Build5Nines Weekly provides your go-to source to keep up-to-date on all the latest Microsoft Azure news and updates. Included within Build5Nines Weekly newsletter are blog articles, podcasts, videos, and more from Microsoft and the greater community over the past week. Be sure to subscribe to Build5Nines Weekly to get the newsletter in your email every week and never miss a thing!
Microsoft Azure Space – Innovation on Earth and Beyond

Microsoft is advancing cloud datacenters where no cloud datacenter has gone before; into Space! They have brought together a team of renowned space industry veterans to work along-side Microsoft product engineers and scientists to build cloud capabilities that meet the needs for space. These efforts with Microsoft Azure Space bring innovations that include space mission simulation, insights from satellite data, as well as innovations applied to areas on both on and off planet Earth.
Beginner’s Guide to Pulumi Infrastructure as Code (IaC) CI/CD Pipelines

I have worked with Terraform for a few years, from entirely open demo environments to customers with strict security and compliance requirements. I haven’t had the same opportunity to work with Pulumi in strictly regulated environments, but I know Pulumi has grown by leaps and bounds while I focused on Terraform. I’m curious to look at Pulumi through the lens of what I’ve come to learn about working on Terraform with teams in a regulated environment.
Changing infrastructure, whether with Pulumi or Terraform, carries risk. I’m familiar with the tools and techniques for mitigating these risks with Terraform. I’d like to explore how to do the same with Pulumi.
The Weeks Top Links
Here are some of the most notable links from the week:
- Tip 293 – 5 Things you didn’t know about Azure Cognitive Services via Azure Tips and Tricks
- Using the ASP.NET Core Environment Feature to manage Development vs. Production for any config file type via Scott Hanselman
- Microsoft Azure Space – Innovation on Earth and Beyond via Chris Pietschmann
- Beginner’s Guide to Pulumi CI/CD Pipelines via Jim Counts
- Microsoft Teams now has 115 million daily active users via Surur
- Microsoft’s GitHub removes Open Source YouTube video download code via Surur
- Run Visual Studio Code on a Raspberry Pi via Jim Bennett ☁️
- It’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month and there is still a lot to do via Lauren Goodwin
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)
- Monitoring and Insights for Azure Arc enabled Servers via Thomas Maurer
- Azure Cost Management and Billing updates – October 2020 via Michael Flanakin
- Text your Azure Infrastructure with Serverless Computing and PowerShell via Brad Wyatt
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
- Azure Web App Service and GitHub Actions (Video Tutorial) via Jay Gordon
Serverless and Functions as a Service (FaaS)
- Going from 0 to 11 with REST APIs on Azure Functions via Skyler Hartle
- Resolving Azure Function Key Vault secrets in local development via Alexandre Gattiker
- Cleaning up Azure Durable Functions execution history via Joonas Westlin
- Text your Azure Infrastructure with Serverless Computing and PowerShell via Brad Wyatt
Software as a Service (SaaS)
- Microsoft Teams now has 115 million daily active users via Surur
- How to Manage SharePoint and Microsoft Teams with PowerShell Core via Veronique Lengelle
- Step-by-step: Azure Resource Health alert into Microsoft Teams via Sonia Cuff
DevOps
- Setting Up Cloud Deployments Using Docker, Azure and Github Actions via Ben De St Paer-Gotch
- SQL Server installation options to test Azure DevOps deployments locally via Kevin Chant
- Docker V2 Github Action is Now GA via Ben De St Paer-Gotch
- How to Manage SharePoint and Microsoft Teams with PowerShell Core via Veronique Lengelle
- Set up your laptop as an Azure DevOps agent to test SQL Server deployments via Kevin Chant
- Microsoft’s GitHub removes Open Source YouTube video download code via Surur
- Azure Web App Service and GitHub Actions (Video Tutorial) via Jay Gordon
- Text your Azure Infrastructure with Serverless Computing and PowerShell via Brad Wyatt
Data
- SQL Server installation options to test Azure DevOps deployments locally via Kevin Chant
- Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare: Unlocking the power of health data for better care via Gregory Moore
- Microsoft to open its first cloud datacenter region in Taiwan via Pradeep
- Migrate your Hadoop data lakes with WANDisco LiveData Platform for Azure via Jurgen Willis
- Adding new documents to Cosmos DB with null as a PartitionKey value via Jan-V.nl
- Set up your laptop as an Azure DevOps agent to test SQL Server deployments via Kevin Chant
Internet of Things (IoT)
- Microsoft named a Leader in the Gartner 2020 Magic Quadrant for Industrial IoT Platforms via John ‘JG’ Chirapurath
- Azure Sphere 20.10 Update 1 is now available for compatibility testing via AzureSphereTeam
- Run Visual Studio Code on a Raspberry Pi via Jim Bennett ☁️
- How to optimize Azure Machine Learning for IoT production usage via Valentin Logvinskiy
Machine Learning (ML) / Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Tip 293 – 5 Things you didn’t know about Azure Cognitive Services via Azure Tips and Tricks
- Multi Node Distributed Training with PyTorch Lightning & Azure ML via Aaron (Ari) Bornstein
- How to optimize Azure Machine Learning for IoT production usage via Valentin Logvinskiy
Development
- Resolving Azure Function Key Vault secrets in local development via Alexandre Gattiker
- Run Visual Studio Code on a Raspberry Pi via Jim Bennett ☁️
- Using the ASP.NET Core Environment Feature to manage Development vs. Production for any config file type via Scott Hanselman
- VSCode Remote-SSH with Azure via Max Melcher
Containers (Docker, Kubernetes, Service Fabric, etc)
- Setting Up Cloud Deployments Using Docker, Azure and Github Actions via Ben De St Paer-Gotch
- Messaging Connectivity in a Hybrid Kubernetes Cloud Environment via Lior Nabat
- How To Deploy Temporal to Azure Container Instances via Mikhail Shilkov
- Docker’s Next Chapter: Our First Year via Scott Johnston
- Docker V2 Github Action is Now GA via Ben De St Paer-Gotch
- Azure AKS aad-pod-identity Status code ‘404’ fix via Thomas Thornton
- AKS Periscope via Shankar1080
- Azure Advisor for AKS via Shankar1080
Security, Identity, and Privacy
- It’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month and there is still a lot to do via Lauren Goodwin
- Back to the future: What the Jericho Forum taught us about modern security via Jenny Erie
- Azure AKS aad-pod-identity Status code ‘404’ fix via Thomas Thornton
- Azure Advisor for AKS via Shankar1080
Azure Stack
- Azure Stack Hub Partner Solutions Series – myCloudDoor via Thomas Maurer
Software
- Microsoft’s Chromium-based Edge’s vertical tabs feature hits the Dev Channel via ZDNet | microsoft RSS
Other
- AzureFunBytes – Episode 19 – Combos! @Azure and @LightstepHQ with @austinlparker via Jay Gordon
- First Look at Azure Automanage via Techielass
- Microsoft Q1 FY21 Earnings: Azure cloud services revenue grew 48% via Pradeep
- Zoom Finally Adds End-to-End Encryption via Paul Thurrott
- AMD to acquire Xilinx for $35 billion via Pradeep
- Managing and Rotating Secrets with Azure Key Vault, Managed Services, and some automation – Part 1 via GaryKli
- Microsoft releases preview of Lobe training app for machine-learning via ZDNet | microsoft RSS
- Microsoft unlocks the full potential of the smart building ecosystem via Matthew Vogel
- Managing and Rotating Secrets with Azure Key Vault, Managed Services, and some automation – Part 2 via GaryKli
- Episode 89: Azure gives The Cloud Pod an advisor score of 100 via jbrodley
- Magnus Martensson on the Cloud Adoption Framework via David Giard
- Human Parity Achieved with Azure Computer Vision via jamie_maguire
- Azure Application Gateway and Cloudflare via Geert Baeke
- Tips for successful cloud project! via Suresh Paulraj
- Microsoft Azure Space – Innovation on Earth and Beyond via Chris Pietschmann
- Beginner’s Guide to Pulumi CI/CD Pipelines via Jim Counts
- How to configure Veeam Backup for Microsoft Azure 1.0 with auto create service account via Cary Sun
- Things to consider when running visual tests in CI/CD pipelines: Getting Started (Part 1) via Jessica Deen
- Things to consider when running visual tests in CI/CD pipelines: Getting Started (Part 1) via Jessica Deen
Videos
Here are links to some of the videos that have been posted over the past week:
- Understanding Azure Arc Enabled SQL Server | Data Exposed via Microsoft Developer (uploads) on YouTube
- Intro to PyTorch Tutorial: Building fashion recognizer via Microsoft Developer (uploads) on YouTube
- Understanding Azure Arc Enabled SQL Server | Data Exposed via Channel 9
- Precision Rehabilitation using Internet of Medical Things | Internet of Things Show via Channel 9
- Creating Your First Azure SQL Database | Data Exposed: MVP Edition via Microsoft Developer (uploads) on YouTube
- What is the difference between NET Core, NET 5 and NET Framework? | One Dev Question via Microsoft Developer (uploads) on YouTube
- Policy as Code with Terraform and Sentinel | The DevOps Lab via Channel 9
- Running an Online Conference using Microsoft Azure | All Around Azure via Channel 9
- What is MLOps? | One Dev Question via Microsoft Developer (uploads) on YouTube
- What is AIOps, and how does it differ from MLOps? | One Dev Question via Microsoft Developer (uploads) on YouTube
- Using Entity Framework Core with Azure SQL DB and Azure Cosmos DB via Azure Friday (HD) – Channel 9
- Running an Online Conference using Microsoft Azure via Microsoft Developer (uploads) on YouTube
- Using Entity Framework Core with Azure SQL DB and Azure Cosmos DB | Azure Friday 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:
- The Business Case of AI and Data Science with Joel Hulen and Kyle Bunting via .NET Rocks!
- Episode 90: The Cloud Pod gets a NanoDegree on podcasting via The Cloud Pod
- 053 – Backups using the new Azure Backup Center via Ctrl+Alt+Azure
- Episode 382 | Microsoft Teams Integrates with Salesforce & Azure Leads in Confidential Computing via Microsoft Cloud Show
- Tony Champion on Career Development – Episode 112 via Azure DevOps Podcast
Azure Service Updates
Here are the latest service updates from Microsoft over the last week:
- Azure Automation is now available in Switzerland North region
- Public Preview: Application Insight in Australia Central, Brazil Southeast and Norway East
- Azure Sphere 20.10 Update 1 is now available for compatibility testing
- Azure Databricks Now Available in Switzerland North
- Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare is now generally available
- Public Preview: Azure Log Analytics in Brazil Southeast and Norway East
- Public preview: Up to 10 read replicas for MySQL – Flexible Server
- We’re retiring Azure SQL DB Import-Export Direct Endpoints on 31 October 2023
- Register Your Azure SQL Virtual Machines with SQL Server IaaS Agent extension today
- Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Single Server now available in Brazil Southeast
- Public preview: Auditing of Microsoft support operations in Azure SQL DB and Azure SQL MI
- App Service Discount for Premium Plans
- Generate a new function app from an OpenAPI specification
- General Availability: Azure Spot on Azure Kubernetes Service
- General Availability: Azure Kubernetes Service support for proximity placement groups
- Preview: Azure Monitor for containers now support capacity monitoring of Persistent Volume (PV)
- Azure Red Hat OpenShift 3.11 will be retired on 30 June 2022
- Community support for PHP 7.4 is ending on 28 November 2022
- Legacy developer portal in Azure API Management will retire on 31 October 2023
- Action Required: Update to Data Science Virtual Machine Ubuntu 18.04
- Schema Registry for Azure Event Hubs public preview
- Policy to control the minimum TLS version used with Azure Storage now generally available
- Microsoft to establish its first datacenter region in Taiwan
- Azure Backup Price and Meter ID Change – ZA North and ZA West regions of South Africa
- New VM series supported by Azure Batch
- Java 11 support for Azure Functions is now generally available
- Public preview: Zone redundant configuration for Azure SQL DB general purpose tier
- Change in verification code SMS content
- Azure Site Recovery update rollup 51 – October 2020
- Azure API Management updates- October 2020
- Log Analytics Linux Agent for Fall 2020 now available
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