020.09.11
• On the MSSQL Tips site, Ron L'Esteve covers Azure DevOps CI CD using GitHub Repo and Visual Studio Azure SQL Database Project
• On the .NET Curry blog, Subodh Sohoni (@subodhsohoni) describes Using Azure DevOps for Product Development (Multiple Teams)
• The Azure updates team shares that Azure Pipelines announces the general availability of scale-set agents
• On the Black Marble blog, Richard Fennell (@richardfennell) explains How can I automatically create Azure DevOps Release Notes and how can I publish them?
• On the Microsoft DevOps blog, Helen Huang (@herenhuang) covers the Azure Artifacts billing changes coming October 2020
• Kevin Chant writes about using the Same dacpac for Azure Pipelines and GitHub Actions deployments

Hybrid

Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Stack

• Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) mentions to Join the Microsoft Azure Hybrid Cloud Webinar Series and presents Azure Stack Hub Partner Solutions Series – Knowledge Park with Tiberiu Radu
• On Channel 9, Anna Hoffman (@AnalyticAnna) provides An Introduction to Microsoft Hybrid SQL Server Solutions with Allan Hirt

Identity

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

• Anuj Chaudhary explains how to Handle Conditional Access challenge for Privileged Identity Management on Microsoft Graph
• Antti K. Koskela (@koskila) explains How to remove your account as a guest in another Azure AD tenant

Integration

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

• On the Serverless360 blog, Nadeem Ahamed (@Nadeem_ahamed_r) explains how to Manage and Monitor your Azure VMs using Event Grid and Logic Apps

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

• The Azure updates team shares a few updates: IoT Hub TLS certificate update, Azure IoT Central new and updated features—August 2020 and Azure Time Series Insights now supports AAD groups
• On Channel 9, Olivier Bloch (@obloch) talks about Azure IoT TLS - Changes are coming (with Ramit Malhotra) and talks about Turning IIoT Data into action with CrateDB with Johannes Moser

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, Sceduler

• David O'Brien (@david_obrien) walks through Testing ARM and AWS Templates
• On the DEV site, Justin Yoo (@justinchronicle) provides a Project Bicep Sneak Peek - The ARM Template DSL
• On the Sharegate blog, Stephane Lapointe (@s_lapointe) writes about some Azure cost best practices: 4 Azure policies for cloud cost optimization
• Praveen Kumar Sreeram (@PrawinSreeram) discusses Application Insights – Get monthly Data Consumption and Estimated Cost
• Tobias Zimmergren (@zimmergren) explains how to Discover issues with Azure Functions and App Service using Application Insights
• Also on the DEV site, Frank Boucher (@FBoucheros) demystifies ARM Templates: Getting an ARM template for Resource X
• On the Azure Medium blog, Itay Podhajcer (@ItayPodhajcer) writes about Terraforming a Serverless MongoDB Replica Set with Split Horizon DNS on Azure and Cloudflare
• The Azure updates team shares a few updates: IT Service Management Connector ITSMC is now available in Azure Government, Public Preview - Get Retail Rates for all Azure Products/Services, Azure Site Recovery update rollup 50 - September 2020 and Public Preview: Application Insight in UK West, Germany West Central, Switzerland West and Australia Central 2

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, Jeremy Winter describes Preparing for what's next: Building landing zones for successful cloud migrations
• On Channel 9, Scott Hanselman (@shanselman) describes how to Prepare your cloud environments using Azure landing zones with Brian Blanchard
• Sarah Lean (@TechieLass) blogs about Azure Migrate and Availability Zones

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

• Matt Small (@WinDevMatt) blogs about Key Vault, App Gateway and the KV Firewall...
• On The Azure Podcast, The Azure podcast team (@AzurePodcast) covers Episode 345 - Barracuda SD WAN with Michael Zoller
• The Azure updates team highlights that Azure Private Link Service is now generally available in China
• Pantelis Apostolidis (@papostolidis) explains how to Deliver your app at global scale with security & resiliency with Azure Front Door

Security

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

• On the Azure blog, Poornima Natarajan explains how to Build a scalable security practice with Azure Lighthouse and Azure Sentinel
• Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) describes How To Import, Export, and Share Workbooks in Azure Sentinel
• Damien Bowden (@damien_bod) walks through Securing Azure Key Vault inside a VNET and using from an Azure Function

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

• On the Azure blog, Rena Shah (@renamshah) highlights that the NFS 4.1 support for Azure Files is now in preview
• On the Check your Logs blog, Rick Vanover (@RickVanover) talks about the fact that Azure Files now offering NFS 4.1 in Preview
• Also on the Azure blog, Lichun Li writes that Azure NetApp Files cross region replication and new enhancements in preview
• The Azure updates team shares a few updates: Azure Blob storage lifecycle management now supports append blobs, Azure Blob access time tracking and access time-based lifecycle management preview and Public Preview of Azure NetApp Files Cross Region Replication CRR capability
• Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) describes How To Enable Self-Service Restore in Azure File Sync
• Mohit Gupta (@MohitGu48372760) provides an Introduction to Azure Storage Account

Web

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

• The Azure updates team shares the Azure API Management updates- September 2020
• On the DEV site, Alvaro Videla (@old_sound) describes How to upload images to Blob Storage using Serverless and Static Web Apps

Windows Virtual Desktop

Covering: Windows Virtual Desktop

• Roelf Zomerman (@RCZ_Jag) writes Windows Virtual Desktop – Building your image automated (II) and Building your image automated (III)
• Freek Berson (@fberson) describes Using Project ‘Bicep’ (Preview) to create ARM Templates that deploy WVD!
• Nicholas Rogoff (@nrogoff) describes how to Reboot all the VM’s in a Windows Virtual Desktop Host Pool…safely ;-)
• Christiaan Brinkhoff (@Brinkhoff_C) shares the new docs: Azure Architecture Center – Microsoft FSLogix for the enterprise

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"!