A plethora of cloud services stories to share this week. News includes Cloud Services (extended support) is generally available, migration tool in preview, new Azure AD Verifiable Credentials, Windows Virtual Desktop Start VM on connect feature, Azure Monitor container insights support for Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes extension mode in preview and an enterprise-scale Microsoft Learn module of the week.
Microsoft announces general availability of Cloud Services (extended support)
The new Azure Resource Manager (ARM)-based deployment model for Azure Cloud Services has now become generally available along with the platform-supported tool for migrating existing cloud services to Cloud Services (extended support) has gone into preview.
The primary benefit Cloud Services (extended support) provides is regional resiliency along with feature parity with Azure Cloud Services deployed using Azure Service Manager (ASM). It also offers some ARM capabilities such as role-based access and control (RBAC), tags, policy, private link support, and use of deployment templates.
There are several resources customers can use to learn more about Cloud Services (extended support).
- Cloud Services (extended support) documentation get started.
- Refer to the the in-place migration path documentation.
- More information on the Cloud Services (classic) can be found in the following documentation.
Public preview for Azure AD verifiable credentials is now available
Organizations can now empower users to control credentials that manage access to their information. Organizations using Azure AD can now easily design and issue verifiable credentials to represent proof of employment, education, or any other claim, so that the holder of such a credential can decide when, and with whom, to share their credentials. Each credential is signed using cryptographic keys associated with the DID that the user owns and controls.
Unlike current proprietary identity systems, verifiable credentials are standards-based which makes it easy for developers to understand, and doesn't require custom integration. Users can manage and present credentials using Microsoft Authenticator with one key difference. Unlike domain-specific credentials, verifiable credentials function as proofs that users control, even when they’re issued by organizations. Because verifiable credentials are attached to DIDs that users own, they can be confident that they—and only they—control who can access them and how.
Please visit Verifiable Credentials documentation to learn more.
Start VM on connect feature for Windows Virtual Desktop now in public preview
The start VM on connect setting for Windows Virtual Desktop automatically turns on a VM that is in a deallocated state when a user attempts to connect to it. This setting enables the ability to deallocate VMs that are not in use to save cost while ensuring that users can connect to it if needed.
Please note the following limitations currently with the public preview:
- The setting can be configured on the validation pool only
- The setting can only be applied for personal host pools only.
- Access to this setting is available from PowerShell and Rest API only.
Learn more about additional pre-requisites and set-up guidance in our documentation.
Azure Monitor container insights support for Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes extension model in public preview
Containers insights in Azure Monitor is now extending monitoring support for Kubernetes clusters hosted on Azure Arc via public preview.
Container insights on Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes keeps the same features as Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) monitoring, such as:
- Performance visibility by collecting memory and processor metrics from controllers, nodes, and containers that are available in Kubernetes.
- Visualization through workbooks and in the Azure portal.
- Alerting and querying historical data for troubleshooting issues.
- Capability to scrape Prometheus metrics.
With the new extension model update, you receive these new benefits:
- Easier enablement of container insights through the portal.
- Receive automatic agent updates for the latest version of monitoring.
Learn more about containers insights.
Learn more about Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes onboarding through the extension model.
Community Events
- Global Azure 2021 - April 15th to 17th, communities around the world are organizing localized live streams for everyone around the world to join and learn about Azure from the best-in-class community leaders.
- Hello World - Special guests, content challenges, upcoming events, and daily updates
- Testing in Production - Producer Pierre and Producer Steve are back to share thier broadcasting tips and talk a little tech
MS Learn Module of the Week
Creating an enterprise-scale architecture in Azure
Learn how Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure enterprise-scale landing zones can help your organization to accelerate cloud adoption from months to weeks. We will explore how to create Azure landing zone architecture at enterprise-scale. Learn about landing zone critical design areas to build and operationalize your Azure environment.
Modules include:
- Introduction to enterprise-scale landing zones in the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure
- Enterprise-scale architecture organizational design principles
- Network design principles for enterprise-scale architecture
- Enterprise-scale architecture operational design principles
Learn more here: Create an enterprise-scale architecture in Azure
Let us know in the comments below if there are any news items you would like to see covered in the next show. Be sure to catch the next AzUpdate episode and join us in the live chat.