MICROSOFT AZURE

THE TIME HAS COME FOR SERVERLESS AUTOMATION IN AZURE FUNCTIONS

In April Microsoft announced the preview release of PowerShell support in Azure Functions following numerous customer requests. In doing so Microsoft have made it possible to automate operational tasks and take advantage of the native Azure integration to modernise the delivering and maintenance of services.

Interested? Create your first PowerShell function in Azure now.

AZURE FRONT DOOR SERVICE NOW GENERALLY AVAILABLE

Launched in preview last year, Azure Front Door Service (AFD) is a scalable and secure entry point for fast delivery of your global applications. AFD currently provides global coverage in over 35 countries across 65 metros and provides a 99.99% availability SLA. Other features include:

Application and API acceleration

Global HTTP load balancing

SSL offload

WAF @ Edge

AZURE DEVOPS NOW AVAILABLE IN THE UK

Back in September 2018 Microsoft announced Azure DevOps. In April 2019 we were greeted with the news that Azure DevOps is now available in the UK. New customers can now create an Azure DevOps organisation in the UK Azure geography by selecting it in the drop-down, and existing customers can request a move of their Azure DevOps organisation by contacting Microsoft Support.

Azure DevOps now available in the UK. Source: Microsoft

AZURE AD PASSWORD PROTECTION NOW GENERALLY AVAILABLE

Azure AD Password Protection allows you to eliminate easily guessed passwords and customise lockout settings for your environment. In April Microsoft announced that Azure AD Password Protection is now generally available!

To help users avoid choosing weak and vulnerable passwords, Microsoft have updated the banned password algorithm. Using the global banned password list that Microsoft updates and the custom list you define, Azure AD Password Protection now blocks a wider range of easily guessable passwords.

MICROSOFT EXTENDS AZURE SECURITY CAPABILITIES

Security has always been critically important to Microsoft, so it came as no surprise during Hannover Messe 2019 that they had the following security announcements to make:

Advanced Threat Protection for Azure Storage now generally available

Regulatory compliance dashboard in Azure Security Center generally available

Azure Security Center now supports VM Scale Sets

Announcing Azure Dedicated HSM service availability in UK, Canada, and Australia regions

Announcing Azure Disk Encryption general availability for Virtual Machine Scale Sets

Regulatory compliance dashboard in Azure Security Center. Source: Microsoft

AZURE FUNCTIONS PREMIUM PLAN FOR ENTERPRISE SERVERLESS WORKLOADS

Last month Microsoft announced that the Azure Functions Premium Plan is now in preview. The plan enables a suite of long requested scaling and connectivity options without compromising on event-based scale. With the Premium Plan you can use pre-warmed instances to run your app with no delay after being idle, you can run on more powerful instances, and you can connect to VNETs, all while automatically scaling in response to load.

Comparison chart – Consumption Plan vs. Premium Plan. Source: Microsoft

Sound good? Get started with the Premium Plan, or learn how to switch functions between Consumption and Premium plans.

WINDOWS SERVER 2019 SUPPORT NOW AVAILABLE FOR WINDOWS CONTAINERS

Be more cost effective with reduced container size, and benefit from faster startup times with new, cache-based images with Windows Server 2019 Container support. As of right now the support is only available in Azure’s West US, East US, West Europe, North Europe, East Asia, and East Australia regions but stay tuned, we don’t imagine the UK will have to wait for too long!

ARE YOU READY FOR THE AI FOR GOOD: DEVELOPER CHALLENGE?

Do you have an idea that could improve and empower the lives of everyone in a more accessible way? Or perhaps you have an idea that would help create a sustainable balance between modern society and the environment? Even if it’s just the kernel of an idea, it’s a concept worth exploring with the AI for Good: Developer Challenge!

If you’re a developer, a data scientist, a student of AI, or even just passionate about AI and machine learning, Microsoft are encouraging you to take part in the AI for Good: Developer Challenge and improve the world by sharing your ideas.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Hybrid storage performance comes to Azure

Secure your cluster using pod security policies in AKS

Azure Cost Management now generally available for pay-as-you-go customers

Microsoft reports 73% annual increase in Azure revenue

Price reductions for Azure Container Instances now available

Get certified as a Microsoft Azure Architect for just $19

Microsoft doubles size of UK Azure regions, increasing compute capacity by >1500%