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)

How to monitor and alert potential Disk and VM Level IO Throttling on Linux VMs using ARM by Rossano Vitulli
End-to-end monitoring solutions in Azure for Apps and Infrastructure by Shiva Sivakumar
A new Planned Maintenance experience for your virtual machines by Ziv Rafalovich
Azure IaaS Design & Performance Considerations–Best Practices & Learnings From The Field by Aidan Finn
Announcing Azure Disk Encryption Preview for Virtual Machine Scale Sets y Devendra Tiwari
Azure Site Recovery powers new Managed DR offerings by Microsoft Partners by Mayank Nayar
Application-Aware Disaster Recovery For VMware, Hyper-V, and Azure IaaS VMs with Azure Site Recovery by Aidan Finn
From IT Pros to IT Heros–With Azure DevTest Labs by Aidan Finn
Announcing Kentico Cloud Solution in Azure Marketplace by Sunitha Muthukrishna
Protect Your Data With Microsoft Azure Backup by Aidan Finn
Azure Content Spotlight – Azure confidential computing by chilberto
Azure Monitor: New services and capabilities for metrics by Anirudh Cavale
Announcing Virtual Network integration for Azure Storage and Azure SQL by Anitha Adusumilli
Moving from Standard to Premium disks and back by Vincent-Philippe Lauzon
Vison And Upcoming Innovations for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services by Aidan Finn
Azure Networking announcements for Ignite 2017 by Yousef Khalidi
Announcing new Azure VM sizes for more cost-effective database workloads by Luis Vargas
Azure Compute: New Features & Roadmap by Aidan Finn

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Introducing the New App Service Support Center (Preview) by Jennifer Lee
Using FTPS with Azure App Services by Benjamin Perkins
Query across resources by Noa Kuperberg
Announcing the public preview of Azure Storage metrics in Azure Monitor by Francis Yu
How to configure log4net on Azure App Service by Benjamin Perkins
Azure Tips and Tricks Part 23 – Testing Web Apps in Production with Azure App Service by Michael Crump
Azure Files With Sync by Aidan Finn
Announcing general availability of the new App Service Premium Plan by Stella Lin
Azure Tips and Tricks Part 22 – Deployment Slots for Web Apps using Azure App Service by Michael Crump
Announcing the public preview for Azure File Sync by Klaas Langhout
Azure Tips and Tricks Part 21 – Adding Extensions to Web Apps in Azure App Service by Michael Crump

Serverless and Functions as a Service (FaaS)

How to know when an Azure Function is running in a Staging slot by Frank Boucher
Talk: A Gentle Intro to Serverless Azure by Bill Wilder
Overview of the Microsoft Azure Serverless Platform by Aidan Finn
My Intern Project: Microsoft Graph Bindings for Azure Functions by Chris Gillum
Develop Azure Functions on any platform by Donna Malayeri
Weekly Azure billing report per mail with Azure functions by Armin Reiter

Command Line and ARM Templates

Automate away your Azure Portal usage with the Azure CLI by SoundCode
ARM Resource Manager Template Deployment with Azure Analysis Services by Krishnakumar Rukmangathan
Azure Tips and Tricks Part 24 – Add logic to your Testing in Production sites with PowerShell by Michael Crump
PowerShell in Azure Cloud Shell (Preview) is now publically available in Azure Portal via PowerShell Team
Announcing the public preview of PowerShell in Azure Cloud Shell by Hemant Mahawar

Database / Big Data

With Azure Cosmos DB, you’re three clicks away from global scale by Matthew Calder
Monitoring Azure SQL Data Sync using OMS Log Analytics by Joshua Gnanayutham
Azure #CosmosDB – database for serverless era by Rimma Nehme
Paxata launches Self-Service Data Preparation on Azure HDInsight to accelerate Data Prep by Pranav Rastogi
Introducing HDInsight integration with Azure Log Analytics Preview by Ashish Thapliyal
Wanted: Effectively-Once Processing in Azure by Mikhail Shilkov
Running Tier 1 Worklaods on SQL Server on Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines by Aidan Finn
General availability of HDInsight Interactive Query – blazing fast queries on hyper-scale data by Ashish Thapliyal
WANdisco enables continuous data replication on Azure HDInsight for Big Data applications by Pranav Rastogi
A look under the hood of our Power BI solution template by Matt Farmer
Power BI solution template by Matt Farmer
Azure SQL Database VNET Service Endpoints now in public preview by Dhruv Malik
Talk: SQL Saturday Boston – Azure SQL DB, not just a hosted version of SQL Server by Bill Wilder
Get insights into your Azure #CosmosDB: partition heatmaps, OMS, and more by Kirill Gavrylyuk
Route Azure Storage Events to multiple subscribers with Event Grid by Steef-Jan Wiggers
Azure Data Factory – announcing new capabilities in public preview by Mark Kromer
New in Stream Analytics: Output to Azure Functions, built-in anomaly detection, etc. by Krishna Mamidipaka

Internet of Things (IoT)

Microsoft Ignite 2017: Leading Innovation for IoT by Sam George
Azure Event Grid vs Azure IoT Hub: Which is better for IoT? by Chris Pietschmann
Provisioning for true zero-touch secure identity management for IoT by Eustace Asanghanwa
The next generation of Azure IoT Suite accelerates IoT solutions by Cory Newton-Smith
Protecting our water and preserving our energy with IoT by Jerry Lee
Enable IoT Solutions with Windows 10 IoT Platform by Aidan Finn

Machine Learning / Artificial Intelligence

Azure Machine Learning WorkBench by Lee Stott
Ignite 2017: Announcing Tools for AI-Driven Digital Transformation via Cortana Intelligence and ML Blog Team
Capturing Occupant Well-being Through Facial Expressions using Microsoft Cognitive Services by Lee Stott
Visual Studio Code Tools for AI Extension by Lee Stott
Microsoft’s Nadella Says AI Should Mean Cooperation, Not Threat via SuperSite for Windows
Data Transformations “By Example” in the Azure Machine Learning Workbench via Cortana Intelligence and ML Blog Team
Deploying Machine Learning Models using Azure Machine Learning via Cortana Intelligence and ML Blog Team
How Stack Overflow Can Use Microsoft AI to Empower Every Developer by Anand Raman
Microsoft unveils its next-generation AI developer tools via ZDNet
Introducing Microsoft Machine Learning Server 9.2 Release by Nagesh Pabbisetty
Using the Team Data Science Process (TDSP) in Azure Machine Learning by Wei Guo, Hai Ning, Xibin Gao, Brad Severtson, Debraj GuhaThakurta
Diving deep into what’s new with Azure Machine Learning by Matt Winkler
Announcing tools for the AI-driven digital transformation by Joseph Sirosh
At Ignite, Microsoft is updating its Cognitive Services collection of intelligent APIs via Microsoft Azure

Development and DevOps

Chef brings Habitat to VSTS, and Agile Extensions makes editing your backlog a breeze by Joseph Bourne
Using the latest NuGet in your build by Alex Mullans
Ready for JavaOne: Bringing Java and Kubernetes together in Azure by Asir Selvasingh
What’s brewing in Visual Studio Team Services: September 2017 Digest by Buck Hodges
Git and Visual Studio 2017 part 4 : Branching by Kenichiro Nakamura
Run you Hive LLAP & PySpark Job in Visual Studio Code by Jenny Jiang
Taking a Byte out of ASP.NET Core 2.0: Development Mode Error on Azure by Lance Larsen
Debug R with R Tools for Visual Studio by Lee Stott
Cloud SOLID Part II: Cloud Architecture and the Open/Closed Principle by Casey Watson

Containers and Service Fabric

Debugging Java containers by Prasad Kerhalkar
Azure Log Analytics Container Monitoring solution: Helm integration for Linux and Windows Kubernetes support via The Scripting Guys
Create a Service Fabric Application on demand by Gianluca Bertelli
[Service Fabric] Full/Incremental backup and restore sample by Larry Wall
[Service Fabric] How Not to use DefaultServices in your ApplicationManifest file by Larry Wall
Yes to databases in containers – Microsoft SQL Server available on Docker Store by Yuvraj Mehta
Announcing the general availability of Service Fabric on Linux by Mark Fussell

Security

Getting Started with the Azure AD B2B Invite API by Nick McCollum
Azure Analysis Services adds firewall support by Kay Unkroth
Announcing Preview of Azure Storage Firewalls and Virtual Networks by Chris Brooks
Azure AD Domain Services by Aidan Finn
CSOs and Enterprise Architects: Looking to avoid hackers and thwart malware? by Matthew Calder
Payment Processing Blueprint for PCI DSS-compliant environments by Matt Rathbun
Introducing SQL Vulnerability Assessment for Azure SQL Database and on-premises SQL Server! by Ronit Reger
Azure DDoS Protection Service preview by JR Mayberry, Anupam Vij
OMS customers can now use Azure Security Center to protect their hybrid cloud workloads via Operations Management Suite Blog
Built-in security and operations management for Azure and hybrid environments by Jeremy Winter

Azure Stack

The Docker Modernize Traditional Apps (MTA) Program Adds Microsoft Azure Stack by Scott Johnston

Learning / Certification

New Learning Path for IT Pros on the Front Line of Cybersecurity y Matthew Calder
Xamarin Expands Its Mobile Developer Certifications by Paul Thurrott
Announcing New Azure Exams And Certification Path Recommendations for Azure Job Roles by Selina Winter

Events

#MSIgnite 2017 Day 1: Announcements Recap and Links by Chris Pietschmann
Ignite 2017: My Closing Thoughts from Orlando via SuperSite for Windows
Looking back at Build 2017–Going “All In” on Microsoft Azure by Latha Natarajan, Sujith Nair
Ignite 2017: The Microsoft Customer Immersion Experience via SuperSite for Windows
Ignite 2017: Day Three News Wrap Up from Orlando via SuperSite for Windows
My Review of Microsoft Ignite 2017 by Aidan Finn
Ignite 2017: Expo Show Floor Gallery via SuperSite for Windows
INTEGRATE 2017 USA Coming to Microsoft Redmond Campus – October 25, 26, 27 via BizTalk Team
Cloud, Data and AI Announcements @ Ignite 2017 by Wesley Backelant

Azure Government

Power BI Premium generally available for U.S. government users by Miguel A Martinez

Other

Microsoft Azure gets a new Logo and a Manifesto by Chris Pietschmann
Azure Log Analytics: Sorting Events by CliveW
New Azure advancements remove cloud barriers for enterprises at Ignite 2017 by Scott Guthrie
New advancements in Azure for IT digital transformation by Jason Zander
Your future cloud is hybrid, and so is Azure by Mark Jewett
Five more reasons why you should download the Azure mobile app by Shankar Sivadasan
Get the most out of your Azure portal experience by Leon Welicki
Azure Monitor Action Groups – New Action Group creation fails with “Failed to create or update action group” by Angshuman Nayak
Azure Log Analytics – meet our new query language by Noa Kuperberg
Get started with Monitoring in Azure by David Seidman
Announcing general availability of Azure Managed Applications Service Catalog by Gaurav Bhatnagar
Integrating Azure Advisor Into Your Workday via MVP Award Program
Ignite 2017: OneDrive for Business New Features and Enhancements via SuperSite for Windows
Six ways to manage your Azure resources by SoundCode
The Microsoft Graph is about to light up a new way for business users to search via ZDNet
Microsoft adds new Microsoft 365 versions, plus security and management features via ZDNet
Azure Data Box Preview by Lee Stott
Excluding weekends and holidays in date differences in PowerApps by Carlos Figueira
Azure Tips and Tricks Part 25 – Use the Azure Resource Explorer to quickly explore REST APIs by Michael Crump
Microsoft Integration (Azure and much more) Stencils Pack v2.6.1 for Visio 2016/2013: the new Azure logo by Sandro Pereira

Videos

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

Windows Weekly 537: Microsoft Ignite 2017 by Paul Thurrott and May Jo Foley via TWiT
PowerShell in Azure Cloud Shell via Azure Friday
Azure Service Fabric on Linux via Azure Friday
Navigating the Microsoft Graph with Azure Functions | Azure Friday via Channel 9
Serverless Apps with Azure Cosmos DB and Azure Functions 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:

Polyglot Persistence for .NET with PostgresSQL and Marten with Jeremy Miller via Hanselminutes
Episode 218 | Ignite 2017: Updates and Future Roadmap for the SharePoint Framework with Daniel Kogan and Vesa Juvonen via Microsoft Cloud Show
Episode 197 – Azure Automation via The Azure Podcast
Episode 217 | Ignite 2017: Azure Functions with Donna Malayeri via Microsoft Cloud Show
Episode 215 | Ignite 2017: Live Episode from Ignite! via Microsoft Cloud Show
Episode 216 | Ignite 2017: Office 365 Developer Patterns and Practices with Vesa Juvonen via Microsoft Cloud Show
Episode 213 | Ignite 2017: Microsoft Graph with Yina Arenas via Microsoft Cloud Show
Episode 214 | Ignite Short 2017: Windows Containers and Windows Linux Subsystem with Taylor Brown via Microsoft Cloud Show

General Cloud / Related

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

Introducing the Docker Global Professional Certification Program by Niamh Obyrne
Microsoft Unveils a Skype (Re)redesign on iOS by Paul Thurrott
Anaconda Teams With Microsoft In Machine Learning Push by Jeffrey Burt
Use the Micro:bit with the Arduino IDE @adafruit @arduino @microbit_edu by Philip Torrone
The Book of the Runtime – The internals of the .NET Runtime that you won’t find in the documentation by Scott Hanselman
Microsoft Announces Office 2019 by Paul Thurrott
Microsoft commits to deliver next Office client, servers by second half 2018 via ZDNet
Microsoft CEO Nadella’s ‘Hit Refresh’: Is a cultural revolution enough to refresh Microsoft? via ZDNet
Ford is now designing cars in mixed reality using Microsoft HoloLens by Ben via Adafruit Industries
Staying Agile: The MVP Award Program Announces New Benefits for MVPs by MVP Award Program
Why be a part of tech community, and what comes after it? by Jen Stirrup

Me at Microsoft Ignite 2017

There were so many announcements from Microsoft made at Ignite 2017. I tried to capture everything in this weeks Build Azure Weekly newsletter. If I missed anything, please feel free to let me know. I’ll put it into next weeks newsletter.

I was fortunate enough to be able to spend the week at Microsoft Ignite in Orlando, FL. I was at the Opsgility booth most of the time meeting with tons of people and introducing them to our training services. Many of you were very interested in the Online Training Subscription service from Opsgility, and you certainly should be!

I also had the privilege to meet with quite a few people that follow Build Azure. I really appreciate all of you who came over and said “Hi”. It’s really humbling and motivating to get such great feedback on the work I do here at BuildAzure.com. BTW, I maintain this site and newsletter in my free time as a service to the community.

Here’s a couple screenshots of some of those who stopped by the Opsgility booth at Ignite to introduce themselves.

At the Opsgility booth we handed out some “stress ball” type swag that looked a lot like Einstein. We affectionately named him “Opsgility Gil”. It was a huge hit and we ended up running out of Gil’s. Some team members and I had a little fun with Gil by posting pictures of him online. In fact, we also ended up creating a Twitter account for Gil at @OpsgilityG. We’ll see what kind of fun Gill has in the future, and you can follow along by following him on Twitter.

Here’s a photo of Opsgility Gil at the Microsoft Ignite 2017 attendee party at Universal Studios Orlando:

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.

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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.