Azure Security Center now adds Context Alerts to provide more details and create a bigger picture as to what happened at the time of a security alert being triggered. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/blog/azure-security-center-adds-context-alerts-to-aid-threat-investigation/
Azure Backup now offers system state backups for Windows Servers offering a solid DR solution and offering protection for Active Directory, File-Servers and IIS Web servers. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/blog/windows-server-system-state-backup-azure
Azure is now ISO 9001:2015 certified. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/blog/we-re-all-about-the-quality-azure-achieves-iso-9001-2015-certification/
Some useful tips to secure your systems from the WannaCry ransomware and other vulnerabilities by applying some hardening. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/blog/wannacrypt-attacks-guidance-for-azure-customers/
Azure SQL Databases geo-replication now offers auto-failover including connection strings that don’t change – in preview. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/blog/azure-sql-database-now-supports-transparent-geographic-failover-of-multiple-databases-featuring-automatic-activation/
Upto 4TB storage for Premium elastic pools in Azure SQL Databases. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/blog/more-storage-for-premium-elastic-pools-in-azure-sql-database/
Optimisation tips and tricks with R Services on Azure SQL Server and any Machine Learning Services integrated with SQL Server. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/blog/optimization-tips-and-tricks-on-azure-sql-server-for-machine-learning-services/
A new role can be applied to give specific users access to billing information – Billing Reader role. Invoice API is also in preview. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/blog/azure-billing-reader-role-and-preview-of-invoice-api/
The most comprehensive whitepaper I’ve read to date on the technical requirements and solutions that can be implemented for GDPR compliance. Microsoft are taking this seriously and providing the solutions […]
Another great article this time showing how Azure Security Center has detected a bitcoin mining attack after some malware was downloaded. The characterises of the tasks performed by the malware […]
Azure Analysis Services, the OLAP engine and BI modeling platform, is now general availability. Consume data from Cloud sources such as Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Data Warehouse and […]
Availability Sets and Load Balancers can now be included in disaster recovery plans with Azure Site Recovery. Additional protection for applications. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/blog/cloud-migration-and-disaster-recovery-of-load-balanced-multi-tier-applications-using-azure-site-recovery/
Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) B2C is a global, highly available identity management service for consumer-facing applications. It’s now available for European countries allowing compliance for where authentication / logins […]
A great article detailing the SLAs of DocumentDB and why it is a great solution for those non-relational or schema-less requirements. Global scale, blazing fast, highly secure, limitless, NoSQL. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/blog/azure-documentdb-service-level-agreements/
This could be a useful tool to quickly audit a VM and also plan for scheduled updates. Azure Instance Metadata Service. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/blog/announcing-public-preview-of-azure-instance-metadata-service/
A nice and quick tutorial on how to create a video library using PowerApps and Azure Media services. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/blog/ams-powerapps/
Great to see Microsoft embracing more 3rd party vendors and welcoming them into the Azure world. Docker, Kubernetes and DC/OS amongst others integrates with Azure Container Registry. Support for Windows […]
We’re that little bit closer to being GDPR compliant now. Locating, classifying and tracking access to personal data is a key requirement and with Azure Information Protection this new grey […]
Azure Monitor now generally available. Monitor service-level metrics and logs and configure alerts. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/blog/announcing-the-general-availability-of-azure-monitor/
Azure Web Application Firewall now available. Protect your apps against attacks and common known vulnerabilities, such as SQL injection and cross site scripting attacks. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/blog/azure-web-application-firewall-waf-generally-available/