Microsoft Cloud Updates (week of 10th Feb 2020)

IFI Tech Expert — Thu, 05 Mar 2020 12:22:02 +0000

#CloudSecurity

Native Azure Active Directory authentication support and Azure VPN Client now available.

Native Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) authentication support for OpenVPN protocol and Azure VPN Client for Windows are now generally available for Azure point-to-site (P2S) VPN.

Azure Resource Manager template support for NSG flow logs.

Azure Resource Manager is a native and powerful way to manage your infrastructure as code. Now, Azure Resource Manager supports the deployment of network security group (NSG) flow logs through Azure Resource Manager templates. NSG flow logs are now an Azure Resource Manager resource so you have the ability to deploy flow logs programmatically and set up Azure Governance policies to verify that flow logs are enabled.

Introducing the new Azure Monitor Log Analytics table pane (Schema).

Azure Monitor Log Analytics schema allows you to easily understand our data structure and navigate Log Analytics to reach the content you need.

#IaaS

Azure Backup now supports Windows Server 2008 Virtual Machine backup.

You can now migrate your on-premises Windows Server 2008 to Azure, where you can continue to run and back them up on Azure virtual machines using Azure Backup. In Azure you will stay compliant, become more secure and add cloud innovation to your work.

#AI-ML-IoT

Azure Cognitive Services—New types added to Named Entity Recognition v3

The Named Entity Recognition (NER) v3 service (in preview) of Cognitive Services Text Analytics now has new entity types available, expanding the detection of general and personal information entities found in text.

< b>Azure Cognitive Services Text Analytics sentiment analysis v3 now supports Korean

The sentiment analysis v3 feature of Cognitive Services Text Analytics now supports Korean in addition to English, Japanese, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, German and Dutch.

#Serverless

Update servers and applications to TLS 1.2 by 13th March 2020

Update your servers and applications that communicate with Azure Container Registry to use transport layer security (TLS) 1.2 by 13th March 2020, to improve secure communication and to avoid any service

Kubernetes on Azure Stack in GA

We now support Kubernetes cluster deployment on Azure Stack, a certified Kubernetes Cloud Provider. Install Kubernetes using Azure Resource Manager templates generated by ACS-Engine on Azure Stack.

#DevOps

New Azure DevOps features include improved Azure Pipelines security with read-only variables

An update to Azure DevOps includes improved Azure Pipelines security with read-only variables and support for output variables in deployment jobs.

#Identity

Azure Active Directory Domain Services meter name changes

The meter names of Azure Active Directory Domain Services directory objects will change between 10th December 2019 and 1st February 2020. The name changes will be in effect to accommodate upcoming enhancements. This will not impact existing service behaviour, only the name you see on your bill.

#Data

New Azure SQL Database automatic tuning default settings.

In March 2020, Azure SQL Database will introduce new automatic tuning default settings designed to provide optimal database performance.

#PowerPlatform

Microsoft Power BI Blog

This blog post covers the latest updates for Power BI embedded analytics and Power BI visuals platform.

Authored By Sarvesh Pandey, Ping Fung Yin and Onkar Vichare

The post Microsoft Cloud Updates (week of 10th Feb 2020) first appeared on IFI Techsolutions.

First Microsoft cloud regions in Middle East now available

IFI Tech Expert — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 12:35:53 +0000

On 18^th June 2019, Microsoft took a major step towards supporting the digital transformation of their customers. Microsoft announced that its first data center regions in the Middle East are now online. The data centers are located in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and will offer local access to the usual suite of services, including Azure’s cloud computing services and Office 365. Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, offering the next generation of intelligent business applications and tools, are anticipated to be available from the cloud regions in UAE by the end of 2019.

The opening of the new cloud regions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai marks the first time Microsoft will deliver cloud services directly from datacenter locations in UAE and expands upon Microsoft’s existing investments in the Gulf and the wider Middle East region. By delivering the complete Microsoft cloud – Azure, Office 365, and Dynamics 365 – from datacenters in a given geography, Microsoft offers scalable, highly available, and resilient cloud services for organizations while helping them meet their data residency, security, and compliance needs.

Microsoft has deep expertise in data protection, security, and privacy, including the broadest set of compliance certifications in the industry, and Microsoft is the first cloud service provider in UAE to achieve the Dubai Electronic Security Center certification for its cloud services. Their continued focus on trusted cloud principles and leadership in compliance means customers in the region can accelerate their digital transformation with confidence and with the foundation to achieve compliance for their own applications.

Local datacenter infrastructure stimulates economic development for both customers and partners alike, enabling companies, governments, and regulated industries to realize the benefits of the cloud for innovation, as well as bolstering the technology ecosystem that supports the innovation.

Interested in Microsoft Azure, Let’s CONNECT!

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