Azure Weekly Newsletter Issue #340

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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 Visual Studio Magazine, David Ramel (@dramel) writes about VS Code Uses ML to Detect Programming Language, Set Mode
• A new Microsoft Learn course showing now to Create a Regression Model with Azure Machine Learning designer has been published.
• Justin Slade writes about 4 ways AI, computer vision, and related technologies expand IoT solutions

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 Apache Spark 3.1 for Azure Synapse Analytics now generally available
• On the MSSQL Tips site, Ron L'Esteve discusses Databricks Delta Change Data Feed
• Jackson Filho writes about Limitless Analytics Journey with Azure Synapse Analytics

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 the Azure podcast, Scott Hitch talks about how his his team does to improve the time in takes to remediate your applications and resources in Azure in episode 393 - Behind the scenes.
• The Azure Updates Team describes Public preview: Automatic scaling with Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets flexible orchestration mode
• On the Azure blog, Bill DeForeest blogs about Guarantee capacity access with on-demand capacity reservations—now in preview
• Frank Boucher (@FBoucheros) writes about Hello World from the Serverless Microsoft team which brings many different product manager of Azure Logic Apps, Azure Functions, and Azure Static Web Apps together to talk about serverless
• Sander van de Velde describes Positioning GPS devices on a map using Azure Functions, Azure SignalR Service and Azure Maps
• The Service Fabric team blogs about Service Fabric Community Q&A call 58 and blogs about Azure Service Fabric 8.1 Second Refresh Release

Containers

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

• On the Redmond magazine site, Kurt Mackie (@kurmac) describes 'Azurescape' Attack on Azure Container Instances Highlights Risks of Using Multitenant Services
• On Channel 9, Scott Hanselman and Derek Martin talk about how to Get a secure baseline architecture for Azure Kubernetes Service AKS on Azure Friday
• Thorsten Hans discusses External-DNS with Azure Kubernetes Service and Azure DNS

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

• Keshav Kiran describes Tagging all the Columns to Data classification in the Azure SQL DB
• Pooja Kamath shares that Scalar UDF Inlining is now available on Azure SQL
• On the DEV site, Anna Hoffman (@AnalyticAnna) covers September 2021: Azure SQL News Update
• David Engel shares that Microsoft Drivers 5.10.0 Beta 1 for PHP for SQL Server Released

Developer Tools

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

• Megha Pandey, Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador, show how to Start your Quantum Journey with Azure Quantum
• On Visual Studio Magazine - Blogs, David Ramel (@dramel) talks about Python in VS Code Does Browser-Based Editing via 'github.dev' Trick, and Challenge to VS Code Python JetBrains Tests Data Science IDE and New Community Toolkit Leads Extension Writing Revamp for Visual Studio 2022
• Robert Green Leslie Richardson talks about Web Live Preview Visual Studio Toolbox
• On Visual Studio Magazine - Blogs, David Ramel (@dramel) describes Microsoft Pushes Java for Azure Development

DevOps

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

• Jeffrey Palermo (@jeffreypalermo) talks to Konstantin Dinev about Multi-Team DevOps in Episode 157 of the Azure DevOps podcast
• On Channel 9, April Edwards and Christopher Maneu talk about DevOps Lab Infra as Code in Action: Secrets management in Ep 2 of The DevOps Lab
• David de Matheu explains how to Add Calling Communications to your Application with Two Lines of Code
• On the Codit blog, Niels van Der Kaap blogs about Using YAML templates to reduce duplication in Azure Pipelines
• Victor Silva explains How to Build Your First Pulumi Infrastructure in Azure
• Werner Rall blogs about Azure & Desired State Configuration Part 4/4

Hybrid

Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Stack

• Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) describes Running Azure Stack HCI on DataON Integrated System All-NVMe Flash

Identity

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

• Damien Bowden (@damien_bod) talks about Using Azure security groups in ASP.NET Core with an Azure B2C Identity Provider
• Jay Gordon (@jaydestro) talks to Christos Matskas about Secretless Applications

Integration

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

• On Tech Community blog, Akash Narang describes How to check for WS-I compliance for WSDL files to be imported as custom connectors for Logic App and explains How to register Logic Apps Request Trigger URL into API Management Service as a blank API
• Sonja Gu explains how to Publish your Power Platform connector with Independent Publisher Connector Program

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 Channel 9, Olivier Bloch and Luis Masieri talk about Building multi-tenant solutions with Azure IoT Central on the Internet of Things Show
• The Azure Updates Team writes about General availability: Azure Sphere OS version 21.09 expected on Sept 22
• Ajit Jaokar describes how to take an engineering-led approach in teaching AI for Edge devices

Learning

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

• On Tech Community blog, Jeffrey Raymond Kitt covers MVPs Share Top Certification Tips and walks through Advancing Careers Through Gamification
• Travis Dahlke describes the Microsofts DP-203 Exam
• Sarah Lean (@TechieLass) shares her Weekly Update 107 on Exam objectives, Availability Zones, GitHub Actions, Business cards
• Tobias Zimmergren Jussi Roine chat about Getting certified as a Security Operations Analyst in episode 98 of the Ctrl+Alt+Azure podcast

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 Tech Community blog, Anthony de Lagarde discusses Azure Policy to Enforce Azure Services to comply with DoD CC SRG Audit Scope IL5
• Sonia Cuff (@soniacuff) blogs about PowerShell Basics: Query Azure Role Based Access Control Assignments

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

• No content this week

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 the Azure blog, Gopikrishna Kannan blogs about Boost your network security with new updates to Azure Firewall
• Joe Carlyle (@wedoAzure) explains What is Azure Route Server

Security

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

• Homa Hayatyfar writes about Automatically triage phish submissions in Microsoft Defender for Office 365
• Richard Wakeman blogs about Microsoft CMMC Acceleration Program Update – September 2021
• Shawn Hays writes about Zero Trust and CMMC Compliance with Microsoft Defender for Identity
• Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) blogs about Azure Unblogged - Azure Confidential Computing
• On Azure Sentinel Blog, Naomi Christis delves into Check the health of your exported Azure Sentinel logs in your ADX cluster
• Also on Azure Sentinel Blog, Rin Ure explains how to What's New: Azure Sentinel - SOC Process Framework 8 Part Video Series
• Stanislav Belov describes Sharing access to Workbooks in Azure Security Center
• Hannes Lagler-Gruener shares a new YouTube session on Azure Bastion

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

• Aung Oo explains how to Improve availability with zone-redundant storage for Azure Disk Storage
• Alan Kinane (@Azure_Alan) discusses Autoscaling Managed Disk Performance Tiers without downtime

Web

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

• Swapnil Lawankar discusses Azure Application Insights for Sitecore Applications
• Pierre Roman (@pierreroman) discusses AzUpdate S03E06: Azure App Service support for Availability Zones - On-demand capacity reservations
• Madhura Bharadwaj talks about using Auth0 with Azure App Services

Azure Virtual Desktop

Covering: Azure Virtual Desktop

• The Azure Updates Team talks about Screen Capture Protection for Azure Virtual Desktop is now generally available
• Luca Bolognese blogs about Customer Story Sheffield Hallam University 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"!