10 Microsoft Azure Announcements At Ignite Fall 2021
Introduction
Microsoft Ignite is the largest global annual event for developers and IT workers. It averages 25,000 attendees annually. The cost of the entire conference pass was $2,395 per person. The developer and IT professionals-focused conference took place in Seattle, Washington.
This article will introduce you to the recent infrastructure, data and AI, application development, and security technologies that Microsoft and Azure can offer to support your innovation efforts ranging from multicloud to the edge. We will be covering the detailed knowledge of Microsoft Azure announcements at Ignite Fall 2021.
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- Azure AI Updates
Microsoft Azure Cognitive Search now supports over 50 languages for a subset of users as part of a set of AI-related upgrades to Azure.
Instead of the current pay-as-you-go arrangement, Microsoft offers a commitment tier pricing model for the suite for high-volume users with more predictable expenses.
- New Data Features
Microsoft has updated Azure’s database and data analytics features in several ways. According to the firm, one upgrade adds new capabilities to Azure Cosmos DB to simplify Apache Cassandra’s data migration.
According to Microsoft, to achieve this, Azure Managed Instance for Apache Cassandra is now broadly available and includes an automatic synchronization functionality to enable hybrid data to run on-premises and in the cloud.
- More Capabilities for Analytics, Databases
The Event Hubs Premium feature of Azure Synapse, which gives users better predictability for crucial data streaming workloads, is now broadly available. According to Microsoft, new resources are designed to reduce cross-tenant interference in a managed multi-tenant platform-as-a-service environment.
Microsoft plans to publicly release a new deployment choice for its fully managed database services for MySQL and PostgreSQL in Azure Database. Azure’s Flexible Server deployment option seeks to minimize expenses, boost productivity, and prevent data loss.
New security and performance enhancements are available in Azure SQL Managed Instance. Storage on the general purpose tier has been increased to 16 TB and is generally available. According to the corporation, the business essential service tier will soon have more storage.
- Developer Tool Improvements
According to Microsoft, the new shortcode functionality intends to unleash high message volume delivery for enterprises, useful for two-factor authentication, marketing campaigns, appointment reminders, and other use cases. It also wants to improve the experience of multi-platform customers.
Everyone will be able to use Microsoft Teams with Azure Communication Services. On specially created applications, websites, and Teams, developers will have new tools for facilitating voice, video, and chat amongst users.
Microsoft has released a preview of a serverless container service that is fully controlled and scales microservices based on web traffic, events, and ongoing background tasks. The Azure Container Apps service intends to make it possible for developers to create and deploy containerized applications without needing a complicated infrastructure.
The free DevOps Workflow Generator tool, which enables customers to see the full DevOps toolchain, is now generally available as part of updates to the Azure DevOps services portfolio. According to Microsoft, a preview of an OpenID Connect connection between Azure Active Directory and GitHub Actions intends to do away with managing persistent cloud credentials in GitHub’s secret store and reduce downtime brought on by expired credentials.
Updates to the Azure API Management platform include the general availability of WebSocket API native support and interaction with Azure Event Grid for usage, like email notifications whenever new users are added.
- More Hyperconverged Capabilities
Microsoft has updated its Azure Stack HCI system to support GPU for AI and machine learning, soft kernel reboot, thin provisioning, and other infrastructure-level features. Virtual machine creation and management from the Azure portal are examples of management-level upgrades. Additionally, all Azure Stack HCI integrated systems now provide server core security.
Users can now access new certified solutions from independent software vendors and partner services through the Azure Stack HCI partner program.
Azure Arc now offers new features for a limited number of users, such as native integration with Azure Stack HCI, new integration with VMware vSphere, and a simplified, fully managed machine learning add-on Arc-enabled Kubernetes that supports clusters from Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services.
- Infrastructure Features Enhanced
Among the changes to Azure’s infrastructure-related tools and services is the flexible orchestration mode for Virtual Machine Scale Sets.
Additionally, Microsoft has introduced new Dv5 and Eav5 Azure VMs and made Dv5 and Ev5 Azure Virtual Machines broadly available. Another generally available feature is a new VMs picker function that allows customers to specify workload, technical requirements, geography, and other categories.
Updates to Azure Monitor that are generally available now integrate EventHub for network isolation warnings and improve troubleshooting for Azure Firewall and VPN Gateway. Application Insights now has a glimpse of OpenTelemetry functionality.
- Upgrades to Networking Tools
To enhance Azure’s networking capabilities, Microsoft revealed improvements and new tools. A preview of Azure Gateway Load Balancer, a fully managed service designed to enhance network virtual appliance access, is one of the improvements.
- Azure Chaos Studio
Azure Chaos Studio, a platform for experimentation, has been released as a preview by Microsoft to assist users in increasing application resilience.
Users of Chaos Studio can purposefully break apps using network slowness, unexpected storage failures, secrets expiring, complete data center failure, and other real-world events to identify holes and prepare mitigations before problems elevate.
The platform provides a library of agent- or service-related problems and ongoing validation to track product quality.
- Azure Active Directory Updates
Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) can now migrate more applications to Azure AD due to a new preview. According to Microsoft, the update aims to simplify how administrators manage identity and access for more application types.
The Conditional Access policies for the tool now include additional capabilities like a new dashboard, granular access controls with a device filter, and other features.
According to Microsoft, Azure AD Identity Protection has capabilities, including enabling token theft detection and one-click risk data extensibility.
- Azure Migration and Modernization Program Expansion
The Azure Migration and Modernization Program, or AMMP, gained new support for security, Azure Arc, SAP environment migrations to Azure, and Red Hat OpenShift environment migration to Azure as part of Microsoft’s investments to simplify Azure migration.
According to Microsoft, AMMP has supported thousands of customers concerning applications, infrastructure, and data. For the deployment of Azure Security Center, Azure Defender, and Azure Arc, new support and guidance are included in the expansion.
The Azure Migration Program, formerly AMMP, offers customers advice and best practices for cloud migration. According to Microsoft, AMMP acquired fresh support for Azure Spring Cloud and Azure Cosmos DB.
Conclusion
An annual gathering for IT experts and enthusiasts is called Microsoft Ignite. The event covers many technology-related topics, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and mixed reality.
