The team talks to Conor Kelly about how Microsoft is investing in sustainable energy – not only to power the Cloud, but also to advance the technology as a whole.

Media file: https://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode356.mp3

Resources:

Azure Sustainability - Azure Sustainability—Sustainable Technologies | Microsoft Azure
SSE Airtricity project - Microsoft demonstrates how to increase green energy in Ireland one rooftop at a time | Innovation Stories
Azure IoT for Energy - IoT for Energy | Microsoft Azure

Other resources:
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/new-sap-hana-certified-memoryoptimized-virtual-machines-now-available

SAP On Azure book by Ravi Kashyap https://www.sap-press.com/sap-on-microsoft-azure_5174/

Nate McKervey, Head of Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies at Splunk, talks to the team about how Splunk technologies can make Blockchain networks on Azure more secure by providing insights into the networks that make up the distributed ledger.

Media file: https://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode355.mp3

Other updates:

Boost your performance with Azure Files SMB Multichannel
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/boost-your-client-performance-with-azure-files-smb-multichannel/
Azure Hybrid Benefit now generally available for Linux
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-hybrid-benefit-now-generally-available-for-linux/
Empowering developer velocity and efficiency with Kubernetes
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/empowering-developer-velocity-and-efficiency-with-kubernetes/
Azure high-performance computing at Supercomputing 2020
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-high-performance-computing-supercomputing-2020/

AKS Office Hours hosted by Kendall

https://github.com/Azure/aks-gbb-officehours

The team discusses the magic behind how Wayne Overcash, Senior PM of Azure FastTrack program, orchestrates different Azure components that goes into ensuring that people can find out where Santa is on Christmas Eve.

Media file: https://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode354.mp3

The team discusses that latest and greatest WVD capabilities with Senior PM Pavithra Thiruvengadam, plus talks about the breaking news about the recent FedRAMP High qualification of WVD.

Media file: https://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode353.mp3

Resources:

https://aka.ms/wvdroadmap

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-government/compliance/azure-services-in-fedramp-auditscope

https://devblogs.microsoft.com/azuregov/windows-virtual-desktop-now-generally-available-in-azure-government/

Kendall, Cale and Sujit talk to Michael Howard, a Senior Principal Consultant at Microsoft and an expert in Azure Security related topics. Michael has his own Podcast on these topics so we asked him about some of the trends, issues and advise he has discussed on his own Podcast. He provides some great insights into what is top-of-mind in the cloud security space.

Media file: https://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode352.mp3

Resources:

Podcast
https://azsecuritypodcast.net/
https://twitter.com/AzureSecPod

Me
https://twitter.com/michael_howard
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikehow/
https://michaelhowardsecure.blog/

Other updates:

Azure Cost Management and Billing updates – October 2020
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-cost-management-billing-updates-october-2020/
  
Microsoft unlocks the full potential of the smart building ecosystem
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/microsoft-unlocks-the-full-potential-of-the-smart-building-ecosystem/
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/public-preview-aks-pod-identity/
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/ga-azure-spot-on-aks/

Principal Program Manager for all things Java on Azure, Asir Selvasingh, introduces us to the new Azure Spring Cloud. He gives us a primer on the Spring ecosystem, explains why Microsoft created this new Azure service and provides us with details on how the platform was architected for Azure to meet the needs of Enterprise customers.

Media file: https://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode351.mp3

Resources:

Get started --

• Deploy Spring apps to Azure Spring Cloud using quickstart

• Learn using a self-paced workshop on GitHub

• Deploy an existing app to Azure Spring Cloud

• Learn more about implementing solutions on Azure Spring Cloud

• Play YouTube videos and learn

• Migrate your Spring Boot, Spring Cloud and Tomcat apps to Azure Spring Cloud

• Wire Spring apps to interact with Azure services.

Info deck: https://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/artifacts/azure-spring-cloud-intro-sep-2020-s.pdf

Other Updates :

Introducing the Microsoft Azure Modular Datacenter
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-the-microsoft-azure-modular-datacenter/

Solving IoT device security at scale through standards
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/solving-iot-device-security-at-scale-through-standards/

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/azure-key-vault-event-grid-integration-is-now-available/
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/azure-rolebased-access-control-rbac-for-azure-key-vault-data-plane-authorization-is-now-in-preview/
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/fluent-bit-connector-for-azure-storage-to-support-azure-data-explorer/

The data IoT devices provide are now considered a valuable resource for companies to make decisions and predictions. Diego Viso, a Principal PM Manager, discuss with us how Time Series Insights can be leveraged for real-time insights and large data analytics to drive operation improvements. 

Media File: https://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode350.mp3

Resources:

• Official launch announcement on Azure.com
• Our refreshed ACOM page with a fresh new video
• Landing page
• Pricing Page
• Our documentation
• Azure Time Series Gen2 documentation
• Walk through our tutorial
• Azure Architecture Center - IIoT architecture guidance
• Our videos
• Build 2020 - Make your IoT data useful with an end-to-end analytics platform, Azure Time Series Insights
• Channel 9 IoT Show - Deep Dive: Analyzing IoT data using Times Series Insights
• Channel 9 IoT Show - Using Azure Time Series Insights to create an industrial IoT analytics platform.

Other Updates:

Zone Redundancy for Azure Cache for Redis now in preview

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/zone-redundancy-for-azure-cache-for-redis-now-in-preview/

Azure and Intel commit to delivering next generation confidential computing

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-and-intel-commit-to-delivering-next-generation-confidential-computing/

Announcing advanced Azure Machine Learning nanodegree program with Udacity

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/announcing-advanced-azure-machine-learning-nanodegree-program-with-udacity/

Azure DevTest Labs - Create a network isolated lab

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/azure-devtest-labs-create-a-network-isolated-lab/

Since outages are guaranteed to happen eventually, it is important to understand how customers are notified about these unfortunate events. Sami Kubba, a Principal PM Manager in the Azure CXP team, gives us insights into what happens behinds the scenes when these events occur. He provides some upcoming updates around making this process even more transparent.

Media file: https://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode349.mp3

Resources:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/advancing-the-outage-experience-automation-communication-and-transparency/

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/framework/

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/service-health/overview

Other updates:

Microsoft plans to establish new cloud datacenter region in Greece
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/microsoft-plans-to-establish-new-cloud-datacenter-region-in-greece/

Enabling resilient DevOps practices with code to cloud automation
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/enabling-resilient-devops-practices-with-code-to-cloud-automation/

Azure Red Hat updates
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/azure-red-hat-openshift-lower-prices-more-flexible-purchase-options-and-improved-sla/

We chat with Veronica Gomez at EY on how she took up the Cloud skills challenge that Cloud Solution Architect Frank Sposaro put together at EY.

Media File: https://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode348.mp3

The team is fortunate to have to have Tom Kerkhove, an Azure Architect with https://codit.eu and more importantly, a maintainer of the KEDA project. He talks to use about the need for autoscaling Kubernetes workloads and how KEDA helps to realize that pattern. He provides tips for using KEDA and a roadmap of new features.

Media file: https://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode347.mp3

Keda resources:
https://www.codit.eu/blog/why-running-azure-logic-apps-anywhere-is-a-game-changer/
https://keda.sh/blog/keda-2.0-beta/
https://github.com/kedacore/keda#become-a-listed-keda-user

Tom's GitHub page
https://github.com/tomkerkhove

AKS scale to zero nodes issue discussed on the show:
https://github.com/Azure/AKS/issues/1565

Other updates discussed on the show:

Build rich communication experiences at scale with Azure Communication Services
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/build-rich-communication-experiences-at-scale-with-azure-communication-services/

Introducing Azure Orbital: Process satellite data at cloud-scale
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-azure-orbital-process-satellite-data-at-cloudscale/

Logic Apps updated with new hosting options, improved performance and developer workflows
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/logic-apps-updated-with-new-hosting-options-improved-performance-and-developer-workflows/

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/azure-arc-enabled-data-services-now-in-preview/

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/azureobjectanchorsprivatepreview/

Public preview: Azure role-based access control (RBAC) for Kubernetes authorization
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/public-preview-azure-rbac-for-kubernetes-authorization/

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/announcing-private-azure-marketplace-in-public-preview/
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/azure-kubernetes-service-mutate-default-storage-class-feature/
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/redis-enterprise-features-on-azure-cache-for-redis-coming-soon/
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/ga-aks-support-for-new-base-image-ubuntu-1804/
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/ga-policy-addon-for-azure-kubernetes-service/