The Azure Podcast

Cale is at Build 2016 in San Francisco and we discuss all the latest Azure related announcements. Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode121.mp3 https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-azure-functions/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-service-fabric-is-ga/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/general-availability-virtual-machine-scale-sets/    

  WARNING - GEEK episode! Cale takes us into the futuristic world of Blockchains and explains the technology to us mere mortals. We also explore what this means to host this technology on Azure. Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode120.mp3 Resources: https://ethereum.github.io/solidity/ https://www.ethernodes.org/network/1 https://bitnodes.21.co/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/partners/consensys/blockapps-strato/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/search/blog/?q=blockchain Other resources and updates: Microservices: An application revolution powered by the cloud https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/microservices-an-application-revolution-powered-by-the-cloud/ Developer's introduction to Azure IoT https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/developer-s-introduction-to-azure-iot/ Application Packages and Task Dependencies now available on Azure Batch https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/application-packages-and-task-dependencies-now-available-on-azure-batch/ Full text search of audio and video files https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/full-text-search-of-audio-and-video-files/ Transitioning to the Resource Manager model https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/transitioning-to-the-resource-manager-model/    

Cale and Sujit have a great chat with Azure Principal PM Arindam Chatterjee on the topic of Data Lake. Arindam demystifies the service for us and gives us some use-cases and scenarios where it makes sense to use it as opposed to other big data offerings from Azure. Arindam Chatterjee is a Principal Program Manager in the Microsoft Azure Big Data team.  He comes to big data after extensive experience in Transaction Processing, Authentication & Authorization technologies in Windows Core OS, and designing the Microsoft Dynamics security model. Arindam and his team are now focused on building a scalable analytic workload service that your big data jobs can run on as efficiently and reliably as possible across thousands of machines. In addition, he is also responsible for making Azure Data Lake services ready for adoption by Enterprises by building the appropriate Security & Compliance features. Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode119.mp3 Azure Data Lake links:   Azure Data Lake in 100 seconds (Video) Azure Data Lake landing page is here. Twitter: @azuredatalake & @azure   Other updates: Azure DevTest Lab is a service that helps developers and testers quickly create environments in Azure while minimizing waste and controlling cost. You can test the latest version of your application by quickly provisioning Windows and Linux environments using reusable templates and artifacts. Easily integrate your deployment pipeline with DevTest Lab to provision on-demand environments. Scale up your load testing by provisioning multiple test agents, and create pre-provisioned environments for training and demos. From   Today we are announcing the Docker Volume Plugin for Azure File Storage. Leveraging the SMB 3.0 protocol support capabilities of Azure File Storage on Linux. This open source Docker volume plugin allows Docker containers to have data volumes stored outside the Virtual Machine and therefore makes it easy to migrate stateful containers between hosts.   From

Charles Joy from the Azure Stack team, joins us again for an update on the technical preview release of the product. He shares feedback received from customers and tips and tricks for getting ready for and testing Azure Stack. Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode118.mp3 Azure Stack resources recommended by Charles: http://aka.ms/AzureStackakaGuide https://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/TechNet+Radio/TNR1635 https://channel9.msdn.com/events/TechNetVirtualConference/TechNetVC2016/Day-3-Azure-Stack-QA-with-Matt--Charles-and-Closing-Remarks https://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/Mechanics/An-early-look-at-Azure-Stack-and-what-it-means-for-IT-with-Jeffrey-Snover Other updates and resources: http://buildazure.com/2016/02/10/free-ebook-building-cloud-apps-with-microsoft-azure-devops-availability-storage-more https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/azure-app-service-supports-v2-virtual-networks/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/app-service-advisor-recommendations/ Announcing SQL Server on Linux http://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2016/03/07/announcing-sql-server-on-linux/ Transitioning Mobile Apps from Application Insights to HockeyApp https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/transitioning-mobile-apps-from-application-insights-to-hockeyapp/ Using the Azure WebJobs SDK to create custom Slack integrations https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/using-the-azure-webjobs-sdk-to-create-custom-slack-extensions/ Migrating your CDN resources from the classic Azure portal to the new Azure portal https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/migrating-your-cdn-resources-from-the-classic-azure-portal-to-the-new-azure-portal/ Deploy Java Web Apps to Azure using Eclipse https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/deploy-java-web-apps-to-azure-using-eclipse/

We have a nice technical chat with Brian Laws, a Cloud Architect with Summit 7 Systems, about how he migrated Sharepoint for a major customer to Azure.   Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode117.mp3 Introducing the CloudPro: http://summit7systems.com/introducing-the-cloudpro/ Performance Impact of Premium Storage on Microsoft Azure: http://summit7systems.com/the-performance-impact-of-premium-storage-in-microsoft-azure/   Other updates: New hybrid offerings deliver bottomless capacity for today's data explosion https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/microsoft-s-new-hybrid-offerings-deliver-bottomless-capacity-to-manage-today-s-data-explosion/ Azure Search introduces new lower cost tier in preview https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-search-introduces-new-lower-cost-tier-in-preview/ Announcing general availability of the StorSimple Virtual Array https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/announcing-general-availability-of-the-storsimple-virtual-array/ Anatomy of a breach: How hackers break in https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/anatomy-of-a-breach-how-hackers-break-in/ Microsoft first global CSP to receive the Cloud Security Mark (Gold) accreditation https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/microsoft-first-global-csp-to-receive-the-cloud-security-mark-gold-accreditation/ Guidance for running Elasticsearch on Azure https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/elasticsearch-on-azure-guidance/ Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection http://blogs.microsoft.com/firehose/2016/03/01/microsoft-announces-windows-defender-advanced-threat-protection-for-enterprise-customers/

We discuss the exciting world of Azure ML and Data Science with an expert in the field, Microsoft's Buck Woody. Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode116.mp3 Buck's blog: https://buckwoody.wordpress.com/ Cortana Analytics: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/cortana-analytics-suite/overview.aspx   Other updates: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/azure-automation-classic-portal-will-redirect-to-the-new-azure-portal-march-2016/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/preview-temporal-tables-in-azure-sql-database/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/public-preview-hdinsight-tools-for-intellij/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/logic-apps-improved-designer-and-managed-apis/ http://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2016/02/24/microsoft-to-acquire-xamarin-and-empower-more-developers-to-build-apps-on-any-device/

The guys have a great chat with Matt Usher, a Senior PM in the Azure team, on the Azure SQL Data Warehouse. Matt gives us the low-down on the  service and also provides some deep insights into the MPP technology used in the service.  Azure SQL Data Warehouse Overview: http://aka.ms/sqldw Create a new SQL Data Warehouse: http://aka.ms/newsqldw Matt's Twitter: http://twitter.com/two_under Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode115.mp3 Other updates for the week: New Storage Explorer http://storageexplorer.com - cross platform tool and actively maintained. Announcing more open options and choice on Microsoft Azure https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/more-open-source-innovation-azure/ Build an Azure App Service to record Raspberry Pi Sensor Data https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/build-an-azure-app-service-to-record-raspberry-pi-sensor-data/ Guidance for enterprises looking to take their application portfolio to the cloud https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/guidance-for-enterprises-looking-to-take-their-application-portfolio-to-the-cloud/ Azure welcomes Parse developers https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-welcomes-parse-developers/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/ssl-connection-pricing-changes/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/swagger-support-for-azure-mobile-apps-net-server-sdk/  

Cale and Sujit talk to Sam Gabor, who owns Advanced Trading Solutions, and discuss his foray into Azure, especially the SendGrid service for sending email. He offers valuable advice and tips for developers that want to incorporate sending email into their applications.   Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode114.mp3 Sam's tips on using SendGrid: CAN-SPAM Act Info: https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business Pay close attention to this part: “Each separate email in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act is subject to penalties of up to $16,000” In a bulk e-mail scenario, that can be disastrous! SendGrid API Docs: https://sendgrid.com/docs/API_Reference/ Mail tester site: https://www.mail-tester.com/ Some pointers on increasing e-mail deliverability: White-label domains that send e-mail through SendGrid (https://support.sendgrid.com/hc/en-us/articles/200548228-All-You-Need-to-Know-About-Whitelabeling ) Use http://mail-tester.com to score e-mails transmitted through SendGrid Always check SPAM reports in the SendGrid dashboard and act on them promptly.     Other updates: You can transfer a subscription to a colleague https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/azure/mt130656.aspx   Export Band Data http://winsupersite.com/microsoft-band/xportband-export-microsoft-band-data-gpx-file-format   https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/price-reduction-for-azure-media-indexer/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-search-indexer-for-azure-blob-storage-now-in-public-preview/  https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-premium-storage-available-in-more-regions/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/announcing-early-preview-of-azure-paas-services-and-devops-tools-for-azure-stack/    

The guys chat with Russell Young, who has joined Microsoft as a Principal PFE specializing in supporting customers with Azure Development. Russell’s passion is helping customers with their cloud and mobile strategies, as well as planning, designing and architecting modern software solutions. He shares some of his experiences with Azure.  Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode113.mp3 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftservices/premier_support_developers.aspx   Big news from last week - Azure Stack is now available in Preview: List of related links - http://aka.ms/azurestackakaguide Help Forum - http://aka.ms/azurestackforum Suggestions for Azure Stack - http://aka.ms/azurestackuservoice  

Evan talks about his favorite topic, networking. Specifically high-speed networking within IaaS VMs for gaming and financial markets scenarios. Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode112.mp3 http://www.ageofascent.com/azure-cloud-high-speed-networking/ Other resources: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/new-t-sql-programmability-features-in-azure-sql-database/