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!

The Weeks Top Links

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

Azure Tips and Tricks Part 185 – Performance Testing on Cosmos DB via Michael Crump
AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Certification via Chris Pietschmann
Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect certification via Chris Pietschmann
Announcing Azure DevOps Server 2019 RTW via Erin Dormier
Building Microservices with Azure Kubernetes Service and Azure DevOps — Part 1 via Andreas Helland

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)

Automate Disk initialization on VM with Azure Desired State Configuration via Michael
Azure Stack IaaS – part 3 via Spencer Shepler
Secure server access with VNet service endpoints for Azure Database for MariaDB via Andrea Lam

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Azure Premium Blob Storage public preview via Claus Joergensen

Serverless and Functions as a Service (FaaS)

Writing and Testing Azure Functions with Function Monkey – Part 1 via James
Real-time serverless applications with the SignalR Service bindings in Azure Functions via Zhidi Shang
Logic Apps SAP connector BAPI support – going under the hood via David Burg
Integrating with SAP from PowerApps & Flow using Azure Logic Apps via keydet
My JSON gets serialized in a string – Logic Apps via Vincent-Philippe Lauzon
Logic App SAP connector IDoc support – going under the hood via David Burg

Command-Line and ARM Templates

Faster Service Fabric Deployments with PowerShell via Dan Toomey

Database and Big Data

Azure Tips and Tricks Part 185 – Performance Testing on Cosmos DB via Michael Crump
Monitor local storage usage on General Purpose Azure SQL Managed Instance via Jovan Popovic (MSFT)
Microsoft continues to build the case for data estate modernization on Azure via Brad Carlstedt
Azure Databricks – New capabilities at lower cost via Yatharth Gupta
Microsoft’s first African data centers open in Cape Town and Johannesburg via ZDNet | microsoft RSS
Rerun activities inside your Azure Data Factory pipelines via Gaurav Malhotra
Microsoft opens first datacenters in Africa with general availability of Microsoft Azure via Tom Keane
Scaling out read workloads in Azure Database for MySQL via Andrea Lam
Secure server access with VNet service endpoints for Azure Database for MariaDB via Andrea Lam

Internet of Things (IoT)

IoT Deep Dive Live: Location Intelligence for Transportation with Azure Maps via Microsoft Developer
The Power of The Internet of Things via David Giard
Presenting the new IIC Security Maturity Model for IoT via Ron Zahavi
Guardian modules: Bringing Azure Sphere security to brownfield IoT via Ed Nightingale

Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Setup Azure DevOps YAML pipeline to publish a .NET Core Angular 7 docker container to Azure Container Registry via Martin Brandl
Conversational AI updates for March 2019 via Yochay Kiriaty
Hardware Acceleration for AI at the Edge via Microsoft Developer
U.S. Air Force Adds to Supercomputer Arsenal via Michael Feldman

DevOps and Development

Top Stories from the Microsoft DevOps Community – 2019.03.08 via Edward Thomson
Building Microservices with Azure Kubernetes Service and Azure DevOps — Part 2 via Andreas Helland
Setup Azure DevOps YAML pipeline to publish a .NET Core Angular 7 docker container to Azure Container Registry via Martin Brandl
Microsoft Graph API’s Beta version, developer guidance, support via Deva [MSFT]
Building Microservices with Azure Kubernetes Service and Azure DevOps — Part 1 via Andreas Helland
Microsoft is open-sourcing Windows Calculator on GitHub via ZDNet | microsoft RSS
Now available: Azure DevOps Server 2019 via Jamie Cool
Announcing Azure DevOps Server 2019 RTW via Erin Dormier

Containers (Docker, Kubernetes, etc) and Service Fabric

Building Microservices with Azure Kubernetes Service and Azure DevOps — Part 2 via Andreas Helland
Setup Azure DevOps YAML pipeline to publish a .NET Core Angular 7 docker container to Azure Container Registry via Martin Brandl
Building Microservices with Azure Kubernetes Service and Azure DevOps — Part 1 via Andreas Helland
AKS: Quickly switching context between multiple clusters in Azure Kubernetes Services with cmder aliases via Tobias Zimmergren
Faster Service Fabric Deployments with PowerShell via Dan Toomey
Service Fabric Processor in public preview via James Birdsall

Security, Identity, and Privacy

Presenting the new IIC Security Maturity Model for IoT via Ron Zahavi
Guardian modules: Bringing Azure Sphere security to brownfield IoT via Ed Nightingale
Announcing new Azure Security Center capabilities at RSA 2019 via Gilad Elyashar

Azure Stack

Azure Stack IaaS – part 3 via Spencer Shepler

Learning and Certification

Azure Notebooks Talk Slides via Cameron Vetter
Azure learning and exam tips via Michael
AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Certification via Chris Pietschmann
Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect certification via Chris Pietschmann

Other

Friday Five: NHibernate Querying in Core 2.2 Framework, Azure NSG, and More! via MVP Award Program
Tips for Running a User Group via Gregor Suttie
How to Troubleshoot Azure Routing? via AFinn
Intel and Microsoft bring optimizations to deep learning on Azure via Gopi Kumar
Build a CI/CD pipeline for API Management via Miao Jiang
GCast 38: Azure Search via David Giard
Cloud Platform Release Announcements for March 6, 2019 via Cloud Platform Team
Join the Bing Maps team at NAFA 2019 I&E via Bing Team
Locking Down Network Access to the Azure Application Gateway/Firewall via AFinn
Why Choose the Azure Firewall over a Virtual Firewall Appliance? via AFinn
Azure.Source – Volume 72 via Rob Caron
Azure Communications is hosting an “Ask Me Anything” session! via Sami Kubba
Azure Marketplace and Cloud Solution Provider updates – March 2019 via Brian Levenson
Announcing new capabilities in Azure Firewall via Yair Tor
Microsoft is now managing HP, Dell PCs via its Managed Desktop Service via ZDNet | microsoft RSS
Acceptance Testing with Function Monkey via James
Reading Notes #368 via Frank Boucher
3 Areas of Your Business Where Deep Learning Can Make a Difference via Greg McBeth
Persistence and Recoverability on the Microsoft Platform via michaelstephensonuk

Videos

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

An overview of Azure App Service Deployment Center | Azure Friday via Microsoft Developer (uploads) on YouTube
An overview of Azure App Service Deployment Center via Azure Friday (HD) – Channel 9
An overview of Azure App Service Deployment Center | Azure Friday via Channel 9
Five Things About Azure Functions | Five Things via Channel 9
Rerun activities inside your Azure Data Factory pipelines via Azure Friday (HD) – Channel 9
Hardware Acceleration for AI at the Edge | Internet of Things Show via Channel 9

Podcast

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:

Dynamics Mechanics: Dynamics 365 and Power Platform Future Predictions via CRM Audio — The Microsoft Business Applications Podcast
Episode 115 – That’s One Way To Kill Your Own Product via Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast
Episode 269 – Women in Azure via The Azure Podcast
Building Security Into Your App with Victoria Almazova via .NET Rocks!
Episode 293 | Todd Baginski on PowerApps in 2019 via Microsoft Cloud Show
Episode 268 – ExpressRoute Roadmap via The Azure Podcast

Feedback

Do you have any suggestions or general feedback on the Build Azure Weekly blog series? Please contact me and send it on over! Or tweet it over to @BuildAzure.

Please feel free to reach out and let me know your feedback on the Build Azure Weekly series. I post this weekly post as a service to others and really want to make it the best it can be.

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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.