We are fortunate to have Azure Senior PM, Bernardo Muñoz on the show to talk about a new facility called Azure Resource Health which makes diagnosing problems with VMs etc. so much easier. Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode111.mp3 Blog about this service: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/reduce-troubleshooting-time-with-azure-resource-health/   Other updates and resources: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/the-state-of-the-union-with-microsoft-pulse-and-azure-event-hubs/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-batch-service-update-december-2015/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/analyzing-your-azure-search-traffic/

Cale talks about his project and how he leveraged Azure Search and DocumentDB to get a project off the ground quickly. Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode110.mp3 Azure Automation: Graphical and textual runbook authoring https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-automation-graphical-and-textual-runbook-authoring/ Azure Blockchain as a Service Update #3 https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-blockchain-as-a-service-update-3/ API Management: Advanced caching and throttling policies https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/api-management-advanced-caching-and-throttling-policies/ Notifying users of data received from sensors or other systems https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/notifying-users-of-data-received-from-sensors-or-other-systems/ Azure Automation Desired State Configuration generally available https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/automation-dsc-overview/?WT.mc_id=azurebg_email_Trans_981_MOSP#what-is-azure-automation-dsc Azure Premium Storage generally available in additional region https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/storage/premium-storage/?WT.mc_id=azurebg_email_Trans_981_MOSP Microsoft Operations Management Suite alert notification and remediation in public preview https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/operations-management-suite/overview.aspx?WT.mc_id=azurebg_email_Trans_981_MOSP Azure Role-Based Access Control with custom roles generally available http://blogs.technet.com/b/ad/archive/2015/12/10/custom-roles-in-azure-rbac-is-now-ga.aspx?WT.mc_id=azurebg_email_Trans_981_MOSP Classic NSGs now supported in Ibiza

Cale and Sujit review the podcasts in 2015 and discuss some of the highlights of the year that defined Azure. Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode109.mp3 Other updates: Introducing a simplified configuration experience for SQL Server in Azure Virtual Machines https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/new-configuration-experience-sql-server-virtual-machines/ Load data to Azure Data Lake Store with high throughput http://blogs.msdn.com/b/yingqin/archive/2015/12/29/load-data-to-azure-data-lake-store-with-high-throughput.aspx Azure WebJobs with Storage Queue and Exceptions http://blogs.msdn.com/b/mustafakasap/archive/2015/12/26/azure-webjobs-with-storage-queue-and-exceptions.aspx https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/support/guids-migration-documentdb/  

Based on some feedback from a Twitter follower, Cale and Sujit do a bit of a deep dive on Azure Service Fabric. Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode108.mp3 Other updates: Microsoft Azure Stack: Hardware requirements for preview release https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/microsoft-azure-stack-hardware-requirements-for-preview-release/ September update for Web Apps and App Service environments in the Azure Preview Portal https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/september-update-for-web-apps-and-app-service-environments-in-the-azure-preview-portal/ Backing up DocumentDB Databases https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/backing-up-documentdb-databases/ Just FYI - Support Ending for the .NET Framework 4, 4.5, 4.5.1 @ January 12, 2016 http://blogs.msdn.com/b/deva/archive/2015/12/22/just-fyi-support-ending-for-the-net-framework-4-4-5-4-5-1-january-12-2016.aspx Open Source + Azure (series) https://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/TechNet+Radio/TechNet-Radio-Part-1-Open-Source--Azure-Building-Linux-in-the-Cloud FREE! Online training on Azure Big Data/Machine Learning https://mva.microsoft.com/en-US/training-courses/implementing-big-data-analysis-8311?l=gOOGH0Yy_4304984382  

The guys talk to Piyush Joshi who is a Senior PM in the Azure Mobile Engagement Services team. He gives us the low-down on this new offering. Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode107.mp3   Here are some useful links:  https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/mobile-engagement/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/mobile-engagement-overview/ Recent blog post - https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-mobile-engagement-december-2015-update/ Twitter handle - https://twitter.com/AzureMobileEng   Other recent updates: Azure Data Lake now integrated with Azure Data Catalog https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-data-lake-now-integrated-with-azure-data-catalog/ DocumentDB paging support with TOP and more query improvements https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/documentdb-paging-support-with-top-and-more-query-improvements/ Announcing the StorSimple Virtual Array Preview https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/announcing-the-storsimple-virtual-array-preview/ Glimpse at Application Insights Telemetry https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/glimpse-application-insights/

The guys have a discussion on how customers can grapple with the various cloud vendors and frameworks. Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode106.mp3 http://libcloud.apache.org/ http://www.openstack.org/ http://www.cloudscale-project.eu/ http://www8.hp.com/us/en/cloud/helion-eucalyptus-overview.html Other updates: Run U-SQL scripts locally with updated Azure Data Lake Tools for Visual Studio https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/run-u-sql-scripts-locally-with-updated-azure-data-lake-tools-for-visual-studio/ Exploring Azure DocumentDB in Visual Studio https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/exploring-azure-documentdb-in-visual-studio/ The new Recommendations feature for Azure App Service https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/new-recommendations-feature-for-azure-app-service/ Azure SQL Server: To upgrade or not to upgrade, that is the question https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-sql-server-to-upgrade-or-not-to-upgrade-that-is-the-question/ Microsoft offers new certification for Linux on Azure http://news.microsoft.com/2015/12/09/microsoft-offers-new-certification-for-linux-on-azure/  

We are fortunate to talk to Scott Zhang who is a Senior PM with the Open Source Technology group about the new release of the DSC for Linux Extensions. Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode105.mp3 https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introduce-azure-dscforlinux-extension/ Other resources: Announcing general availability of AzCopy 5.0 with File and Table Storage support https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/announcing-general-availability-of-azcopy-5-0-with-file-and-table-storage-support/ Announcing general availability of App Service Mobile Apps https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/announcing-general-availability-of-app-service-mobile-apps/ Azure Container Service preview https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-container-service-preview/ Azure Security Center now available https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-security-center-now-available/ Announcing availability of Debian GNU/Linux as an endorsed distribution in Azure Marketplace https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/debian-images-now-available-on-azure/

We introduce the new concept of Azure VM Scale Sets and discuss how scaling can be achieved across Azure services. Today we are announcing the public preview of Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets   Audio file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode104.mp3     Other updates and resources:   http://summit7systems.com/the-performance-impact-of-premium-storage-in-microsoft-azure/ Azure Preview Portal - November 2015 update https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-preview-portal-november-2015-update/ Using Azure Machine Learning with SQL Data Warehouse https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/using-azure-machine-learning-with-sql-data-warehouse/ Azure PowerShell 1.0 https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azps-1-0/ Azure App Service Updates – November 2015 https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-app-service-updates-november-2015/ Here’s the subscription limits article - https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/azure-subscription-service-limits/#virtual-machines-limits  

As part of our make-it-real series, the guys discuss a question posed to us by a colleague regarding migrating a realtime financial app to Azure PaaS. Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode103.mp3 Other updates: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/announcing-app-service-authentication-authorization/   What's in ARM and what's not? https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/resource-manager-supported-services/   This post summarizes the updates and how the new tools will improve your Azure development experience. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/announcing-the-azure-sdk-2-8-for-net/   Azure Disk Encryption for Linux and Windows Virtual Machines-Public Preview Now Available http://blogs.msdn.com/b/azuresecurity/archive/2015/11/16/azure-disk-encryption-for-linux-and-windows-virtual-machines-public-preview.aspx   Azure Service Fabric in Public Preview https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/service-fabric/   Azure Dev/Test Labs in Public Preview https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/devtest-lab/  

Cale and Sujit chat with Jos De Bruijn, a Senior PM in the Data Services team, about this new in-memory processing option for SQL Azure.   https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/sql-database-in-memory/ https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn133186.aspx Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode102.mp3 Other updates: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/public-preview-threat-detection-for-azure-sql-database/ https://soundcloud.com/theredzonepodcast/an-insaciders-look-at-the-security-of-microsoft-azure-assume-the-breach-episode-28 https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/general-availability-azure-sql-database-query-store/