Microsoft Cloud Updates (week of 16th March 2020)

#CloudSecurity

Azure Web Application Firewall for Azure Content Delivery Network is in preview

Protect your web applications from common exploits and vulnerabilities with Web Application Firewall for Azure Content Delivery Network from Microsoft. Web Application Firewall is already natively integrated with Azure Application Gateway and Azure Front Door services.

Onboard on-prem servers to Security Center from Windows Admin Center

Windows Admin Center is a management portal for Windows Servers who are not deployed in Azure offering them several Azure management capabilities such as backup and system updates.

Azure Sentinel generally available in Azure Government

Azure Sentinel is now generally available in Azure Government, starting with US Gov Virginia region.

Announcing Azure Private Link GA for Azure Services

Azure Private Link now includes multiple new services available in Preview and GA.

#IaaS

Announcing Azure Private Link GA for Azure Services

Azure Storage, Azure Data Lake Storage Gen 2, Azure SQL Database, Azure Cosmos DB, Azure Synapse Analytics (SQL Data Warehouse), etc.

HBv2-Series VMs are Generally Available in West Europe

HBv2 VMs are now Generally Available in the West Europe region.

Action Required—Log Analytics agent for Windows will enforce SHA-2 signing on May 18, 2020

The Log Analytics agent for Windows, sometimes known as the OMS Windows agent or Microsoft Monitoring agent, will begin to enforce SHA-2 signing on May 18, 2020. This change only requires action if you are running the agent on a legacy OS version (Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, or Windows Server 2008).

Log Analytics Agent for Windows March 2020 release is now available

The Log Analytics Agent for Windows March 2020 release is now available. This release contains several bug fixes and improvements to stability and reliability.

Azure Storage—Append Blob immutability support now generally available

Store business-critical data objects in a non-erasable and non-modifiable state for a user-specified retention interval using immutable storage for Azure Blob storage.

Azure Data Explorer deployment into Azure Virtual Networks now generally available

Deployment of an Azure Data Explorer into a virtual network is now generally available. Use this capability to:

Enforce network security group (NSG) rules on your Azure Data Explorer cluster traffic.
Connect your on-premises network to Azure Data Explorer cluster’s subnet.
Secure your data connection sources (Azure Event Hub and Azure Event Grid) with service endpoints.

Http Raw logs for Azure Content Delivery Network

Cache, accelerate, and secure your content via hundreds of edge sites located globally with the Azure Content Delivery Network, a cloud-scaled CDN-as-a-service offering.

App Service regional Virtual Network integration is now available

The regional Virtual Network integration feature has now entered general availability (GA) and supports sending all outbound calls into your virtual network. Use features like network NSGs and UDRs against all outbound traffic from your web app

#AI-ML-IoT

Translator encryption of data at rest with customer managed keys

Encrypt customer data stored at rest by default, with no additional action required from you, using Microsoft Custom Translator.

Cognitive Services introduces new Neural Text to Speech voices for different styles

We are excited to be rolling out new speaking styles for newscast, voice assistant and customer service scenarios for our English and Chinese neural voices.

Azure IoT Edge 1.0.9 release is now available

The Azure IoT Edge 1.0.9 release is available with support for x.509 certs and the ‘IoT Edge support-bundle’ command.

#Serverless

Azure Functions custom handlers are now in preview

Extend the Azure Functions runtime with support for your preferred language or language version using a lightweight HTTP server.

#DevOps

Multi-organisation billing for Azure DevOps is now available

Multi-organisation billing for Azure DevOps is now available.

#Data

Private Link for Azure SQL Database is now available

Connect privately from an Azure Virtual Network to Azure SQL Database using Private Link, now in general availability.

Azure Database for MySQL—Connection redirection support for PHP drivers

Redirection support for the MySQL and PHP driver used to connect to Azure Database for MySQL is now available in preview. Take advantage of the MySQL and Azure extension to improve the connection latency between applications and Azure Database for MySQL.

Azure Private Link for Azure Cosmos DB is now generally available

Limit data exposure to the public internet and reduce the risk of data exfiltration by accessing your Azure Cosmos accounts from virtual networks via private IP addresses.

Azure Cache for Redis reserved capacity now available

Save up to 55 percent on your Azure Cache for Redis premium tier usage by pre-purchasing reserved capacity for one year or three years.