Azure Weekly Newsletter Issue #152
powered by endjin
In the rush to get last week's issue of the newsletter out before I could start celebrating my 40th birthday, I missed one very important announcement from the Connect conference: the support for Apache Cassandra API in Cosmos DB. It really does highlight the "multi-model" aspect of the platform statement that Cosmos DB is "the industry's first fully managed globally distributed, massively scalable, and multi-model database service". In this week's issue there is also an interesting article about using TypeScript to access Cosmos DB.
Other highlights in this issue are: a new ebook from the Azure CAT team on Azure Virtual Datacenter, and in the security and govenance arena Azure Policy features have gone into public preview, there's a great articles on creating custom Azure RBAC roles, Azure Application Security Groups and a reminder that it's time to migrate off Access Control Service.
On the network and storage front there are two interesting articles on measuring latency and throughput between Azure Regions, and storage account replication with Functions and Event Grid.
If you're interested in all things Container-based there's a great Windows Weekly Dockerfile deep dive into the classic NerdDinner application and a great tutorial to help you get started with Azure Container Instances.
In the Analytics space there are tips for getting new insights into your usage of Data Lake Analytics and a good exploration of the newly announced Azure Databricks offering.
The last two highlights of the week are the importance of data and AI in the 4th industrial revolution, and Buck Hodges keynote talk VSTS: Lessons Learned Doing DevOps at Microsoft at Scale.
If you have any content you'd like to contribute to the newsletter, please tweet @AzureWeekly or ping an email to AzureWeekly@endjin.com.
@HowardvRooijen | @endjin
Compute
Covering: Virtual Machines, Virtual Machine Scale Sets, Functions, Batch, Service Fabric, Cloud Services
- On the Revolution Analytics blog, JS Tan shows how to Scale up your parallel R workloads with containers and doAzureParallel
- On MSDN, Ed Price - writes about New Service Fabric Technical Customer Profile from AzureCAT and CSA – Societe Generale SocGen + Qarnot Computing
- The Service Fabric Team blogs about Service Fabric sessions at Connect and Amsterdam TechDays
- Amit Agarwalamagar writes about the error "We are unable to retrieve the master / runtime keys for Azure Function app"
- Also on the Azure blog, Jan Kalis (@MeetJKalis) says that Azure Advisor - your personalized best practices service got better
- Kashif Ali covers R3 (the distributed ledger platform) on Azure: Strengthening our partnership
- Lee Stott (@lee_stott) talks about a recent Blockchain Hackathon in Clinical Trials and talks about Performance of running NNs across Azure GPU Series Data Science Virtual Machines
- On the Azure blog, Corey Sanders (@CoreySandersWA) describes Transforming your VMware environment with Microsoft Azure
- Sameera Perera (@sameera_man) blogs about Migrating a VM from a Managed Disk to an unmanaged Disk
- Moti Bani discusses Encrypting Azure Virtual Machine using BitLocker
- Girish writes about Logical Volume Manager (LVM) with RedHat RHEL VMs in Azure and custom partitioning
- Shweta Nayak describes Creating a local Red hat repository for use within the specific environment.
- On All Things Cloud, Roberto (@soyroberto) blogs about Updating the timezone of a CentOS VM in Azure
Networking
Covering: Virtual Network, Load Balancer, Application Gateway, VPN Gateway, Azure DNS, Content Delivery Network, Traffic Manager, ExpressRoute, Network Watcher
- On the Kloud blog, Michael Roger discusses Azure Application Security Groups
- Michiel van Otegem discusses Measuring Latency and Throughput Between Azure Regions
Storage
Covering: Blob storage, Queue storage, File storage, Disk storage, Data Lake Store, StorSimple, Backup
- On MSDN, Jason Boeshart (@jboeshart) discusses Storage Account Replication with Functions and Event Grid
Web & Mobile
Covering: App Service, Web apps, Mobile apps, API apps, Content Delivery Network, Media Services, Azure Search
- Christos Matskas (@ChristosMatskas) talks about Enforcing HTTPS-only traffic and HSTS settings for Azure Web Apps and Azure Functions
- On MSDN, Ben Perkins (@csharpguitar) discusses Troubleshooting an Azure App Service backup issue
- Dwyane George announces the public preview of Azure Media Clipper
Containers
Covering: Container Service, Container Registry
- Elton Stoneman features the venerable NerdDinner web application in his Windows Weekly Dockerfile, where he does a deep dive into a docker file and shows you what it does and how it works.
- On Stackify Blog, Barry Luijbregts describes Getting Started with Azure Container Instances: Tutorial with Examples
- Michael Crump (@mbcrump) blogs more Azure Tips and Tricks: Part 53 - Prebuilt Azure VMs ready for Containers, Part 54 - Getting a .NET Core WebAPI Project Ready for Docker, Part 55 - Use .NET Core WebAPI and Docker Compose and Part 56 - Deploy a .NET Core WebAPI Project to Web App for Containers
- On MSDN, Paras Patidar writes a 6 part series on Continuous deployment with Web App for Containers using Azure Container Registry; Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 Part 5, Part 6.
- Scott Hanselman (@shanselman) discusses Docker and Linux Containers on Windows, with or without Hyper-V Virtual Machines and covers Trying out new .NET Core Alpine Docker Images
- Pui Chee Chan writes about Jenkins on Azure - ACI experiment and AKS support
Databases
Covering: SQL Database, Azure Database for MySQL, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, SQL Data Warehouse, SQL Server Stretch Database, Azure Cosmos DB, Table storage, Redis Cache, Data Factory
- Wu Shuai shows how to Access Azure CosmosDB in TypeScript
- On MSDN, James R Tabor describes how to pause idle Azure SQL Data Warehouse Instances
- Ellis Butterfield discusses Azure SQL DW cost savings with optimized for elasticity and Azure Functions – part 1
- Xiaochen Wu talks about Azure SQL Databases Disaster Recovery 101
- The Redmond magazine has an article focused on Microsoft Joining MariaDB Foundation and their plans for an Azure Release
- On the Azure podcast, in episode 205 Ronit Reger, a Senior PM in the SQL Team discusses SQL Vulnerability Assessement
- On codeit blog, Maxim Braekman and Jacqueline Portier explains How to cluster the Enterprise Single Sign-On SSO Service on SQL Server 2016 Always On Availability Groups cluster in Azure
Data + Analytics
Covering: HDInsight, Machine Learning, Stream Analytics, Azure Bot Service, Data Lake Analytics, Power BI Embedded, Data Catalog
- Ajeta Singhal blogs highlights how to get new insights into your usage of Data Lake Analytics
- James Serra (@JamesSerra) answers the question "What is Azure Databricks?"
- On MSDN, Marco Dias discusses Analyzing Backup Activity with PowerBI
- Samuel Lester continues his "Exploring Big Data" course with part 7 – Implementing Real-Time Analytics with Azure HDInsight and part 2 – Analyzing and Visualizing Data with Power BI
- Devin Knight (@knight_devin) covers Power BI Custom Visuals Class Module 78 – Data Image by CloudScope
- On Channel 9, Donovan Brown and Josh Caplan talk about converting a Desktop Power BI model to Azure Analysis Services on Azure Friday
- Sid Ramesh explains how to make Python easier for the R User, using revoscalepy
- On Channel 9, Golnaz Sonya Koptyev & Seth Juarez introduce the AI Show
- On MSDN, Buck Woody discusses DevOps for Data Science – DevOps Maturity
AI + Cognitive Services
Covering: Computer Vision API, Face API, Bing Web Search API, Customised speech service, Custom Vision Service, Language Understanding Intelligent Service, Bing Custom Search
- On MSDN, Lee Stott (@lee_stott) covers Microsoft AI & AI School, learn how to start building intelligence into your solutions and Chih Han Chen creates a step by step guide: Bored of MNIST? Lets build your own OCR deep learning computer vision AI using Microsoft CNTK with EMNIST
- On TechNet, Katharine Bale describes The importance of data and AI in the 4th industrial revolution
Internet of Things
Covering: IoT Hub, IoT Edge, Event Hubs, Stream Analytics, Notification Hubs, Time Series Insights
- On MSDN, Jeff Chilberto (@JChilberto) highlights a number of articles on Azure IoT Edge
Enterprise Integration
Covering: Logic Apps, Service Bus, API Management, BizTalk Services
- Tomas Restrepo (@tomasrestrepo) talks about Azure API Management - SOAP-to-REST date/time handling
- On MSDN, Ed Price - blogs about Azure Virtual Datacenter – New E-Book from AzureCAT
Security + Identity
Covering: Security Center, Azure Active Directory for developers, Key Vault, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory B2C, Azure Active Directory Domain Services, Multi-Factor Authentication
- On the Kloud blog, Edmond Guo discusses Azure AD Identity and Access Management & Features
- On MSDN, Ed Price - covers Azure Stack Validation Environment – Part 3: Subscriptions and Part 5: Putting it all together
- Also on MSDN, 'mihansen' describes Azure Government Web App Authentication using Azure Commercial AAD – PowerShell Configuration
- Matt Tatoczenko discusses Setting up Application Gateway with an App Service that uses Azure Active Directory Authentication and covers URL Authorization Rules
- On the Azure blog, Danny Strockis reminds you that it's time to migrate off Access Control Service
Developer Tools
Covering: Visual Studio Team Services, Azure DevTest Labs, HockeyApp, Developer tools and SDKs, Xamarin, Storage Explorer
- On the Kloud blog, John Downs talks about VSTS Build Definitions as YAML Part 1: What and Why and Part 2: How
- Also on MSDN, Buck Hodges (@tfsbuck) covers VSTS: Lessons Learned Doing DevOps at Microsoft at Scale
- Edward Thomson highlights DevOps and VSTS Videos from Connect 2017
- Jenny Jiang shows how to run your PySpark Interactive Query and batch Job in Visual Studio Code
- Rogan Ferguson says it has never been a better time to migrate from TFS to VSTS
- Adam Raffe describes The Wonderful World of Azure CLI JMESPath Queries
- Dmitry Lyalin Robert Green Jeremy Likness talks about Azure Functions: Less-Server and More Code Visual Studio Toolbox
Monitoring + Management
Covering: Microsoft Azure portal, Azure Resource Manager, Application Insights, Log Analytics, Automation, Site Recovery, Scheduler
- On the Azure blog, Mike Chen announces that Public preview of new Azure Policy features
- Sam Cogan (@samcogan) blogs about Custom Azure RBAC Roles
- On the Kloud blog, Tom Bromby blogs about Azure Log Analytics and Power BI Desktop for Advanced SharePoint Reporting
- On MSDN, Steve Lee blogs about PowerShell Core 6 Release Candidate
- James van Den Berg covers Monitoring Microsoft Azure Cloud Services and On-premises Datacenters Azure MSOMS Cloud
Thought Leadership from endjin
- Unlocking Digital Transformation with Azure API Management - a training session from endjin, explaining what Digital Transformation is, and how to use Azure API Management to take your first steps. Three versions are available: 5 minute exec summary, 20 minute overview or 50 minute deep dive.
- How to plan your cloud transformation journey - an article explaining how you should use the various bits of thought leadership content from endjin to plan your cloud journey.
- API Maturity Matrix - a spreadsheet to help you assess your organization's ability to build, test, deploy, manage and monetize an API Platform.
- Azure Technology Selector - a flowchart which guides you through the process of chosing the best Azure service for your needs.
- Cloud Comparison Poster - a free poster, comparing the three major cloud platforms - Azure, AWS & Google Cloud Platform. For more information, see the accompanying blog series.
- Cloud Migration Process - a free poster, outlining our process for cloud adoption.
- Cloud Adoption: Risk & Mitigations - The Swiss Cheese Model - a free poster from endjin & Hymans Robertson outlining the risk and mitigations of adopting public cloud.
- Embracing Disruption: Financial Services & the Microsoft Cloud - a free ebooklet from endjin describing how companies in FS can take advantage of Azure.
Solutions from endjin
- Modern Data Platform Blueprint - our opinionated architecture over Azure Data Lake, which solves common security, ingestion, and data processing requirements.
- API Economy Platform Blueprint - our solution accelerator for building an API first architecure on Azure.
Useful Links
- 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.
- SQL Database Migration Wizard - a very useful tool for migrating existing SQL databases to SQL Azure; will fix some common conversion errors automatically.
- 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
- Cyber Security Demystified - a free ebook from Microsoft describing how to keep your organisation safe.
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