Azure Weekly Newsletter Issue #313

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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

• On the DEV site, Jen Looper (@jenlooper) discusses Creating Hand Shadow stories with Azure Speech and TensorFlow.js Handposes
• The Azure Updates Team announces that Azure Cognitive Services Translator releases nine new languages and highlights that they are Retiring Azure Cognitive Services Text Analytics v2.x on 29 February 2024

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

• The Azure Updates Team announces that Data flows in Azure Data Factory and Azure Synapse now support Reserved Instances
• Derek Daniels walks through Automating Azure Synapse Analytics and Azure Analysis Services Tabular, or Power BI Dataset
• On the MSSQL Tips site, Ron L'Esteve runs through Getting Started with Azure Synapse Link for Cosmos DB
• Lionel Pénuchot explains how to Build Near Real Time Power BI reports using Synapse Link and SQL On-Demand

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 some retirements and updates:
  The GS5 Azure Virtual Machines will no longer be SAP HANA Certified on 28 February 2022,
  Azure Batch CloudServiceConfiguration pools will be retired on 29 February 2024,
  Azure Batch rendering VM images & licensing will be retired on 29 February 2024,
  Azure Batch Transcription and Customization Rest API v2 will be retired by 29 February 2024,
  The G5 and GS5 Azure VMs will no longer be hardware-isolated on 28 February 2022
  and The E64iv3 & E64isv3 Azure VMs will not be hardware-isolated on 28 February 2022

Containers

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

• No content this week

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 highlights that Azure Database for PostgreSQL ending support for PostgreSQL version 9.6 on 11 November 2021 and that you will need to Update the Azure Cosmos DB Java SDK by 29 February 2024
• On the DEV site, Abhishek Gupta (@abhi_tweeter) talks about Azure Cosmos DB: Use Cases and Trade-Offs
• Sabrin Alsahsah discusses why Azure SQL Database or SQL Managed Instance Database used data space is much larger than expected
• On the Database Journal site, Marcin Policht talks about Six Backup Options for SAP HANA on Azure VMs
• On the Serverless360 blog, Amrita Varsihini describes The next Big Thing in Azure Database Monitoring Landscape
• Ahmed Mahmoud asks: Who Dropped my Azure SQL DB

Developer Tools

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

• Adam Bertram (@adbertram) provides a tutorial on What You Need to Know about Visual Studio Code
• The Azure Updates Team highlights that Jenkins plug-ins for Azure are being retired on 29 February 2024
• On Channel 9, Claudia Regio and Rich Chiodo discuss Notebooks in VS Code
• Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) writes about the Az Predictor Module – Azure PowerShell Predictions
• The Azure Updates Team highlights that you need to Update your scripts to use Az PowerShell modules by 29 February 2024

DevOps

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

• Barbara Forbes (@Ba4bes) explains how to Create a custom Azure DevOps pipeline task for PowerShell
• Geert Baeke (@GeertBaeke) covers Deploying Helm Charts with Azure DevOps pipelines
• On the Microsoft DevOps blog, Jay Gordon (@jaydestro) describes Ansible on Azure
• Also on the Microsoft DevOps blog, Parsa Zand blogs about how to Limit user visibility and collaboration to specific projects
• Gregor Suttie (@gregor_suttie) describes TFS TF400917 – Upgrading TFS to move to Azure Devops
• Thomas Thornton (@tamstar1234) explains how to Deploy Azure Bicep using Azure DevOps Pipelines
• Kumar Allamraju (@kumarallamraju) runs through 6 Simple Steps to Import a Project to Azure Repos from Git

Hybrid

Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Stack

• The Azure Updates Team highlights that Azure Stack Edge Pro FPGA is retiring on 29 February 2024 and announces that Azure Image Builder Service now generally available
• On the Azure Medium blog, Luca Zavarella writes about On-premises Data Gateway Monitoring—Part 1: Standard Log Files
• On Channel 9, Ben Weissman talks about How to Deploy Azure SQL Anywhere – Using Azure Arc for Data Services
• Ben Armstrong discusses AKS on Azure Stack HCI
• On the SQL Server Blog, Alan Yu (@AlanYuSQL) highlights that The February 2021 release of Azure Data Studio is now available

Identity

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

• The Azure Updates Team announces that Email one-time passcode authentication on by default starting October 2021, that Azure Automation is now available in UAE Central, writes about AKS legacy Azure AD integration will be retired on 29 February 2024 and highlights that you should Upgrade your Azure AD Connect sync to a newer version by 29 February 2024
• Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) runs through how to Log in with RDP to a Windows Azure VM using Azure AD
• Alex Simons discusses the GA of Azure AD My Apps user-based collections and more and Decentralized digital identities and blockchain: The future as we see it
• Sue Bohn runs through how Wipro streamlines guest-user access with Azure AD External Identities
• On the Premier Developer blog, Bryan Soltis (@bryan_soltis) covers Managing ADX Data with .NET Core and Azure B2C

Integration

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

• On BizTalk Gurus, Sandro Pereira (@sandro_asp) discusses Hybrid Connectivity with Azure Logic Apps Adapter
• The Azure Updates Team announces General availability support for Java Message Service JMS 2.0 API on Azure Service Bus Premium
• On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Ricardo Duncan provides A Deep Dive into Serverless Applications on Power Apps and Azure
• On Tech Community blog, Ankita Jain runs through how to Receive Messages from DLQ for Queue/Subscription in Azure Service Bus
• Nidhi Pathak discusses How to authenticate with managed identity for Azure AD OAuth-based connectors for Logic Apps
• Tareq Saifi discusses how to Access Storage Accounts behind Firewalls from Logic Apps within the same region

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

• Pamela Cortez (@AltaOhms) discusses Microsoft at embedded world 2021! Learn how we are creating a seamless IoT experience!
• Jonatan Meczyk runs through Looking for Anomalies in your IoT Asset Telemetry
• Sarah Maston covers IoT Driving Sustainability and a New Green ROI

Learning

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

• Liberty Munson writes about What does it all mean? Defining key certification concepts
• The Student Developer Team explores A universe of exciting possibilities
• On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Mark Winters covers how to Plan your Microsoft Azure experience at Microsoft Ignite
• Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) provides an AZ-140 Study Guide: Windows Virtual Desktop on Microsoft Azure
• Adam Marczak (@MarczakIO) continues his series on AZ-900, covering Cost Reduction Methods

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 Azure Updates Team announces that you can Start using new alerts in Azure Monitor for Azure China 21Vianet, and Start using new alerts in Azure Monitor for Azure Government Cloud and that Were retiring Classic Application Insights on 29 February 2024
• Helder Pinto talks about Augmenting Azure Advisor Cost Recommendations for Automated Continuous Optimization – Part 2
• On The Azure Podcast, Gaurav Malhotra discusses Azure Purview
• Also on the Azure blog, Devarayulu Tula covers Automating quota management with Azure Quota REST API
• Also on the Azure blog, Michael Flanakin (@flanakin) runs through the Azure Cost Management and Billing updates – February 2021
• Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) explains how to Manage your Azure resources using automation tasks
• Jeremy Winter discusses Cloud economics

Media

Covering: Azure Media Player, Content Protection, Encoding, Live and On-Demand Streaming, Media Analytics, Media Services, Video Indexer

• The Azure Updates Team highlights that you should Update your Azure Media Services REST API and SDKs to v3 by 29 February 2024

Migration

Covering: Azure Database Migration Service, Azure Migrate, Data Box

• Radu Vunvulea (@RaduVunvulea) discusses the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework - Part 5: Ready Phase and Landing Zones
• On the Azure blog, Joao Couto explains how to Migrate SAP systems faster with Cloud Move for Azure by SNP
• The Azure Updates Team highlights that you must Switch to Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 by 29 February 2024, that they are Retiring Classic Azure Migrate on 29 February 2024 and announces the Datadog integration with Azure: Public Preview
• Michael Cade talks about Cloud Data Migration, Backup, and Disaster Recovery
• Sai Srirampur (@saisrirampur) writes about Faster Data Migrations in Postgres
• Sarah Lean (@TechieLass) talks about Azure Migrate
• Stefan Georgiev (@stg3orgi) provides a The Cloud-native Azure Application Architect Map
• On Channel 9, Abel Wang and Jay Gordon discuss On Prem To The Cloud: Lift and Shift

Mobile

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

• On Channel 9, Ilse Terrazas Ortega (@thisisilse) talks about Managing Azure from your phone with the Azure mobile app
• Yawei Hu explains How to use REST API to send notifications to Baidu devices

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

• The Azure Updates Team announces that Web Application Firewall for Azure Front Door managed ruleset refresh is generally available, that Web Application Firewall Integration with Azure Front Door Standard and Premium SKU, and highlights that Were retiring Network Performance Monitor on 29 February 2024, Azure Network Watcher Connection Monitor classic on 29 February 2024 and that Azure Application Gateway analytics will be retired on 29 February 2024

Security

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

• On the Azure blog, Eric Brown blogs about Accelerating Department of Defense mission workloads with Azure
• Alethea Prattas describes Predicting your next insider risks (uncovering hidden risks)
• Sonia Cuff (@soniacuff) explains how to The difference between Azure Security Center, Azure Defender and Azure Sentinel
• On Azure Sentinel Blog, Ofer Shezaf (@oshezaf) talks about Handling false positives in Azure Sentinel
• On Microsoft Security blog, Imran Mohiuddin describes Securing Azure datacenters with continuous IoT/OT monitoring
• On the DEV site, Justin Yoo (@justinchronicle) blogs about KeyVault Secrets Rotation Management in Bulk
• Sindhuri Dittakavi highlights that Microsoft Azure Attestation is now generally available
• Pradeep Nair discusses how E-commerce on Azure increases security with Payment Card Industry Three-Domain Secure compliance
• Stefan Georgiev (@stg3orgi) provides The Azure Security Architect Map

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

• No content this week

Web

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

• Gregor Suttie (@gregor_suttie) covers Troubleshooting App Services in Azure
• Anthony Chu (@nthonyChu) explains how to Build and Deploy to Azure Static Web Apps with Stackbit
• The Azure Updates Team announces that Community support for Python 3.6 is ending on 23 December 2021

Windows Virtual Desktop

Covering: Windows Virtual Desktop

• On Tech Community blog, Nathan Swift describes How to use Azure Firewall Premium with WVD
• Sarah Lean (@TechieLass) discusses the Windows Virtual Desktop Roadmap
• Travis Roberts (@Ciraltos) writes about High Performance at a Low Price for WVD

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"!