The whole gang talks to Amit Bapat, a PM in the Azure team about perhaps the most important and least known Azure service of all - Key Vault.

Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode153.mp3

Docs  http://aka.ms/kvdocs

Blog http://aka.ms/kvblog

Feedback AzureKeyVault@microsoft.com

Community https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/forums/azure/en-US/home?forum=AzureKeyVault

Other updates:

• Azure Backup already supports backup and restore of virtual machines created through the classic and Azure Resource Manager deployment models, along with Azure Premium Storage VMs.
• Azure Backup now supports backup and restore of virtual machines encrypted through Azure Disk Encryption.
• Azure functions GA'd this week
• Bot as a service (uses functions + Bot framework to provide serverless compute).
• We're excited to introduce a public preview of the DocumentDB Emulator, which provides a local development experience for the Azure DocumentDB service.
• Today, Microsoft announced a new partnership with OpenAI, a nonprofit AI research organization co-founded by Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever.

Evan and Sujit talk to Bob Ward, a Principal PM from the SQL Server team about SQL Server 2016 and Azure.

Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode152.mp3

http://aka.ms/bobsql

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/sql_server_team

http://twitter.com/bobwardms 

Other updates:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/general-availability-in-memory-oltp-in-azure-sql-database-premium/ 
 
Azure Container Registry preview
From <https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-container-registry-preview/> 
 
Azure DocumentDB updates: quick start experience, backup and restore, and firewall support  
From <https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-documentdb-updates-new-quick-start-experience-preview-of-backup-restore-and-firewall/> 

Azure Media Redactor in public preview   
Media Redactor is a media processor that automatically blurs faces from video. For more information, please visit the Azure Blog. 

Microsoft Cognitive Services: Content Moderator in public preview   
Part of Microsoft Cognitive Services, Content Moderator automatically filters out offensive content in text, image, and video across platforms, and includes human review tools for more nuanced cases.  
   

Cale and Evan talk to Sarah Fender, a Principal Program Manager in the Azure team, about the Security Center.

Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode151.mp3

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/security-center/

Other updates

Azure Active Directory Domain Services generally available
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/active-directory-ds

Azure HDInsight introduces advanced security capabilities in public preview
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/hdinsight/

Azure Analysis Services in public preview
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/analysis-services

Microsoft Cognitive Services: Translator generally available
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/cognitive-services

The guys discuss the recent DDOS attack and how we can protect ourselves and our cloud infrastructure from this type of attack.

Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode150.mp3

Other updates:

Azure Certified for IoT expands to help customers choose the right IoT device
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/microsoft-expands-azure-certified-for-iot-to-help-customers-choose-the-right-iot-device/

Chain joins the Azure Ecosystem
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/bletchley-chain/

Announcing support for Files in the Storage Client Library for C++
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/announcing-support-for-files-in-the-storage-client-library-for-c/

Geo-filtering available for Akamai Standard profiles
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/geo-filtering-available-for-akamai-standard-profiles/

The most trusted Government Cloud for mission critical workloads - check the facts
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/the-most-trusted-government-cloud-for-mission-critical-workloads-check-the-facts/

The guys discuss IoT Hub.

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/iot-hub/

Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode149.mp3

Other updates:

Project Bletchley: Blockchain infrastructure updates
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/project-bletchley-blockchain-infrastructure-updates/

DocumentDB updates in the Azure Portal: New metrics blade and improved collections management
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/documentdb-portal-updates-improved-collections-management-and-new-metrics-page/

Top 4 reasons for using Azure Security Center for partner security solutions
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/top-4-reasons-for-using-azure-security-center-for-partner-security-solutions/

Azure Managed Cache and In-Role Cache Service shutdown reminder
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-managed-cache-and-in-role-cache-service-shutdown-reminder/

Simpler Azure Management Libraries for Java - Beta 3
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/simpler-azure-management-libraries-for-java-beta-3/

Improved SLA for ExpressRoute
Effective immediately, we are increasing our service-level agreement (SLA) for ExpressRoute circuits and select VPN gateways from 99.9 percent per month to 99.95 percent per month. The SLA improvement has been possible due to several availability and reliability enhancements we have made to this service.

For more information, please visit our SLA for ExpressRoute and SLA for VPN Gateway webpages. The new improved SLA applies to all existing and active ExpressRoute circuits when used with the Standard, High Performance, and Ultra Performance Gateway types.

We talk to Anna Roth, a PM with the Azure Cognitive Services team. She gives is the low-down on these amazing services that can literally transform most businesses. 

https://www.microsoft.com/cognitive-services

Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode148.mp3

Other updates:

Linux support in Azure App Service
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/azure-app-service-releases-a-preview-introducing-linux-support-for-node-js-and-php-stacks/
 
 Azure App Service Companion preview
 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=azureApps.AzureApps
 
 Azure Stream Analytics query testing now available in the new portal
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/stream-analytics-querytesting/

Azure Stream Analytics query testing now available in the new portal
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/stream-analytics-querytesting/

Keeping up with Azure Government: September Highlights
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/keeping-up-with-azure-government-september-highlights/

Azure PowerShell 3.0.0–Highlights and breaking changes
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-powershell-300/

Azure Backup hosts Ask Me Anything session
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-backup-reddit-ama-oct20th/

Deep Neural Network in Azure
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/machinelearning/2016/10/12/deep-neural-network-in-azure/

Running the MEAN stack on Microsoft Azure (Part I)
http://openness.microsoft.com/2016/10/10/running-mean-stack-microsoft-azure-part/

 Getting Started with Temporal Tables in Azure SQL Database documentation webpage. To use temporal retention, customers can visit the Manage temporal history with retention policy documentation webpage.
 
UltraPerformance Gateway tier for Azure ExpressRoute generally available
The UltraPerformance Gateway connects a virtual network to an Azure ExpressRoute circuit and provides five times the network throughput of the HighPerformance Gateway. Customers can now deploy more network-intensive workloads in their virtual networks. ExpressRoute UltraPerformance Gateway is currently available in the West Central US and Central US regions and can be linked to ExpressRoute circuits located in Chicago, Illinois and Dallas, Texas. More Azure regions and ExpressRoute locations will become available in the coming weeks.

Improving Azure App Service Node.js and PHP developer experience with Linux support
In March 2015, Azure App Service became generally available, making it easier for web developers to do cool things in the cloud. In addition to a great experience for .NET developers, it supports PHP, Node.js, Java, and Python stacks, as well as a number of open source web products. A new public preview introduces native Linux support for Node.js and PHP stacks.

Name update for Microsoft Cognitive Services in invoices
As of October 11, 2016, customers using Microsoft Cognitive Services for Bing Search APIs, Bing Autosuggest APIs, and Bing Speller APIs will see new overage meters in their invoices. Previously, for any Standard plan, overages appeared as Standard S2 meters. Resource prices will remain unchanged.

We have a bit of a geek-out with one of our listeners, Mattias Karlsson, about a topic that he's very passionate about - Kudu. He tells us why this is an indispensable tool when it comes to Azure App service and can also be used on-premises!

Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode147.mp3

Twitter is the best option to find Mattias
                https://twitter.com/devlead

And the company he's a partner and sr. architect at is WCOM and is found here:
                http://www.wcom.se

Kudu is found here on GitHub:
                https://github.com/projectkudu/kudu

Other updates:

• General Purpose Instances: Prices of our Dv2 series VMs will be reduced by up to 15%. We are also lowering prices of our A1 and A2 Basic VMs by up to 50%.
• Compute Optimized Instances: Prices of our F series will be reduced up to 11%.
• Av2 series: In November 2016, we will introduce new A series virtual machines (Av2), with prices up to 36% lower than the A series Standard VM prices available today.

From <https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/new-lower-azure-pricing/?WT.mc_id=azurebg_email_Trans_1203_New_Lower_Azure_Pricing>

OMS TECH Fridays - Fall 2016 season
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/oms-tech-friday-skype-sessions-2/

Azure DocumentDB SDK updates include Python 3 support
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-documentdb-sdk-updates-include-python-3-support/

Azure IoT loves Open Source
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-iot-loves-open-source/

Real-Time Feature Engineering for Machine Learning with DocumentDB
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/real-time-feature-engineering-for-machine-learning-with-documentdb/

Microsoft Cloud coming to France
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/microsoft-cloud-coming-to-france/

Required practice for applications integrating with Azure Active Directory
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/required-practice-for-applications-integrating-with-azure-active-directory/

Cale, Evan, Russell and Sujit have an in-depth talk with Rasmus Hald, a Technical Evangelist from Microsoft Denmark about a topic that is near and dear to him : Treating deployments as code.

He walks us through the 5 steps we can take to better manage our deployments in Azure:

1. Source Controlled
2. In code (Scripts & Templates)
3. Automated & Continuous Deployment
4. Testing
5. Feedback loop (Monitoring)

Link to his GitHub Repo: https://github.com/rasmushald/BrickOps

Reach out to him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RasmusHaldDK

Media file:

http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode146.mp3

Other updates: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/campaigns/ignite-2016/

We talk to Christina Compy, a Principal PM on the Azure team, about running Java apps on Azure.

Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode145.mp3

Resources:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/web-sites-java-get-started/
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/develop/java/
http://tryappservice.azure.com/

Other updates:

https://trello.com/b/FAA147vS/azure-api-management-product-roadmap

Bletchley - release & roadmap - Cryplets deep dive
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/cryptletsdd/

Project Bletchley - Blockchain infrastructure made easy
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/project-bletchley-blockchain-infrastructure-made-easy/

Data Factory supports multiple web service inputs for Azure ML Batch Execution
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/data-factory-multiple-web-service-inputs-azure-ml-batch-execution/

Announcing the release of Azure Mobile Apps Node SDK v3.0.0
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/announcing-the-release-of-azure-mobile-apps-node-sdk-v3-0-0/

Build cloud apps at warp speed
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/build-cloud-apps-at-warp-speed/

We have a great chat with James Baker, from the Azure DX team, about an interesting service that he has worked on called DASH that helps get around the current performance limitations on Storage accounts.

https://github.com/MicrosoftDX/DASH 

Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode144.mp3

Other updates:

Join the Microsoft Azure Stack Meetup @ Ignite 2016
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/join-the-microsoft-azure-stack-meetup-ignite-2016/

Azure Event Hubs Archive is now in public preview, providing efficient micro-batch processing
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-event-hubs-archive-in-public-preview/

Service Fabric on Linux support available this month
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/service-fabric-on-linux-support-available-this-month/

Announcing the General Availability of Storage Service Encryption for Data at Rest
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/announcing-the-general-availability-of-storage-service-encryption-for-data-at-rest/

Free ebook: Microsoft Azure Essentials: Fundamentals of Azure, Second Edition
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/microsoft_press/2016/09/01/free-ebook-microsoft-azure-essentials-fundamentals-of-azure-second-edition/

Devcon 2 - Ethereum conference
https://ethereumfoundation.org/devcon/