Azure Weekly Newsletter Issue #303

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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

• Jamie Maguire (@jamie_maguire1) walks through Removing Personally Identifiable Information (PII) with Cognitive Services Text Analytics API v3
• On Channel 9, Andreas Vralstad talks about Tagging Audio using Deep Learning
• On Tech Community blog, Lee Stott (@lee_stott) highlights the Global AI Student Conference (12 December 2020) and blogs about Azure Machine Learning and PyTorch Lightning
• Also on Channel 9, Parashar Shah (@parashar) discusses Whats New in Text Analytics: Opinion Mining and Async
• Also on Tech Community blog, Issagha BA talks about Meta-data driven key-value pairs extraction with Azure Form Recognizer

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, Azure Purview

• On the MSSQL Tips site, Ron L'Esteve talks about Getting Started with Azure Synapse Analytics Workspace Samples
• TechCrunch, Frederic Lardinois (@fredericl) writes Microsoft launches Azure Purview, its new data governance service
• On the DEV site, Adi Polak (@AdiPolak) highlights a session, tomorrow at Create:Data - The Journey to Modern Warehousing and highlights a panel discussion on Data for Good
• On the Azure blog, Julia White (@julwhite) describes how you can Shape your future with data and analytics
• On Tech Community blog, Danaraj Ram Kumar talks about a Custom XML Deserializer for Stream Analytics ingestion to Synapse SQL
• Also on the MSSQL Tips site, Fikrat Azizov explains how to Explore Azure Cosmos Databases with Azure Synapse Analytics
• Also on Tech Community blog, Ye Xu highlights that You can enable data consistency verification in copy activity and that Session log is now available in copy activity
• On Azure Medium, Nicholas Hurt (@Nicholas_Hurt) discusses Just-in-time Azure Databricks access tokens and instance pools for Azure Data Factory pipelines using workspace automation
• On Azure Medium, Inderjit Rana discusses Azure Synapse Variable DWU Level Usage — Cost Optimization using Reserved Instance Pricing

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 highlights: Azure Batch vCPU quota checks are being updated
• On the DEV site, Davide Mauri (@mauridb) walks through Autoscaling Azure SQL Hyperscale
• Nitya Narasimhan covers the SeasonsOfServerless Solution 1: Developing The Perfect Holiday Turkey
• Armin Reiter (@arminreiter) discusses Using Azure VM to Crack Passwords
• Ayush (@heyayushh) covers Building Google Assistant Actions using Azure Functions
• Xander Oortgiesen describes the New Azure Shared Image Gallery
• Frank Boucher (@FBoucheros) explains How to configure a secured custom domain on a Azure Function or website

Containers

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

• On Tech Community blog, Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) explains how to Modernize Windows Server Apps on Microsoft Azure using Containers with Windows Admin Center and AKS
• Also on Tech Community blog, Vinicius Apolinario (@vrapolinario) highlights the November 2020 Containers extension updates on Windows Admin Center
• Ben Armstrong writes about the AKS on Azure Stack HCI December Update
• Peter Pogorski highlights the Azure Service Fabric 7.2 Fourth Refresh Release
• Thorsten Hans discusses how to Run containers in Azure Container Instances straight from Docker CLI

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 Tech Community blog, Thamires Lemes runs through Using partitioned tables or multiple tables to improve big deletes performance
• Also on Tech Community blog, Tzvia Gitlin Troyna highlights a Monthly Webinar and 'Ask Me Anything' on Azure Data Explorer
• On the DEV site, Abhishek Gupta (@abhi_tweeter) highlights another session at Create:Data - Picking the Right Distributed Database
• Amit Banerjee lists the Top Reasons Your On-premises SQL Server Instance Can Benefit from Azure
• Jose M Jurado (@jmjuradodiaz) discusses Calculating the space used by table and per column
• Inderjit Rana discusses Azure SQL network settings (Private Link, VNET Service Endpoint) and Azure Data Factory

Developer Tools

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

• On the Microsoft DevOps blog, Abel Wang (@abelsquidhead) and Isaac Levin discuss Optimum Developer Productivity – GitHub + Visual Studio Code + Azure
• On Channel 9, Darrel Miller talks about Customizing the Graph SDKs On .NET
• Antti K. Koskela (@koskila) explains How to fix Visual Studio Cloud Explorer being unable to access your subscriptions

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, Abel Wang (@abelsquidhead) explains How Microsoft does DevOps
• Also on the Microsoft DevOps blog, Dan Hellem highlights the Delivery Plans Public Preview Update
• Jay Gordon (@jaydestro) covers AzureFunBytes – DevOps on Azure with Donovan Brown
• On Channel 9, Arvind Shyamsundar (@arvisam) talks about Getting Started with DevOps for Azure SQL
• Richard Fennell (@richardfennell) covers Azure DevOps Pipeline variable evaluation
• Kevin Chant runs through some Tips for deploying to multiple SQL Server database types using Azure DevOps and discusses Viewing Agile and Scrum work items at the same time in Azure DevOps
• Martin Woodward (@martinwoodward) discusses GitHub with Sarah Lean on Channel 9
• Adam Bertram (@adbertram) explains how to Automate an Azure App Deployment from Scratch

Hybrid

Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Stack

• On Tech Community blog, Pierre Roman (@pierreroman) asks: Hybrid management - Where do I start?
• On Microsoft Security blog, Lauren Goodwin explains how to Protect your SQL Server on-premises, in Azure, and in multicloud

Identity

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

• On Tech Community blog, Swabhiman Das solves an issue: Principal ***** does not exist in the directory ****
• Also on Tech Community blog, Mo Shi describes How to enable MSI Managed Service Identity for Batch compute nodes in User Subscription Mode

Integration

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

• Simon Waight (@simonwaight) blogs about Adding OAuth2 support to your Meetup API Custom Connector for Azure Logic Apps
• Gregor Suttie (@gregor_suttie) talks about how to use an Azure Logic App Api call to save a file to Blob Storage
• On Tech Community blog, Lior Tamir discusses the Azure Sentinel Logic Apps Connector improvements and new capabilities
• On Microsoft Security blog, Lauren Goodwin explains how to Manage, govern, and get more value out of your data with Azure Purview
• The Azure updates team announces a New feature in public preview for intelligent ingestion from Event Hubs source
• Also on Tech Community blog, Roy Gal explains Log Analytics scopes

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 podcast, Conor Kelly discusses Sustainability solutions in Azure
• The Azure updates team announces that Azure Sphere OS version 20.12 is now available for evaluation, that IoT Hub private link now works with the built-in Event Hub compatible endpoint and that the Azure Sphere SDK version 20.11 is now available
• And, on Tech Community blog, The Azure Sphere Team highlights: Azure Sphere OS version 20.12 is now available for evaluation
• On the DEV site, Jim Bennett asks: What is edge computing, why do it, why send IoT data to the cloud?
• On Channel 9, Alina Stanciu (@alinamstanciu) talks about RealEstateCore, a smart building ontology for digital twins
• Sander van de Velde discusses Using a Weidmueller UC 20 Controller as Azure IoT Edge child device
• On Tech Community blog, Kang Su Gatlin talks about The most important testing you'll do: Azure Sphere Retail Evaluation
• Also on Tech Community blog, Alexandra Petty (@HoloLexi) blogs about Mixed Reality and the Human Component of Innovation
• On the DEV site, Benjamin Cab blogs about Deploying a LoRaWAN network server on Azure

Learning

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

• Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) provides a DP-300 Study Guide Azure Database Administrator
• Kamil Bugno (@KamilBugnoKrk) shares 104 revision questions for AZ-104
• On Channel 9, Marilag Dimatulac talks about A Day in a life of a Cloud Architect
• On Azure Tips and Tricks, Michael Crump (@mbcrump) discusses The Azure Architecture Center

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) talks about the Azure Cost Management and Billing updates – November 2020
• The Azure updates team provides an Azure Site Recovery update rollup 52 - November 2020
• Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) describes Removing Diagnostic Settings Configuration for Azure Resources
• Sajeetharan Sinnathurai talks about how to Opt into preview features in Azure Portal
• On the Whizlabs blog, Neeru Jain lists the Top 10 Cost Optimization Tips for 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

• Radu Vunvulea (@RaduVunvulea) covers Tools, templates and assessments for the "Manage" phase of the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework
• On the DEV site, Laurent Bugnion (@LBugnion) delves into Azure Migrate
• On Tech Community blog, Locky Ainley blogs about how Skytap on Azure Simplifies Migration for Apps Running IBM Power
• Sarah Lean (@TechieLass) talks about Azure Enablement and the Cloud Adoption Framework
• Dmitry Turchin discusses The 3 immediate benefits of Azure for your organization

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

• Bill Wilder (@codingoutloud) discusses Running Azure Securely – Turning on the WAF
• Aidan Finn (@joe_elway) describes Everything You Need to Know About Azure Infrastructure – November 2020 Edition

Security

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

• The Azure updates team highlights the Azure Security Center news and updates for November 2020
• James van Den Berg describes What’s New in Azure Security Center!
• On Tech Community blog, Future Kortor covers Security Center Control: Remediate Security Configurations
• Also on Tech Community blog, Safeena Begum Lepakshi talks about Security Controls in Azure Security Center: Apply adaptive application control
• On Microsoft Security blog, Jenny Erie highlights that Azure Sentinel achieves a Leader placement in Forrester Wave, with top ranking in Strategy
• On the Codit blog, Sagar Sharma covers Key Rotation in Azure Applications
• Also on Tech Community blog, Sonia Cuff covers Securing a Windows Server VM in 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 announces the Azure Storage blob inventory public preview
• Gaurav Mantri (@gmantri) walks through Comparing Azure Storage Blob Versions and Snapshots
• On Azure Medium, Nicholas Hurt (@Nicholas_Hurt) runs through Building your Data Lake on ADLS gen2
• On Tech Community blog, Tzvia Gitlin Troyna writes about the Fluent Bit connector for Azure Storage to support Azure Data Explorer streaming

Web

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

• On Channel 9, Damian Brady and Aaron Powell discuss Building and deploying web apps with Static Web Apps
• On the Codit blog, Gonçalo Chaves explains How to Configure Loopback Services at Azure API Management
• Jose Moreno (@erjosito) writes: Dont let your Azure Routes bite you
• On Tech Community blog, Yvette O'Meally highlights that Update 2010 for Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager current branch is now available
• Also on Tech Community blog, Michael Hildebrand provides a Microsoft Endpoint DLP Lightning-Round

Windows Virtual Desktop

Covering: Windows Virtual Desktop

• The Azure updates team announces that Azure Monitor for Windows Virtual Desktop is in public preview

Useful Links

• 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 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"!