Azure Weekly Newsletter Issue #155
powered by endjin
Hello & welcome to the last issue of Azure Weekly in 2017. With Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve falling on the next two Sundays it seems like a good opportunity to have a short break before the next issue on the 7th of January 2018. It's been an incredible year of growth in the Azure Platform; with more new services introduced than I can list, an increased rate of adoption, and a general acceptance within Business that The Cloud has gone mainstream, and is not actually a fad. Conversations about cloud adoption are now "when" rather than "if".
From an endjin perspective, we've seen a shift in the marketplace towards four main areas; process & governance around cloud adoption & and the formulation of new operational models, creating modern data platforms (including building and operationalizing Machine Learning models, and interactive data visualisations powered by analytical data pipelines) to deliver new insights and end user experiences, building APIs on top of these data platform in order to share algorithms and data with internal and external parties (as part of the API Economy), and removing traditional organisational silos to drive improvements in efficiency by adopting a DevOps mindset, and then implementing it via tools & automation. This is what Digital Transformation actually looks like!
Back to the newsletter; let's start off with a festive themed article that uses Microsoft Cognitive Services and the Face API to determine which soccer player is best suited to be Santa Claus! Sticking with Cognitive Services, the General Availability of Azure Bot and Language Understanding Service, has been announced. This topic is also covered on Channel 9 in the AI Show.
General Availability of Azure Site Recovery Deployment Planner for VMware and Hyper-V, and Azure Archive Storage has also been announced.
We believe that Azure Data Factory is one of the core "glue" technologies in Azure. It's fundamental to connecting and orchestrating many different data and compute services, but does feel a little under-powered and under-featured. Many of these compaints have been addressed in version 2. Here's a great article which looks at Azure Data Factory 2.0 - the next generation of Data Integration.
Finally, Microservices guidance is now available at Azure Architecture Center, and the Azure CLI is available online at shell.azure.com.
From everyone at endjin, have a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year! See you in 2018.
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 MSDN, Wriju Ghosh (@wriju_ghosh) announces that Microservices Guidance Is Now Available
- Clemens Reijnen (@ClemensReijnen) points to a number of blogs by Sven Ansem about How to setup a VSTS pipelines for Azure Service Fabric and its containing services
- The Service Fabric Team gives a Service Fabric Customer Profile: Citrix
- On TechNet, the US Partner Team answers the question: What is serverless computing?
- On Code Project, Sacha Barber gives an Azure : EventGrid/Azure Function demo
- Jason Roberts (@robertsjason) explains how to Create Precompiled Azure Functions With Azure Event Grid Triggers
- On the Azure podcast, Russell Young and Christos Matskas give Episode 207 - Functions & Serverless
- Kay Singh writes Vertical scale runbooks updated with the latest Azure VM sizes
Networking
Covering: Virtual Network, Load Balancer, Application Gateway, VPN Gateway, Azure DNS, Content Delivery Network, Traffic Manager, ExpressRoute, Network Watcher
- On MSDN, Lamia Youseff announces Mesh and Hub-and-Spoke Networks on Azure: Architectural Considerations for Virtual Network Peering
- Also on MSDN, Wu Shuai explains how to Integrate Web App with Azure Virtual Network by Point-to-Site VPN
Storage
Covering: Blob storage, Queue storage, File storage, Disk storage, Data Lake Store, StorSimple, Backup
- On the Azure blog, Kumail Hussain announces that Cloud storage now more affordable: Announcing general availability of Azure Archive Storage
Web & Mobile
Covering: App Service, Web apps, Mobile apps, API apps, Content Delivery Network, Media Services, Azure Search
- Simon J.K. Pedersen walks through Running Node-Red Docker Container on Azure Web App
- Radu Vunvulea (@RaduVunvulea) explains how to Configure Azure AD authentication for a web app App Services
Containers
Covering: Container Service, Container Registry
- On MSDN, Wriju Ghosh (@wriju_ghosh) writes about the Azure Container Service AKS and Kubernetes UI
- Scott Hanselman (@shanselman) describes Setting up a managed container cluster with AKS and Kubernetes in the Azure Cloud running .NET Core in minutes
- Radu Matei explains how to Update Azure Container Instances with Docker Hub webhooks
- On Code Project, Allen O'Neil explains how to Deploy persistent storage on Azure with Kubernetes
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
- On codeit blog, Tom Kerkhove (@TomKerkhove) writes about Azure Data Factory 2.0 - Next Generation of Data Integration
- Michael Crump (@mbcrump) writes Azure Tips and Tricks Part 65 - Use Visual Studio Code to work with Cosmos DB, Part 66 - Using the Data Migration Tool with Cosmos DB, Part 67 - Querying documents properties with special characters in Cosmos DB and Part 68 - Access Cosmos DB through a .NET Application
- On MSDN, Jose M Jurado writes about his Lesson Learned 31: How to measure a TSQL execution time against Azure Database for MySQL
- Tim Salch describes How To: Move your Azure Data Warehouse to a new region and/or subscription
- Robert Green and Steve Jones talk about Visual Studio Toolbox: More Database DevOps with Redgate
Data + Analytics
Covering: HDInsight, Machine Learning, Stream Analytics, Azure Bot Service, Data Lake Analytics, Power BI Embedded, Data Catalog
- On MSDN, Dr Kenji Takeda (@ktakeda1) gives a Cloud computing guide for researchers – Understanding shipping behaviour with Microsoft Azure
- Ashish Thapliyal (@ashishth) covers PowerBI DirectQuery with Azure HDInsight Interactive Query Cluster
- On TechNet, Dave Coles writes Awesomeness Made Easy With PowerBI
- Also on TechNet, Sam McNeill posts a Video: Simplifying Attendance With Flow & PowerBI
- On the MSSQL Tips site, Siddharth Mehta (@siddhumehta) blogs about Graph Analysis using Force Directed Graphs in Power BI Desktop
- Devin Knight (@knight_devin) gives his Power BI Custom Visuals Class Module 81 – Social Network Graph
- Chris Webb (@Technitrain) covers Removing Punctuation From Text With The Text.Select M Function In Power BI/Power Query/Excel Get&Transform
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 the Azure blog, Lili Cheng announces the General Availability of Azure Bot Service and Language Understanding, enabling developers to build better conversational bots and on Channel 9, Elaine Chang talks about the announcement via video.
- Also on the Azure blog, the Azure Bot Service and Language Understanding Team give a Conversational Bots Deep Dive – Whats new with the General Availability of Azure Bot Service and Language Understanding
- On the Microsoft site, a Microsoft reporter (@MicrosoftUK) writes that Seeing AI can now tell people with blindness which banknote they are holding
- On Martin Andersen's blog, Martin Andersen (@Martin4ndersen) works out The soccer player best suited to be Santa Claus
Internet of Things
Covering: IoT Hub, IoT Edge, Event Hubs, Stream Analytics, Notification Hubs, Time Series Insights
- On MSDN, Xinyi Zhang describes how to Easily Create IoT Edge custom modules with Visual Studio Code
- Radu Vunvulea (@RaduVunvulea) gives some Tips and Tricks to prepare a demo for Azure Time Series Insights
- On Channel 9, Scott Hanselman and Olivier Bloch talk about Azure IoT Hub and Scott Hanselman and David Campbell talk about Windows 10 IoT and Azure IoT Device Management Enhancements on Azure Friday
Enterprise Integration
Covering: Logic Apps, Service Bus, API Management, BizTalk Services
- On MSDN, David Adeboye writes Serverless + Service Bus Queue = Magic
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 MSDN, Nathan Vanderby writes about Amazon Alexa Skills authenticated by Azure Active Directory and backed by ASP.NET Core 2.0 Web API hosted on Azure
- Also on MSDN, Vaibhav G describes Securing remote connection to Azure infrastructure using Azure Multi-Factor Authentication MFA
- On TechNet, Todd Sweetser announces that Azure Active Directory AD Domain Services now available for Azure Cloud Solution Providers
- Ty Mote writes about AAD Guest User Invitation Redemption (No email required)
- Yuri Diogenes (@yuridiogenes) describes Installing Azure Security Center Agent on Linux Computer
- Deva (@devagnanam) gives a Support policy statement for Microsoft Graph
Developer Tools
Covering: Visual Studio Team Services, Azure DevTest Labs, HockeyApp, Developer tools and SDKs, Xamarin, Storage Explorer
- Shayne Boyer (@spboyer) presents shell.azure.com - look Mom no install
- On the Kloud blog, Edmond Guo writes about Visual Studio Team Services VSTS Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment
- On TechNet, Tsuyoshi Ushio (@sandayuu) describes an Azure Functions CI/CD pipeline for Node.js using VSTS
- On Channel 9, James Montemagno and Amy Burns give Episode 34: The New Xamarin Getting Started Experience on The Xamarin Show
- Tomas Restrepo (@tomasrestrepo) covers Azure API Management - Getting Query String Values in set-body
Monitoring + Management
Covering: Microsoft Azure portal, Azure Resource Manager, Application Insights, Log Analytics, Automation, Site Recovery, Scheduler
- On the Azure blog, Nitin Soneji announces the General availability of Azure Site Recovery Deployment Planner for VMware and Hyper-V
- Also on the Azure blog, John Kemnetz talks about Azure Monitor: Send monitoring data to an event hub
- Jeremy Winter writes about New Azure management and cost savings capabilities
- Simon Waight (@simonwaight) describes how to Use Azure Health to track active incidents in your Subscriptions
- On MSDN, CliveW blogs about Azure Log Analytics: Finding CPUs with perf counters, and writes Queries, the basics explained – Part 1 and Queries, the basics explained – Part 2
- Also on MSDN, mihansen talks about Resolving Branch Specific Azure Template Links in Github Repositories
- Nicole Welch writes about Azure Government – Missing Features or Services
- Adel Ghabboun gives an Alternative way to protect your Application Insights Instrumentation Key in JavaScript
- On TechNet, Luke Brennan writes PowerShell Azure – Get-AzureExtensionHighestVersion
- Ricardo Niepel describes End-to-End Monitoring of Azure Functions with Application Insights
- Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) talks about Developing Azure Stack compatible services in Microsoft Azure using Azure Policies
- Luke Brennan describes Azure – DSC automation Windows vs Linux
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
- 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.
- 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
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