Azure Weekly Newsletter Issue #328

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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 Microsoft Learn, a new course has been published: Create a Regression Model with Azure Machine Learning designer
• Elsa Ramesh describes Combating gender-based violence in South Africa with Microsoft Azure
• Jamie Maguire (@jamie_maguire1) explains How To Using Natural Language To Query Documents With Azure Cognitive Services Text Analytics Custom Question Answering
• Shane Peckham discusses Custom video search with Azure Video Analyzer for Media, Machine Learning and Cognitive Search
• Itay Podhajcer (@ItayPodhajcer) walks through Effortlessly Pulling Ethereum Block Data into Azure Machine Learning
• The Azure Updates Team announces 6 new Locales added to Speech service to support speech transcription

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 SQL Server Central, Sucharita Das talks about Mapping Data Flows in Azure Data Factory
• Ron L'Esteve describes Using Delta Schema Evolution in Azure Databricks
• Jianlei Shen highlights A Re-designed Copy Data Tool Experience in Azure Data Factory
• Hong Ooi highlights the AzureR update: new in May/June

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

• Anthony Chu (@nthonyChu) blogs about Whats new with .NET on Azure Functions
• On Channel 9, Wayne Meyer discusses how to Upgrade your Azure Virtual Machines to premium disks
• Michael Crump (@mbcrump) runs through How to create custom handlers for Azure Functions

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 Enterprise-scale landing zone reference implementation for Azure Kubernetes Service
• Julien Corioland (@jcorioland) describes some Learnings from a few years helping customers to build and run cloud native platform using Azure Kubernetes Service

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 has made a lot of announcements:
  Azure Defender for Azure Database for MySQL – Single Server now generally available,
  Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Hyperscale Citus now compliant with additional certifications,
  Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server standby server selection in public preview,
  Azure Database for MySQL – Single Server: Planned maintenance notifications in general availability,
  Azure Cache for Redis zone redundancy for Premium tier now generally available,
  Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server: Support for Postgres 13 public preview,
  Azure Database for MariaDB Azure Defender in general availability,
  Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Flexible Server supports PostgreSQL minor versions public preview,
  Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Single Server: Planned Maintenance Notifications in general availability,
  Azure Database for MariaDB: Planned Maintenance Notifications in general availability,
  Azure Defender for Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Single Server in general availability,
  Azure Backup: Upgrade to TLS 1.2 or above for secure MARS agent backups by September 1, 2021,
  Azure SQL: Public preview updates for early June 2021
  and AzureSQL: General availability updates forearly June 2021
• On the MSSQL Tips site, Rajendra Gupta (@rajendragupta16) provides an Introduction to Azure SQL Database Ledger (Preview) for Data Tampering Protection and covers Azure SQL Database Ledger Getting Started and Examples
• On the Trailhead blog, Rodrigo Juarez explains how to Create Your Free Azure and Cosmos DB Account
• Mara Steiu (@MSteiu) introduces Change Data Capture for Azure SQL Databases Public Preview
• On Microsoft Learn, a new module has been published: Explore relational data services in Azure

Developer Tools

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

• On the MSSQL Tips site, Manvendra Singh explains How to Upgrade SQL Server Management Studio and Azure Data Studio

DevOps

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

• Alex Blount and Sweekriti Satpathy discuss Real-World DevOps on the MAUI Team
• On the Black Marble blog, Richard Fennell (@richardfennell) describes Automating the creation of Team Projects in Azure DevOps
• Damien Bowden (@damien_bod) discusses Integration Testing for ASP.NET Core using EF Core Cosmos with XUnit and Azure DevOps
• Sam Cogan (@samcogan) highlights that the ARM Template Toolkit Azure DevOps Extension now supports Bicep
• On the Azure Developer Community Blog, Samit Jhaveri explains how to Kickstart collaborative DevSecOps practices with GitHub and Azure
• Kevin Chant covers Using Azure DevOps in a hybrid data world and explains how to Create a dacpac for an Azure Synapse Analytics dedicated SQL Pool using Azure DevOps
• Stanislav Zhelyazkov (@StanZhelyazkov) provides some Examples in ARM templates and Bicep

Hybrid

Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Stack

• On the Azure blog, Guillermo Gomez writes about 5 reasons to attend the Azure Hybrid and Multicloud Digital Event
• Nevena Nikolic highlights: Increased storage limit to 16 TB for SQL Managed Instance General Purpose
• On Code Project, Satnam Singh walks through Transferring Data from a Text File Hosted on an Azure Blob Storage onto an Azure SQL Managed Instance using Azure Data Factory
• On the DEV site, JJ Asghar (@jjasghar) and Jay Gordon discuss OpenShift on Azure
• Tobias Zimmergren & Jussi Roine (@CtrlAltAzure) take A look at Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes

Identity

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

• Symona Wang describes How to integrate Azure Active Directory B2C into Azure API Management Developer Portal

Integration

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

• Thomas Thornton (@tamstar1234) explains how to Create CSV reports from Log Analytics queries and email using Azure Logic Apps
• On Visual Studio Magazine - Blogs, David Ramel (@dramel) highlights that Single-Tenant Azure Logic Apps Goes GA: 'Integration Is Everything'

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 Azure Maps Creator is now generally available, that Azure Sphere OS version 21.06 expected on June 23 and that Azure IoT Edge integration with Azure Monitor is now in public preview
• Sander van de Velde talks about how to Reference NuGet packages on GitHub Package Registry in Azure IoT Edge module
• Apoorv Gupta talks about Deploying Azure Digital Twin at Scale
• Ranga Vadlamudi (@RangaVadlamudi) discusses Component support for edge modules in IoT Central
• The Azure Sphere Team highlights that Azure Sphere OS version 21.06 is expected on June 23

Learning

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

• On Channel 9, April Edwards (@TheAprilEdwards) hosts Learn Azure Your Way Pt. 2 Azure Enablement
• On the Whizlabs blog, Vidya Ransam provides an AZ-204 Preparation Guide: Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure
• Luca Bolognese highlights the Azure Lab Services Tutorial Video 2021
• Swati Jhawar explains how to Get started on Microsoft Viva Learning with Microsoft Mechanics

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 an Update in Policy Compliance for Resource Type Policies, Syslog event collection from Azure Monitor Agent for Linux distros, Application Insights Node.js pre-aggregated standard metrics and Alerts based smart detection for Application Insights
• On the MSSQL Tips site, Ron L'Esteve talks about Getting Started with Azure Purview for Data Governance
• On the Microsoft BI Tools blog, Joost van Rossum (@ssisjoost) explains how to Analyze Azure Data Factory logs
• Shemer Steinlauf highlights that the Log Analytics workspace overview status property is live
• Thomas Thornton (@tamstar1234) discusses Getting started with Terraform on Azure
• Rajani Janaki Ram describes How to move your resources across regions and into Availability Zones using Azure Resource Mover
• On Channel 9, Scott Addie (@Scott_Addie) talks about Feature flags with .NET and Azure App Configuration
• On the Azure blog, Talal Alqinawi announces that Why customers, including SAP, choose Azure for their SAP solutions
• Anthony Bartolo (@WirelessLife) discusses Azure Security Center, Site Recovery updates and Cost Management updates and more
• Travis Roberts (@Ciraltos) discusses Azure Bicep Variables and Functions
• Mark Russinovich (@markrussinovich) describes how Microsoft is Advancing in-datacenter critical environment infrastructure availability

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

• The Azure Updates Team announces ExpressRoute Global Reach Pricing Reduction and Azure Migrate private endpoint support available in public preview
• On the Azure Medium blog, Adam Bertram (@adbertram) explains How to Move a Hyper-V VM to Azure with Azure Migrate Guide

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

• On Microsoft Docs, a new guide about Multi-region load balancing with Traffic Manager and Application Gateway has been published.
• Zachary Cavanell discusses Zero Trust for Endpoints and Applications

Security

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

• The Azure Updates Team announces Confidential Computing price reduction on DCsv2 virtual machines and Key Rotation and Expiration Policies for Azure Storage
• Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) explains how to Detect a Brute Force Attack with Azure Sentinel
• On the Redmond magazine site, Kurt Mackie (@kurmac) highlights that Microsoft Previews Azure Firewall Threat Tracking in Azure Sentinel
• Banu Jafarli describes Microsoft Defender for Identity Experiences in Microsoft 365 Defender
• Sumit Lahiri (@lahiri1111) blogs about AKS-HCI Integrated with Azure Defender for Kubernetes for Continuous Threat Monitoring
• On Microsoft Security blog, Emma Jones explains how to Optimize security with Azure Firewall solution for Azure Sentinel
• Daichi Isami (@normalian) explains how to Collaborate Kafka and Azure Functions securely within closed network

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

• Fernanda Vela (@velahuer) blogs about Azure Defender for Storage – Price Estimation Dashboard

Web

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

• On the DEV site, Chris Noring (@chris_noring) blogs about Azure static web apps CLI, building apps locally
• Daniel Ribeiro blogs about Azure Web App for Containers: Pulling a container image from ACR without exposing credentials
• Yixuan Wang blogs about how to Troubleshoot HTTPS 502 error when Application Gateway in front of API management self-hosted gateway
• Sarah Lean (@TechieLass) writes: Azure Static Web Apps are awesome!
• On the Azure blog, Heather Jordan Cartwright (@hjc_microsoft) covers Azure API for FHIR enables health organizations to deliver CMS Patient Access and Provider Directory APIs
• On Channel 9, David Fowler and Liangying Wei provide An overview of Azure Web PubSub
• Reshma Vishwanath explains How to Deploy an existing Asp.net Core Web API project as Guest executable to Service Fabric Cluster
• The Azure Updates Team announces that Azure API Management Open Source API portal is now generally available.

Windows Virtual Desktop

Covering: Windows Virtual Desktop

• On the Azure blog, Kam Vedbrat blogs about Azure Virtual Desktop: The flexible cloud VDI platform for the hybrid workplace
• On the Redmond magazine site, Kurt Mackie (@kurmac) highlights Microsoft Rebrands VDI Service as Azure Virtual Desktop
• Luca Bolognese highlights how Imperial College London is using Azure Virtual Desktop and Azure Lab Services

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"!