Azure Weekly Newsletter Issue #350

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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 the Redmond magazine site, Kurt Mackie (@kurmac) talks about Microsoft Azure-Based Machine Ranked No. 10 in Supercomputing List
• The Azure Updates Team writes about General availability: Azure Machine Learning updates - November 2021 - prebuilt Inferencing docker images.
• The Azure Updates Team covers Public preview: Azure Machine Learning updates - November 2021 - test dataset support.

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 the General Availability of Copy data to/from Azure Data Explorer using Azure Data Factory or Synapse Analytics and Dynamic allocation for Apache Spark in Azure Synapse
• Aaron Merrill writes about New Azure Synapse database templates in public preview
• On the MSSQL Tips site, Fikrat Azizov covers Data Ingestion Into Landing Zone Using Azure Synapse Analytics
• On Channel 9, Anna Hoffman and Henning Rauch talk about Azure Synapse Data Explorer for Log & Telemetry Management on Data Exposed
• Adam Bertram (@adbertram) walks through Getting Started with Azure Data Factory
• On SQL Server Central, Arindam Mondal talks about Azure Data Factory Pipeline Variables
• Joost van Rossum (@ssisjoost) writes about ADF Release - Use script to enable certain Triggers
• The Azure Updates Team announces General availability: New Sweden Central region added to Azure HDInsight
• Joe Karasha blogs about Processing HL7 FHIR nested objects using Power BI and Power Query
• Victor Silva blogs about Getting Started with Azure Data Factory

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 announce the General Availability of Azure VMware Solution in the France Central Azure Region, and Azure VMware Solution in the Japan West Azure Region and Virtual machines selector
• The Azure Updates Team announces the Public Preview of Azure Virtual Machines DCv3-series now available in Europe West and North, and VM Applications – Manage and deploy applications to Virtual Machines and Scale Sets, and Run Command – Execute PowerShell or shell scripts on Virtual Machines and Scale Sets and Azure SQL bindings for Azure Functions
• Zachary Cavanell explains how to Reduce Operational Costs of Stateless Workloads Azure Spot Virtual Machines
• Also on the Azure blog, Sherry Wang announces that Microsoft expands its AI-supercomputer lineup with general availability of the latest 80GB NVIDIA A100 GPUs in Azure, claims 4 spots on TOP500 supercomputers list
• On the Azure blog, Rachel Pruitt explains how to Join Azure at the Design Automation Conference DAC
• Zachary Cavanell covers Increase app availability with auto-scaling Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets
• On the DEV site, Jay Gordon (@jaydestro) highlights AzureFunBytes Episode 62 - Supercharge your Java Apps on Azure with Rory Preddy
• Thuan Nguyen talks about Count number of VMs & VMSS by OS type with Resource Graph Explorer
• The Service Fabric team covers Service Fabric Community Q&A call 60
• Shannon Kuehn covers Video 5 of the Azure VMware Solution Zero to Hero Series

Containers

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

• On the endjin blog, Mike Larah (@MikeLarah) walks through Setting up multiple WSL distribution instances
• Ivan Porta provides a good high level Introduction to Azure Container Apps
• Mark Heath (@mark_heath) describes Options for running locally with Dapr
• Vybava Ramadoss describes Azure Storage enhancements for running stateful Kubernetes applications

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

• Jovan Popovic (@jocapc) explains how to Optimize the types of the columns to improve performance in serverless SQL pool databases
• Vishal Ani discusses Azure SQL and Azure Purview work better together
• Sarah Lean (@TechieLass) blogs about Query SQL with Azure Data Studio and writes about Weekly Update 116 - We have SFTP in Azure

Developer Tools

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

• Lei Jin discusses Whats New in the New Version of Az.Tools.Installer
• On the Visual Studio blog, Mads Kristensen (@mkristensen) talks about Writing extensions just got easier
• On the Q Sharp blog, Chris Granade describes Embedding Q in your favorite languages and platforms

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 James Shore on the Art of Agile Development - Episode 167 of the Azure DevOps podcast.
• Kevin Chant discusses CI/CD for serverless SQL pools using GitHub Actions
• On the Azure podcast, Cynthia Kreng, & Sujit D'Mello talk to Gopinath C HGitHub and Azure in Episode 403.

Hybrid

Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Stack

• essica Guan writes about New capabilities available for node pools in AKS on Azure Stack HCI
• Sarah Cooley explains How do AKS and AKS on Azure Stack HCI compare

Identity

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

• Sonia Cuff (@soniacuff) explains how to What's the difference between Azure AD Graph, Azure Resource Graph and Microsoft Graph
• Damien Bowden (@damien_bod) explains how to Add extra claims to an Azure B2C user flow using API connectors and ASP.NET Core
• On the Redmond magazine site, Kurt Mackie (@kurmac) talks about Microsoft Fixes Azure Active Directory Issue Exposing Private Key Data
• Derek Legenzoff writes about Secure your Azure Cognitive Search indexes and queries with Azure AD
• Antti K. Koskela (@koskila) talks about Fixing Blazor WebAssembly .NET 6 MSAL authorization bug
• On Microsoft Security blog, Oren Melzer and Nadim Abdo chat about The importance of identity and Microsoft Azure Active Directory resilience

Integration

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

• John Reilly (@johnny_reilly) discusses Azure standard availability tests with Bicep
• On Tech Community blog, Luise Freese (@LuiseFreese) says Let's tame Dataverse: How to reference Many-to-Many-relationships in Azure Logic Apps
• Sandro Pereira (@sandro_asp) explains How to audit Power BI access on PowerBI Portal using Azure Logic App and Function App
• Sandro Pereira (@sandro_asp) explains How to monitor the status of Azure API Connections Part II – Using Function App and Logic App and Part III – Using Automation Account and Logic App

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

• Sander van de Velde covers Azure Time Series Insights introduction
• Jim Bennett talks about Stream IoT data into Excel
• Manoj Raheja talks about IoT Central data export to Azure Data Explorer and Azure Synapse data explorer
• Chiranjib Ghatak describes How to Achieve True End-to-End IoT Security with Azure
• Basim Majeed writes about Secure Cross-Tenant Network Connectivity for Azure IoT Solutions

Learning

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

• David Lipien writes 'Community is one variable of the Certification equation'

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

• Thuan Nguyen describes how to Trigger an on-demand Azure Policy evaluation scan at Management Group level
• The Azure Updates Team announces the General Availability of  East Asia Availability Zones and Microsoft Azure available from new cloud region in Sweden
• Tobias Zimmergren and Jussi Roine cover Controlled havoc with the Azure Chaos Studio in episode 108 of the Ctrl+ALT+Azure podcast.
• Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) explains how to Modernize server management with System Center and Windows Admin Center

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) shares his Build Stuff 2021 talk "Everything you need to know about cloud migration"

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

• The Azure Updates Team writes about General availability: Increased connection limit for VPN Gateways
• Reshmi Yandapalli explains how to Simplify WAN with Azure Virtual WAN
• On the Azure blog, Ryan van Wyk blogs about Forging a path from telco to cloud with Microsoft Azure
• Kurt Mackie (@kurmac) discusses Microsoft and AT&T Team on 5G Edge Zones Service

Security

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

• John Barbare blogs about Application Guard Deployment by MECM
• Valon Kolica shares Recordings Security Community Webinars
• Pete Bryan walks through Creating your first Microsoft Sentinel Notebook

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 describes SFTP support for Azure Blob Storage - now in public preview and Charbel Nemnom explains how to Enable SFTP Support for Azure Blob Storage
• Sarah Lean (@TechieLass) writes about We have SFTP in Azure!
• The Azure Updates Team announces General availability: NFSv4.1 support on Azure Files
• Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) describes Access Azure File Share with SMB over QUIC
• The Azure Updates Team discusses JetStream Disaster Recovery for Azure VMware Solution now generally available
• Carlos Mendible (@cmendibl3) describes AKS: Resize Private Volume Claim to expand a Managed Premium Disk
• Boqian Wang blogs about App Service to Storage Account Connection Condition Summary

Web

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

• On the Azure blog, Yulin Shi explains how to Build real-time web apps with Azure Web PubSub - now generally available
• The Azure Updates Team announces the General availability: Azure API Management updates- October 2021
• The Azure Updates Team announces the Public Preview of  Azure Spring Cloud start and stop, bring your own persistent storage, and Service Connector and Monitor Spring Boot apps in Azure Spring Cloud with AppDynamics
• Alex Weininger blogs about Debugging Azure Static Web Apps in VS Code
• Aaron Powell (@slace) blogs about Scaffolding Static Web Apps
• Gaurav Seth describes Azure App Service Automatic Scaling
• Hanli Ren blogs about Use NewRelic to monitor Linux PHP App Service

Azure Virtual Desktop

Covering: Azure Virtual Desktop

• Freek Berson (@fberson) covers Empowering AVD Image deployments with Azure Pipelines, Bicep and Liquit
• On Tech Community blog, Andy Jaw talks about Windows 365 - The Cloud PC

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"!