Azure Weekly Newsletter Issue #296

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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, Julia White (@julwhite) announces the Advanced Azure Machine Learning Nanodegree program with Udacity
• On Azure Medium, Aaron Bornstein discusses Training Your First Distributed PyTorch Lightning Model with Azure ML
• The Azure updates team announces Machine Learning open sourcing for R and Python Custom Runtime and highlights that Azure Cognitive Services has achieved human parity in image captioning
• On Channel 9, Nayer Wanas and Alan Liu discuss How Language Understanding enables Voice Commands in Word Dictation

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

• The Azure updates team announces that Azure Data Explorer now supports Compute Isolated SKUs and announces the Azure Data Explorer data connector for Azure Synapse
• On the Microsoft BI Tools blog, Joost van Rossum (@ssisjoost) explains how to Execute pipelines from an other Data Factory Sync
• On SQL Server Central, Sucharita Das writes about Incremental Data loading through ADF using Change Tracking
• On the Azure blog, Daniel Yu talks about how to Gain real-time insights on Oracle E-Business Suite data with Azure and Incorta

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 announces Azure Virtual Machines DCsv2-series expanding within Europe, United Kingdom and United States
• On Code Project, Duncan Edwards Jones (@Merrion) talks about Event Sourcing on Azure Functions
• Mikhail Shilkov (@MikhailShilkov) writes about Open Source Workflows as Code

Containers

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

• Roy Kim (@roykimyyz) provides a Comprehensive Guide To Create an Azure Kubernetes Service with Az CLI
• On Channel 9, Jeremy Likness (@jeremylikness) talks about Using Azure Container Registry for building and deploying .NET Core Apps
• On Azure Tips and Tricks, Michael Crump (@mbcrump) walks through Azure Functions on Kubernetes with KEDA (Part 2 of 2)
• Also on Channel 9, Hamish Watson (@TheHybridDBA) talks about Infrastructure as Code and Azure – A Match Made in the Cloud (Part 2)
• The Azure updates team announces the Public preview of Service Fabric managed clusters

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 the Azure blog, Kyle Teegarden highlights that Zone Redundancy for Azure Cache for Redis is now in preview
• The Azure updates team has made some announcements:
  Row Level Security now generally available for Azure Data Explorer,
  T-digest extension for Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Hyperscale (Citus),
  Zone Redundancy in preview for Azure Cache for Redis,
  Zone redundant configuration for Azure SQL DB general purpose tier
  and Azure Synapse Link for Azure Cosmos DB: SQL serverless runtime support in preview
• On the Microsoft BI Tools blog, Joost van Rossum (@ssisjoost) discusses Synapse snack: No new Azure SQL Database allowed
• On SQL Server Central, Mohammed Moinudheen describes Auto Scaling Azure SQL DB using Automation runbooks
• On the SQL Server Blog, Alan Yu (@AlanYuSQL) highlights that The October 2020 release of Azure Data Studio is now available

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 highlights that Azure Dev Spaces is retiring on 31 October 2023
• On Code Project, Lin (Wei) Wei-Han Lin discusses Azure CLI Dynamic Query Consumption Cost Data (az consumption usage list)

DevOps

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

• On the endjin blog, James Dawson (@James_Dawson) covers GitOps: Not Just For Kubernetes!
• The Azure updates team announces that Azure DevTest Labs is now available in more regions and you can now Create a network isolated lab in Azure DevTest Labs
• On the Microsoft DevOps blog, Sidi Merzouk describes the Azure DevOps Roadmap update for 2020 Q4
• Also on the Microsoft DevOps blog, Steven Murawski (@StevenMurawski) lists the Top Stories from the Microsoft DevOps Community
• On Channel 9, Kyle Ruddy (@kmruddy) talks about Remote State Management with Terraform Cloud
• On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Tanmayee Kamath highlights that Azure DevTest Labs is available in UAE North, Germany West Central and Norway East regions
• On Azure Tips and Tricks, Michael Crump (@mbcrump) walks through Serverless operations with Azure DevOps

Hybrid

Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Stack

• Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) highlights the Azure Stack Hub Partner Solutions Series
• The Azure updates team announces Distributed database transactions spanning multiple Azure SQL Managed Instances

Identity

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

• Jan Egil Ring (@janegilring) introduces The Privileged Identity Management Tools PowerShell module (PIMTools)
• On the Azure blog, Mark Russinovich (@markrussinovich) highlights that Azure and Intel commit to delivering next generation confidential computing
• Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) explains How to Monitor Azure AD Emergency Accounts With Azure Sentinel
• Damien Bowden (@damien_bod) walks through Using Key Vault certificates with Microsoft.Identity.Web and ASP.NET Core applications
• Thomas Thornton (@tamstar1234) discusses Azure Managed Identities and Service Principals

Integration

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

• On BizTalk Gurus, Sandro Pereira (@sandro_asp) asks: What do I need to do to start developing Logic Apps from Visual Studio?

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 announces that the Azure IoT Edge 1.0.10 release is now available, the Azure Sphere update 20.10 is now available for compatibility testing and runs through some Azure IoT Central new and updated features—September 2020
• On Channel 9, Erik Udstuen (@twin_thread) talks about Developing the Last Mile of IIoT and Predictive Operations Solutions
• Sander van de Velde describes Running ML.Net models inside an Azure IoT Edge module

Learning

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

• Adam Marczak (@MarczakIO) continues working throught the Azure-900 learning path, this time focusing on Azure Firewall, Azure Identity Services - Authentication, Authorization & Active Directory (AD) and Azure DDoS Protection
• Tobias Zimmergren (@zimmergren) blogs about Passing AZ-500: Microsoft Certified Azure Security Engineer Associate

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 endjin blog, Ed Freeman (@edfreeman_) discusses How to use the Azure CLI to manage access to Synapse Studio
• Marcel Zehner (@marcelzehner) discusses Nested & linked ARM templates
• Sam Cogan (@samcogan) describes Storing Pulumi State in Azure
• The Azure updates team announces Azure Site Recovery TLS Certificate Changes, discusses a New alert query examples topic in Log Analytics and announces that Azure Monitor Log Analytics data export is in public preview
• Daniel Neumann (@neumanndaniel) covers Unix time format in Azure Resource Manager templates
• On Azure Tips and Tricks, Michael Crump (@mbcrump) lists 5 Tips to save money with Virtual Machines
• On the Azure podcast, Evan Basalik discusses Advancing the Outage Experience
• On the Microsoft BI Tools blog, Joost van Rossum (@ssisjoost) covers how to Create Azure Automation Runbook
• Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) describes Automanage for Azure virtual machines
• Robert Smit (@Clustermvp) discusses PerfInsights self-help diagnostics tool in Azure Troubleshooting and reporting

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 .NET Rocks, Mike Richter (@michaelsrichter) talks about Migrating .NET Applications to Azure
• On the Microsoft site, a reporter delves into how RB will use Microsoft’s Azure cloud and M365 in ‘factory of the future’ transformation

Mobile

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

• On the DEV site, Nitya Narasimhan covers Start.Dev.Change - An Intro to Mobile Development

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

• Mike Pfeiffer (@mike_pfeiffer) talks about Azure Networking & Security with Derek Smith

Security

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

• On Microsoft Security blog, Teri Seals-Dormer explains Advanced protection for web applications in Azure with Radwares Microsoft Security integration
• On the DEV site, Justin Yoo (@justinchronicle) discusses Binding Let's Encrypt SSL Certificate to Azure Functions

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 announces that Azure Files premium tier is now available in more regions with LRS, ZRS, and NFS support, Azure Blob storage point-in-time restore now generally available and s, HPC Cache new namespace page and region expansion

Web

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

• On the Microsoft DevOps blog, Abel Wang (@abelsquidhead) writes about a Static Web App PR Workflow for Azure App Service Using Azure DevOps
• Jeffrey Palermo (@jeffreypalermo) talks about Whats New in Azure App Service with Stefan Schackow
• The Azure updates team covers App Service Private Endpoints now generally available and describes Public Preview: JBoss EAP on Azure App Service

Windows Virtual Desktop

Covering: Windows Virtual Desktop

• On the Hanu blog, Imran Khan covers Windows Virtual Desktop
• Christiaan Brinkhoff (@Brinkhoff_C) talks about Windows Virtual Desktop Deployment Recommendations and Best Practices

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"!