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Infrastructure + Security: Noteworthy News (March, 2021)
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You are reading the March issue of the Infrastructure + Security: Noteworthy News series! As a reminder, the Noteworthy News series covers various areas, to include interesting news, announcements, links, tips and tricks from Windows, Azure, and Security worlds on a monthly basis.
| Microsoft Azure |
New region added to Azure HDInsight
Azure HDinsight is now generally available in UAE Central
The Azure PowerShell modules expose over 4,000 cmdlets and, on average, ten parameters per cmdlet. Experienced PowerShell users will find the right cmdlet and parameter to achieve their goal but this can be more complicated for casual users.
Announcing Azure PowerShell 5.0
A major version is an opportunity to introduce several improvements that may not be compatible with the scripts that you have developed with a previous version. As always, we recommend that you read the migration guide to measure the impact of this new version on your environment. Az 5.0 introduces the following fundamental changes:
- Updated authentication
- A security update for Az.KeyVault
- Improved support for ACR (Azure Container Registry) and AKS (Azure Kubernetes Service)
- New default behaviors for Az.KeyVault and Az.Functions
Leveling Up Your Azure SQL Database Deployments | Data Exposed: MVP Edition
The Basic, Standard, and Premium service tiers fulfill a lot of customers' needs. For some customers, though, the General Purpose, Business Critical, and Hyperscale service tiers offer additional performance and ability that is required for certain workloads. Even if you don't require those abilities, the technology and infrastructure behind these are worth learning about! In this episode with Matt Gordon, we'll discuss those service tiers as well as discussing the differences between Provisioned and Serverless deployments on the General Purpose tier. Come learn how to ramp up your Azure SQL Database experience!
| Windows Server |
AD Explorer v1.50, Disk Usage v1.62, VMMap v3.31 and Sysmon v12.02
- AD Explorer v1.50 - This release of AdExplorer, an Active Directory (AD) viewer and editor, adds support for exporting data from the "Compare" dialog and is now available for x64 and ARM64.
- Disk Usage v1.62 - This release of Disk Usage (DU), a tool for viewing disk usage information, now also accounts for the MFT (Master File Table), removes the MAX_PATH limitation and is now available for ARM64.
- VMMap v3.31 -This update to VMMap, a utility that reports the virtual memory layout of a process, fixes a Thread Environment Block bug on Windows 10 systems.
- Sysmon v12.02 - This update to Sysmon fixes several configuration parsing bugs.
- ARM64 ports - New ARM64 releases for AdExplorer v1.50 and DU v1.62. Download all ARM64 tools in a single download with the Sysinternals Suite for ARM64.
Announcing Windows Admin Center in the Azure Portal
This new capability allows you to manage the Windows Server OS running on Azure IaaS VMs seamlessly and at a more granular level. This in-built functionality provides the opportunity for greater oversight of your workloads right from the Azure Portal.
PowerShell support for Server Migration with Azure Migrate is now generally available
Automate migration of VMware virtual machines to Azure using Azure Migrate and Azure PowerShell.
| Windows Client |
Microsoft Endpoint Manager announces two new partner-led workshops
Microsoft is excited to announce the launch of two new partner-led workshops: Endpoint Management Workshop and Secure Work from Anywhere Workshop. Both workshops introduce customers to the core components of Microsoft 365 as the critical first step on the path to digital transformation.
Year two: Extended Security Updates for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008
The Extended Security Update (ESU) program is a last resort for customers who need to run certain legacy Microsoft products past the end of support. Support for the following versions of Windows and Windows Server ended on January 14, 2020:
- Windows 7 SP1
- Windows 7 Professional for Embedded Systems
- Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 SP2
- Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 for Embedded Systems and Windows Server 2008 SP2 for Embedded Systems.
What’s new for IT pros in Windows 10, version 20H2
Windows 10, version 20H2 is now available through Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) and Windows Update for Business, and can be downloaded today from Visual Studio Subscriptions, the Software Download Center (via Update Assistant or the Media Creation Tool), and the Volume Licensing Service Center[1]. Today also marks the start of the 30-month servicing timeline for this Semi-Annual Channel release.
Simplifying on-premises deployment of servicing stack updates
To keep devices up to date, IT administrators who manage devices using on-premises methods must select and deploy the correct servicing stack update (SSU) with the latest cumulative update (LCU). In some cases, a specific version of the SSU must already be installed in order to install the latest LCU. If the device in question does not have the required SSU already installed, the LCU will fail to install.
| Security |
What's new in Azure Security Center- Oct 2020
Security Center is in active development and receives improvements on an ongoing basis. To stay up to date with the most recent developments, this page provides you with information about new features, bug fixes, and deprecated functionality.
Container Image Scanning Notification Playbook
Azure Container Registry (ACR) is a managed, private Docker registry service that stores and manages your container images for Azure deployments in a central registry. Azure Defender for container registries brings deeper visibility into the vulnerabilities effecting the container image. It scans every image for vulnerabilities and provides security recommendations using an integrated scanner powered by Qualys, the industry-leading vulnerability scanning.
| Updates and Support Lifecycle |
Release information for updates to Microsoft 365 Apps
New Release notes for Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise (Previously Office 365 Pro Plus).
Azure Time Series Insights Gen2 Preview APIs Deprecated
The Azure Time Series Insights Gen2 public preview APIs have been deprecated. Read about the process for migrating onto the new generally available API version for Azure Time Series Insights Gen2.
Power BI dynamic M query parameter support
Power BI dynamic M query parameter allows users to explicitly inject filters at the designated place in the query and improve query performance by a few factors, especially when the report is built on top of a very big dataset, or using complex query logic.
| Microsoft Support News |
Check out Microsoft Services public blog for new Proactive Services as well as new features and capabilities of the Services Hub, On-demand Assessments, and On-demand Learning platforms.
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Blogs |
Readiness |
Thanks for reading!
Henry Phiri
Justin Barbalace
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