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.

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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)

Savill’s FAQs: Using chkdsk and Networking Protocols in Azure by John Savill
Announcing preview of new high performance computing capability: H-Series VMs by Kyle Deeds
Finding a VM Image Reference, Publisher & SKU by Vincent-Philippe Lauzon
Maximize your VM’s Performance with Accelerated Networking – now generally available for both Windows and Linux by Gabriel Silva
SAP on Azure: General Update – January 2018 by Cameron
Microsoft Azure Started Patching Reboots Yesterday by Aidan Finn
Set auto-shutdown for Virtual Machines in Azure by Tanmayee Kamath

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Application Insights Integration by Miao Jiang
Change domain contact information for App Service Domain by mksunitha
Deploy to an Azure App Service using KUDU and a zip file by Benjamin Perkins
Azure Tips and Tricks Part 77 – Working with Azure Storage Explorer by Michael Crump
Azure Tips and Tricks Part 76 – Uploading and Downloading a Stream into an Azure Storage Blob by Michael Crump
Azure Tips and Tricks Part 75 – Create an Azure Storage Blob Container through C# by Michael Crump
Azure Tips and Tricks Part 74 – Working with Azure Storage Blobs and Files through the Portal by Michael Crump
64 bit ASP.NET Core on Azure App Service by Glenn Condron
Azure App Service Disk Length Queue
How to disable preloadEnabled on an Azure App Service by Benjamin Perkins
Azure App Service : Automate VNET Re-sync in case of failure by Karan Singh
Continuous Deployment with VSTS/TFS and App Service Environment (ASE) by Michael Hansen
Asynchronous refresh with the REST API for Azure Analysis Services by Christian Wade
Microsoft Acquires Hybrid Cloud Storage Vendor Avere Systems by Nicole Henderson
Microsoft acquires Avere Systems, file-storage vendor for Windows and Linux via ZDNet
Where Did Application Insights Put my Performance Counter Data? by Pam Lahoud
Custom Schedule for Azure Web Job Timer Triggers by Amit Agarwal
Migration checklist when moving to Azure App Service by Yusuf Rangwala
How to capture an ASP.NET Core memory dump on Azure App Service by Benjamin Perkins

Serverless and Functions as a Service (FaaS)

Inbound / outbound maps in Logic Apps by Toon Vanhoutte
Azure Function Apps: Trigger in Azure SQL /SQL Server to execute Azure Function by Amit Agarwal
Creating Durable Functions in the Azure Portal by Mark Heath
Scale your Azure SQL Database with Azure Functions by Simon J.K. Pedersen
Lets Encrypt Azure Functions and Managed Service Identity by Simon J.K. Pedersen
Lets Encrypt on Azure Web Apps using a Function App for Automated Renewal by Simon J.K. Pedersen

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Five reasons we’re celebrating Dynamics 365 this year by teresa
Get Excited About Microsoft Flow by Pam Lahoud

Command-Line / ARM Templates

Ensuring HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) Compliance without System Modification – Powershell Automation by Michael S. Hansen
Microsoft delivers PowerShell Core for Windows, Linux, macOS via ZDNet
The Azure Cloud Shell Empowers You to run Scripts in Your Browser by David Giard
Savill’s FAQs: View Your Azure Resources Using PowerShell by John Savill

Database / Big Data

Power BI and VSTS Analytics by Gregg Boer
Using Microsoft Azure Data Science Virtual Machines in your teaching and Research Labs by Lee Stott
Compatibility Level 140 is now the default for Azure SQL Database by Joseph Sack
How to Save Money and Control Costs with Azure Data Lake Analytics by Saveen Reddy
#Azure #SQLDW, the cost benefits of an on-demand data warehousing by Arnaud Comet
DevOps for Data Science – Automated Testing by Buck Woody
Walk through of using the PowerApps custom visual in Power BI by Charles Sterling
Using Qubole Data Service on Azure to analyze retail customer feedback by Ron Abellera
SQL Server Management Studio Provides–“XE Profiler” by RDORR
DevOps for Data Science – Continuous Delivery by Buck Woody
Azure Data Lake tools integrates with VSCode Data Lake Explorer and Azure Account by Jenny Jiang
Azure HDInsight Performance Insights: Interactive Query, Spark and Presto by Ashish Thapliyal
XBox: Analytics on petabytes of gaming data with Azure HDInsight by Ashish Thapliyal
Azure CosmosDB in Banking Sector by sudhirblog
Azure #CosmosDB: Recap of 2017 by Rimma Nehme
Azure Log Analytics (OMS) Agent now collects SQL Server audit logs by Gilad Mittelman

Internet of Things (IoT)

Manage and Auto-scale your IoT solution with a predictable IoT Cloud by Steve Busby
Exploring the Azure IoT Arduino Cloud DevKit by Scott Hanselman
CES 2018: Microsoft’s IoT strategy is about the cloud more than the ‘things’ via ZDNet
JCI smart GLAS thermostat uses Microsoft IoT to cut energy costs by Microsoft IoT
Whitepaper: Selecting the right secure hardware for your IoT deployment by Eustance Asanghanwa

Machine Learning / Artificial Intelligence

DevOps for Data Science – Release Management by BuckWoody
Microsoft Project Shows Promise of Machine Learning in Healthcare by Todd R. Weiss
How to Run Large-Scale Educational Workshops in Deep Learning & Data Science by Cortana Intelligence and ML Blog Team
Will Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning help BizTalk Server Monitoring? by Saravana Kumar
OxfordHack Winners of the Microsoft Cognitive Challenge by Lee Stott
Can you implement a Chat Bot with Microsoft Bot Framework without Azure? by Aram Koukia
Introduction to Cognitive Services by Microsoft Student Partners by Lee Stott
Cognitive Services Optical Character Recognition by David Giard
Using the Cognitive Services Emotion API by David Giard
Using Cognitive Services to Generate a Thumbnail Image by David Giard
Cognitive Services Make It Easier to User Machine Learning in Your Application by David Giard
Generating a Cognitive Services API Key by David Giard

Development and DevOps

Link wiki pages and work items, write math formulas in Wiki, Keyboard shortcuts and more… by Sandeep Chadda
Load Tests are not in every VSTS Region by Donovan Brown
Visual Studio updates empower developers to optimize code, build better apps by Microsoft Cloud Perspectives Blog Team
Microsoft’s Performance Contributions to Git in 2017 by Derrick Stolee
New Visual Studio Code Extensions for Java Developers: Maven, Tomcat, and Checkstyle by Visual Studio Blog
Sharing of Deployment Groups across projects by Abhishek Agarwal
Using Azure database for PostgreSQL in ASP.NET Core (with EF Core) by Mahesh Sabnis
Visual Studio App Center by Pam Lahoud
Deploy the ASPNET Core App on Linux and Capture Perfview traces by Naveen Baliga
Better Decisions Through Better Analytics: Visual Studio App Center with Azure Application Insights by Blanca Delgado Parra
VSTS will no longer allow creation of new MSA users with custom domain names backed by AzureAD by Justin Marks
Open your current project in Visual Studio Code directly from Visual Studio IDE by Abhijit Jana
High Availability Team Foundation Server (TFS) in Azure by mihansen
Build Any App with Visual Studio App Center by derpixeldan
Designing, building, and operating microservices on Azure by Peter Taylor
NuGet Package Management in VSTS by Subodh Sohoni
Visual Studio ALM/DevOps VM 2017 Update Available by Sachin Hridayraj
How to use Visual Studio Azure Resource Group with Azure DevTest Lab: Deploy VM to DevTest Lab by Tanmayee Kamath
Top 12 Visual Studio App Center Tips and Tricks of 2017 by Lacey Butler
Deploying Your Dockerized Angular Application To Azure Using VSTS by Wael Kdouh
Azure Tips and Tricks Part 73 – Send Emails through Azure with C# and SendGrid by Michael Crump
Setting up CI/CD targeting Red Hat OpenShift Kubernetes Using VSTS by ddeeb
Quick way to deploy an Azure App Service from Visual Studio by Benjamin Perkins
Network virtualization using SCVMM and TFS/VSTS for your Build-Deploy-Test scenarios by Ashok Kirla

Containers and Service Fabric

Service Fabric in DevTest Lab Environments by Elizabeth R Maher
[Service Fabric] How to troubleshoot deployment errors in Service Fabric Windows cluster by Pam Lahoud
Using Azure Container Registry on Cross Subscription by Paras Patidar
Run Shadowsocks in Azure Container Instances by Zhiliang Xu
[Service Fabric] Auto-scaling your Service Fabric cluster–Part II by Pam Lahoud

Security

Securing Azure customers from CPU vulnerability via Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure Threat Detection Types by Thomas LaRock
StorSimple and Intel Meltdown & Spectre by StorSimple Team
How to Check if Your Database Server Is Protected Against Meltdown and Spectre by Thomas LaRock
Azure Security Center and Microsoft Web Application Firewall Integration by Shalini Pasupneti
Publishing ADFS through pfSense with HAProxy by Andreas Helland
Last week in Azure: Securing Azure infrastructure from CPU vulnerability, and more by Rob Caron
Harden Your Azure Infrastructure Using Azure Security Center Just-In-Time VM Access by Thomas Janetscheck
Savill’s FAQs: Using Microsoft Azure AD Domain Services by John Savill
Code Magazine Article: Securing IIS Web Sites with Let’s Encrypt Certificates by Rick Strahl

Learning / Certification

Cloud vs. On-Premises Certification by Selina Winter
Win Big with Next Up Azure Exam Camp Training by Sarah Arnold
Exploring Big Data: Course 10 – Microsoft Professional Capstone: Big Data by Samuel Lester
The Microsoft Professional Program Now Includes IT Support via Born to Learn
Microsoft Learning Tools: Education and Technology by Kristy Hill
Want more girls interested in STEM? Retrain music and dance teachers to run computer science lessons, say educators by Kristy Hill

Azure Government

Join us Jan. 31! Jumpstart Your Move to the Cloud – Gov Edition by Karina Homme

Blockchain

Mastering Blockchain Book from Imran Bashir by Chris Pietschmann
Tell me something I should know – Blockchain as a Service on Microsoft Azure by Lee Stott
Cryptocurrency’s liquidity problem by tzink
Will blockchain turn out to be another one of tech’s false prophets? by tzink

Other

How to Start Spring Boot with Azure Media Service by Wu Shuai
Optimize your Azure spend by Premier Developer
Today’s requirements for hybrid cloud strategy by IT Pro
Azure Marketplace new offers in December 2017 by Christine Alford
2017: Build Azure Year in Review by Chris Pietschmann
What happened in Microsoft Integration space in 2017? by Lex Hegt
Geocoding and Routing improvements added to Bing Maps by Bing Team
My Backups are failing, Let’s open a support ticket by Ahmed Elnably
Azure Content Spotlight – More cloud growth in store for 2018 by chilberto
Lets bring in the New Year together – Make 2018 Epic by adding Microsoft Azure to your skills bag! by Sarah Arnold

Videos

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

Remote debug Azure Functions written in Java using VS Code | Azure Friday via Channel 9
Corey is all in on Azure Policy | Tuesdays With Corey via Channel 9
Apache Spark Connector for Azure Cosmos DB | Azure Friday via Channel 9
Extending Azure HDInsight to install open source components | Data Exposed via Channel 9
Azure HDInsight Application Platform Overview | Data Exposed via Channel 9
Azure SQL Data Warehouse compute optimized performance tier | Azure Friday via Channel 9
Azure Advisor Updates via Azure Friday
Azure Analysis Services Scale Out & Diagnostics via Azure Friday
Interview with Jasmine Greenaway, Cloud Developer Advocate on .NET | GALs via Channel 9

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 211 – Azure Monitor via The Azure Podcast
Episode 233 | Meltdown, Spectre, Predictions, Wishes & Thoughts from 2017 and for 2018q via Microsoft Cloud Show
Episode 210 – CPU Vulnerability via The Azure Podcast
Vision, AI and More with Tim Huckaby via .NET Rocks!
Functional Programming, F#, and Cloud Containers with Lena Hall via Hanselminutes
Serverless and OpenFaas with Alex Ellis via Hanselminutes
Episode 232 | Looking Back at 2017 – the Show & Cloud News via Microsoft Cloud Show
Xamarin Development Gets Faster with James Montemagno via .NET Rocks!

General Cloud / Related

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

Intel’s Response to Chip Meltdown Deepens Rift With Microsoft by Bloomberg
First Impressions: Asus Tinkerboard and Docker by Alex Ellis
Google Technique Offers Spectre Vulnerability Fix with No Performance Loss by Nicole Henderson
Intel, Nervana Shed Light on Deep Learning Chip Architecture by Nicole Hemsoth
Using Your Own Private Registry with Docker Enterprise Edition by Patrick Devine
AWS’s Linux in the Cloud Goes On-Prem by Christine Hall
A Simplified Explanation of the “Meltdown” CPU Vulnerability by Cantibile
Quantum Computing Enters 2018 Like It Is 1968 by Timothy Prickett Morgan
New Supercomputer to Extend NOAA’s Weather Predictions by Six Days by Christine Hall
Top 5 blogs of 2017: LinuxKit, A Toolkit for building Secure, Lean and Portable Linux Subsystems by Justin Cormack
Microsoft Denies That Cortana is Dead (Premium) by Paul Thurrott
Docker for Mac with Kubernetes by Jim Armstrong
First impressions: Docker for Mac with Kubernetes by Alex Ellis
Employee Cloud Adoption Requires New Perimeter Defenses by Andrew Mayo
How Red Hat Is Dealing With the Spectre of the CPU Meltdown by Christine Hall
The Spectre And Meltdown Server Tax Bill by Timothy Prickett Morgan
From Patching to Performance: What Enterprises Need to Know About Meltdown and Spectre by Nicole Henderson
Robert Martin on Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programming by David Giard
Intel Officially Launches New 8th Gen Core Processors With AMD Radeon Graphics by Mehedi Hassan
Meet Some of the Women Building Comcast’s Next-Generation IoT Experiences by Ashley Reed
You Will Soon Be Able to Pre-Order This Beautiful Cortana-Powered Smart Thermostat for $319 by Mehedi Hassan
Intel, Microsoft Deal With Widespread Computer-Chip Weakness by Bloomberg
What You Need to Know About the Big Chip Security Problem by Bloomberg
5 tips to learn Docker in 2018 by Victor Coisne
Multi-Cloud Strategy Can Be Tough, But Worthwhile: Study by Todd R. Weiss
What Artificial Intelligence Trends Say About Cloud in 2018 by Nicole Henderson
Using Docker to Scale Operational Intelligence at Splunk by Jenny Fong
5 keys to create a killer CLI in Go by Alex Ellis
Top 5 Blogs of 2017: Docker Platform and Moby Project add Kubernetes by Patrick Chanezon
Blockchain Pumping New Life Into Old-School Companies Like IBM by Bloomberg
Kodi Releases Its Official UWP App for the Xbox One by Mehedi Hassan
Source Code for Apple’s Lisa Operating System to be Released for Free in 2018 by Juli Clover
Two Data Science Courses to Boost Biohacking Insights via Adafruit Industries by Mikey Sklar
The state of netbooting Raspberry Pis by Alex Ellis
CISO Perspective: How using the NIST Cyber Security Framework improves security visibility by IT Pro

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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.