Azure Weekly Newsletter Issue #323

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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 SQL Server Central, Chandra Kudumula walks through Insurance price prediction using Machine Learning ML.NET
• On Tech Community blog, Derek Legenzoff discusses Azure Cognitive Search performance: Setting yourself up for success
• Also on SQL Server Central, Ron L'Esteve blogs about Getting Started with MLflow in Azure Databricks
• On Code Project, Raphael Mun describes Building on Cloud Native Services with AI (Node.js on Azure)
• The Azure Updates Team announces New features, improvements and bug fixes in Custom Translator

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 Tech Community blog, Evandro Muchinski blogs about Realtime analytics from SQL Server to Power BI with Debezium
• On the Tallan blog, Travis Dahlke discusses Azure Data Factory: How to Create a Dataset

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 Tech Community blog, Sonia Cuff (@soniacuff) walks through the different Microsoft Azure Virtual Machine sizes
• On Code Project, Duncan Edwards Jones (@Merrion) discusses Event Sourcing on Azure Functions
• Also on Tech Community blog, Trevor Davis (@vtrevordavis) talks about Optimizing Azure VMware Solution Storage
• The Azure Updates Team announces that New NPv1 virtual machines are now generally available

Containers

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

• The Azure Updates Team announces that AKS support for Secrets Store Container Storage Interface is in public preview
• Richard Hooper (@Pixel_Robots) talks about How to change Windows node pool password in Azure Kubernetes Service
• On Code Project, Joel Ivory Johnson covers Containers in Pods (Java on Azure)
• Richard Hooper (@Pixel_Robots) highlights that The hands-on Kubernetes on Azure book has been updated for 2021

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

• Also on Tech Community blog, Halil Ozan Akgul runs through some Citus Tips for Postgres: How to alter distribution key, shard count, & more
• Davide Mauri (@mauridb) and Jeffery Palermo dicuss Azure SQL for Developers
• On the MSSQL Tips site, Haroon Ashraf explains how to Create and Publish a SQL Database Project without using SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) in Visual Studio
• On Tech Community blog, Zachary Cavanell explains how to Build fast, scalable data system on Azure SQL Database Hyperscale Clearent

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 the Azure Data Share Preview API versions will no longer be supported starting August 1, 2021
• On Tech Community blog, Bob German (@bob1german) asks What's up with Markdown?
• On Visual Studio Magazine - Blogs, David Ramel (@dramel) highlights Improved Azure Machine Learning Experience in VS Code and that you can See What's Coming for VS Code in New Update Previews

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, Angel Wong talks about IPv6 fencing Conditional Access Policies now supported in Azure DevOps
• Also on the Microsoft DevOps blog, Martina Hiemstra highlights that Delivery Plans 2.0 is now generally available
• As aways, also on the Microsoft DevOps blog, Steven Murawski (@StevenMurawski) lists the Top Stories from the Microsoft DevOps Community
• On Tech Community blog, Han Zhang provides a Solution Template for Deploying Azure ML Models to AKS Clusters via Azure DevOps
• Also on Tech Community blog, Yannis Lempidakis explains how to Deploy HoloLens 2 at scale using the power of cloud services

Hybrid

Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Stack

• Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) explains how to Install Azure Site Recovery Provider on Azure Stack HCI OS
• On the DEV site, Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) and Jay Gordon discuss Hybrid Cloud on Azure
• And, on Ctrl-Alt-Azure, Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) explores Azure Arc
• On Tech Community blog, Zachary Cavanell explains how to Consolidate data to one source with Azure SQL Managed Instance

Identity

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

• On Code It Yourself, Carlos Mendible (@cmendibl3) explains how to Deploy AKS + Kubecost with Terraform
• Marcel Zehner (@marcelzehner) discusses AWS Single Sign-On with Azure AD – Walk-through Part 1/2
• On Tech Community blog, Liliam Leme discusses Using MSI to authenticate on a Synapse Spark Notebook while querying the Storage
• Also on Tech Community blog, Sherry Sahni explains how to Protect API's using OAuth 2.0 in APIM
• On Code Project, Joel Ivory Johnson (@j2inet) describes Cloud-Native Authentication (Java on Azure)
• Also on Code Project, Raphael Mun covers Cloud Native Authentication (Node.js on Azure)

Integration

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

• Travis Roberts (@Ciraltos) runs through how to Automatically add an Azure Tag Using Event Grid and Azure Functions

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 the General availability of Azure Maps- new Gen2 pricing model available
• Sander van de Velde describes How to cope in code with the quota limitation of an IoT Hub
• On Tech Community blog, Avneet Singh explains how to Extend Azure IoT Central with the 1.0 REST APIs to build your production ready solution
• Also on Tech Community blog, Eric Mittelette highlights the New LTS release for Azure IoT Hub SDK for .NET
• Also on Tech Community blog, Vasiya Krishnan highlights that Azure SQL Edge now runs on Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Also on Tech Community blog, Ricardo Duncan talks about how to Unlock the Future of Azure IoT through Power Platform
• Also on Tech Community blog, Alp Babayigit explains How to Quick Start with Defender for IoT Sensor onboarding and integration into Azure Sentinel
• Michael Crump (@mbcrump) walks through How to get started with Azure Digital Twins

Learning

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

• On Tech Community blog, The Student Developer Team writes - Meet a Recent Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador Graduate: Ayush Chauhan
• Kevin Chant walks through Gaining the Azure Data Engineer Associate Microsoft certification
• Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) provides a SC-900 Microsoft Security Compliance and Identity Fundamentals study guide
• On the Whizlabs blog, Vidya Ransam highlights the new Practice test for the Microsoft Azure Exam AZ-220 Certification
• Also on Tech Community blog, Lee Stott (@lee_stott) explains how to Incorporate the MS Learn for Educators teaching materials into your existing course materials
• Also on Tech Community blog, Lee Stott (@lee_stott) discusses Teaching Azure to prepare students for the future
• Kevin Chant highlights that the DP-203 Azure Data Engineering exam is now GA
• Also on the Whizlabs blog, Vidya Ransam provides a Complete Guide of the Azure Data Scientist Associate Certification

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

• On the DEV site, Ángel Pérez highlights that ARM Template Specs are now generally available
• The Azure Updates Team announces Azure Log Analytics UI updates May 2021
• On Tech Community blog, Anthony Bartolo (@WirelessLife) talks about New Azure VMs, Azure Monitor Updates, Cost Management Updates and more
• Also on Tech Community blog, Bruno Gabrielli talks about how to Set Your Alert State Using Azure Automation
• Also on Tech Community blog, Roy Gal highlights the New experience for Custom Logs inLog Analytics UI and that Log Analytics pinned parts now works with Azure Dashboard filters
• On the Catapult Systems blog, Cameron Fuller introduces Azure Monitor
• On Code Project, Joel Ivory Johnson describes Monitoring and Scaling Containerized Apps (Java on Azure)
• David O'Brien (@david_obrien) discusses Genie - Advanced Insights on Azure Functions
• Also on Tech Community blog, Reshma Vishwanath walks through Troubleshooting Node down Scenarios in Azure Service Fabric - Part I
• Also on Tech Community blog, Al Morrison describes Getting started with SAP on Azure
• Barbara Forbes (@Ba4bes) explains how to Get started with Azure ARM Template specs
• On Channel 9, Sujay Talasila (@sujaytalasila) talks about Simplify moving resources between regions with Azure Resource Mover
• Also on the DEV site, Julien Dubois (@juliendubois) announces NubesGen, an Open Source tool to automate Azure deployments

Media

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

• On the Azure podcast, David Giard (@DavidGiard) discusses Azure Media Services

Migration

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

• On Channel 9, Venkata Raj Pochiraju and Anna Hoffman talk about Migrating to SQL: Cloud Migration Strategies and Phases in Migration Journey
• Also on the Microsoft DevOps blog, Jay Gordon (@jaydestro) discusses Migrating to Azure SQL
• Chris Nicholas and Mike Pfeiffer discuss Azure Cloud Adoption & Strategy

Mobile

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

• On Channel 9, Rachel Kang (@therachelkang) talks about Building Accessible Mobile Apps
• Also on Channel 9, Pedro Jesus talks about Lifecycle Events (Xamarin Community Toolkit)

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 the General availability of multiple features for Azure VPN Gateway
• Jose Moreno (@erjosito) describes Azure Traffic Analytics and Breach Detection
• Sarah Lean (@TechieLass) runs through Troubleshooting degraded state in Azure Traffic Manager
• On the Whizlabs blog, Vidya Ransam provides an Azure Virtual Private Cloud Guide and an Azure Load Balancer Complete Guide
• On the Azure Medium blog, Agraj Mangal writes about how to Secure your Microservices on AKS—Part 3—The Network
• On Tech Community blog, Daichi Isami (@normalian) explains How to fix outbound IPs for App Service

Security

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

• The Azure Updates Team highlights the Azure Security Center: Public preview updates for April 2021 and the Azure Security Center: General availability updates for April 2021
• On Tech Community blog, TJ Banasik announces the Azure Sentinel: Zero Trust (TIC3.0) Workbook
• On Channel 9, Dean Bryen (@deanbryen) and Damian Brady discuss: Security is Not an Afterthought

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 the Azure Blob storage—NFS 3.0 protocol support public preview now expands to all regions, that Azure Backup: Operational backup for Azure Blobs is now generally available and that Append blob support in Azure Data Lake Storage is now generally available
• On Tech Community blog, Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) walks through how to Upload Files to Azure Blob Storage using Power Automate Desktop
• On Tech Community blog, Pierre Roman (@pierreroman) talks about the Azure Backup Center – Your one-stop for all things backups.
• Also on Tech Community blog, Asif Khan (@khanasif1) describes Azure NetApp Files for NFS storage with Moodle

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 Deploy Web App and Web Job In A Single Pipeline

Windows Virtual Desktop

Covering: Windows Virtual Desktop

• No content this week

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.
• 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"!