Do you find it difficult to keep up-to-date on the frequent updates and changes in the Microsoft Azure cloud? If so, Build Azure Weekly is the solution you’ve been looking for! Build Azure Weekly is a weekly newsletter that includes all the latest Microsoft Azure Service Updates from the week in addition to links to many other blog articles, podcasts and videos from all over the Internet.

If you want to receive the newsletter in your email every week, then you’ll absolutely want to Subscribe!

Azure SQL Database Managed Instance

The addition of Managed Instance pricing to Azure SQL Database brings with it the option to choose between DTU and vCore based pricing / hosting for your Azure SQL Databases. The existing Single Database and Elastic Pool pricing based on DTUs (Database Throughput Units) is still available, but you now have the choice to use Managed Instances based on vCPUs (Virtual CPUs / CPU Cores) as well!

The new Azure SQL Database Managed instances offer the following benefits to the service:

Optimize flexibility and performance with two new service tiers
Choosing between DTU and vCore-based performance levels
Save up to 30% on vCore-based options with Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server

You can read more from the official announcement here: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/a-flexible-new-way-to-purchase-azure-sql-database/

The Weeks Top Links

Here are some of the most notable links from the week:

Nested VMs in Azure with one click? You must be crazy… by Dan Patrick
Announcing HTTP/2 support in Azure App Service by Oded Dvoskin
GDPR offers one more reason to focus on your disaster recovery strategy by Vishal Mehrotra
How to pick the stamp or scale unit where your App Service will run by Benjamin Perkins

Azure Service Updates

Here’s a list of the Microsoft Azure Service Updates from over the past week:

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Blog Articles

Here’s a collection of some of the most note worthy blog articles posted over the past week:

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

New Disaster Recovery tutorials for Wingtip Tickets sample SaaS application by Ayo Olubeko
Nested VMs in Azure with one click? You must be crazy… by Dan Patrick
Announcing larger, higher scale storage accounts by Dinesh Murthy
Linux Custom Script – Docker Sandbox by Vincent-Philippe Lauzon

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Announcing HTTP/2 support in Azure App Service by Oded Dvoskin
Using EV SSL with Azure Web App by mksunitha
How to pick the stamp or scale unit where your App Service will run by Benjamin Perkins
Changing an existing Native Application to a Web App/API to get existing keys by Frank Hu
Azure Tips and Tricks 112 – Quick and Dirty User Authentication with Azure Web Apps and MVC5 by Michael Crump
Offline media import for Azure by Dean Paron
March 2018 App Service update by Byron Tardif
Azure App service: Using Custom domain with Azure Traffic Manager by B Surabhi

Serverless and Functions as a Service (FaaS)

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Command-Line / ARM Templates

Ramping up on Powershell & CLI by Danny Kolke

Database / Big Data

Rubikloud leverages Azure SQL Data Warehouse to disrupt retail market with accessible AI by Kuber Sharma
Enhanced capabilities to monitor, manage, and integrate SQL Data Warehouse in the Azure Portal by Kevin Ngo
Lesson Learned #40: Could it be possible to use Intellisense with an Azure Active Directory user in SQL Server Management Studio? by Jose M Jurado
Simple Trick to Stay on top of your Azure Data Lake: Create Alerts using Log Analytics by Jose Lara
Seamlessly upgrade Azure SQL Data Warehouse for greater performance and scalability by Kevin Ngo
How to configure Azure SQL Database Geo-DR with Azure Key Vault by Alice Kupcik
I want to enable Geo-DR and fail-over, but don’t want to update the connection string by Shubha Vijayasarathy
Three common analytics use cases with Microsoft Azure Databricks by Anu Kohli
Azure Tips and Tricks Part 113 – Prevent secrets from getting out with .NET Core by Michael Crump
Very Large Database Migration to Azure – Recommendations & Guidance to Partners by Cameron
Fast and easy development with Azure Database for MySQL and PostgreSQL by James Ashley

Internet of Things (IoT)

IoT-enabled smart cities require cloud foundation, broad participation by Erika Basham
Azure IoT Toolkit extension for Visual Studio Code is now open sourced! by michaeljqzq
Azure Tips and Tricks Part 114 – Send JSON to Azure IoT Hub with C# by Michael Crump
Why the OPC UA Standard – and What’s Next? by Colin Masson
Getting Started with IoT and Microsoft Azure by Lee Stott
Considering Software as an IoT Device by Howard Edidin

Machine Learning / Artificial Intelligence

How To Build A Chatbot FAQ With The Azure Bot Service by Joe Mayo

Development and DevOps

SonarQube Integration with VSTS by Sana Noorani
Continuous integration and deployment using Data Factory by Gaurav Malhotra
Build and deployment automation of a model-driven PowerApp using VSTS by keydet
Support HTTPS in Azure Marketplace image for Jenkins by Wu Shuai

Containers / Service Fabric

Part 2: Azure Virtual Machine Scale Set and Windows Containers–Networking Tips by Julien Oudot
How to secure web communications in a Service Fabric cluster in Azure by Luis Guerrero
Docker Blog Series Part 7– Deploy Azure Web App On Containers by Monu Bambroo
Building Microservices with AKS and VSTS — Part 3 by Andreas Helland

Security / Privacy

GDPR offers one more reason to focus on your disaster recovery strategy by Vishal Mehrotra
Securing Azure resources with Privileged Identity Management by AnujChaudhary
ASP.NET Core SAML Authentication with Azure AD by Christos Matskas
Achieving GDPR compliance in the cloud with Microsoft Azure by Ari Schorr
Physical Data Center Security by Omar Amin

Learning / Certification

Unlock Active Job Postings with Your Microsoft Certification by Selina Winter
Episode 5: IT IQ Series – Are teachers in danger of app-overload? by Microsoft Australia Education
Nominating MVPs; growing the tech community via the MVP Program by Jen Stirrup

Azure Government

App Service Environment is now available in Azure Government by Gerardo Saca

Events

A years’ worth of cloud, AI and partner innovation. Welcome to NAB 2018! by Sudheer Sirivara
From Microsoft Azure to everyone attending NAB Show 2018 — Welcome! by Tad Brockway

Other

Improving healthcare, costs, and consistency with data via Microsoft Cloud Perspectives Blog Team
Microservices – Isolated Data & State by chilberto
Live Streaming with Azure Media Services – Part 1 by Giuseppe Guerrasio

Videos

Here are links to some of the videos that have been posted over the past week:

Common design patterns with Azure Cosmos DB via Azure Friday
Using Azure Data Lake to analyze IoT Data | Internet of Things Show via Channel 9
Azure Active Directory B2C Authentication For Mobile with Matthew Soucoup | The Xamarin Show via Channel 9
Common design patterns with Azure Cosmos DB | Azure Friday via Channel 9
How to use the Azure Cognitive Services Translator Text Api by Andrea Angella
Build a Customized Site Search Instance using Bing Custom Search API | AI Show via Channel 9
Use Bing AI to tap into the world of knowledge | AI Show via Channel 9
Episode 13: Five Things About Web Performance | Five Things via Channel 9
Azure IoT Edge extension for Visual Studio Code | Internet of Things Show via Channel 9
Azure Security Center via Azure Friday
Metaparticle – A standard library for cloud-native applications on Kubernetes via Azure Friday

Audio / Podcasts

To complete the collection of different mediums to allow you to consume your Azure news / info in any way you want, here’s a list of the podcasts released this week:

Episode 224 – The AI Platform via The Azure Podcast
Episode 58 – SharePoint Conference 2018 with Bill Baer via Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast
Episode 246 | Can you hear me? A deep dive into voice and chat in the Microsoft Cloud via Microsoft Cloud Show
Episode 223 – Azure Storage Options via The Azure Podcast

General Cloud / Related

Here’s some noteworthy links about Cloud computing and other related topics that aren’t necessarily specific to Microsoft Azure:

A marketplace solution for IoT development through decentralized smart contract ledger by Yash Mehta
Inside the world of Star Trek’s Visual and Practical Effects with Dan Curry via Hanselminutes
Docker Registry API to be standardized in OCI by Stephen Day
Open Compute Iron Is All About Acceleration by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Feedback

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About the Author

Chris Pietschmann

Chris Pietschmann is a Microsoft MVP, HashiCorp Ambassador, and Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) with 20+ years of experience designing and building Cloud & Enterprise systems. He has worked with companies of all sizes from startups to large enterprises. He has a passion for technology and sharing what he learns with others to help enable them to learn faster and be more productive.