Wednesday, July 7, 2021

Azure SQL News Update: July 2021

Today and every Wednesday Data Exposed goes live at 9AM PT on LearnTV. Every 4 weeks, we’ll do a News Update. We’ll include product updates, videos, blogs, etc. as well as upcoming events and things to look out for. We’ve included an iCal file, so you can add a reminder to tune in live to your calendar. If you missed the episode, you can find them all at https://aka.ms/AzureSQLYT.

 

You can read this blog to get all the updates and references mentioned in the show. Here’s the July  2021 update:

 

Product updates

Let’s start with what was announced and who came on the show.

 

The biggest launch we had this month was the announcement of the general availability of Azure Arc, including the General Availability of Azure Arc-enabled SQL Managed Instance (coming on July 30th). If you want to watch the launch event for Azure Arc, you can register here to view it on-demand. On Data Exposed Live last week, we had a special post-launch episode about how all this relates to SQL Server and Azure SQL. We brought on several members of the product group, and you can watch the session on-demand here.

 

Additionally, we made two public preview announcements, the first applies to Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance. This announcement was the support to use AAD-only authentication for SQL Database and Managed Instance to disable SQL authentication.

 

Last, but certainly not least, we announced the preview for using Azure SQL Database Hyperscale with named replicas to massively scale out read workloads and easily implement near-real time analytical solutions. We had the lead program manager of these capabilities, Davide Mauri, on the show to tell us more about it. In addition to the main blog post linked above, you can also find the announcement blog and security guidance for Named Replicas. I also referenced a Microsoft Mechanics episode, that you can find here.

 

Something that is relatively new that we got to dive into on the show is the Database Compare Utility. Mitch van Huuksloot came on and told us all about it. You can download the zip file that contains user guides, license information, notices, and a binary folder with a configuration file and spreadsheet input.

 

We also had our friend from Azure Data Factory, Wee Hyong Tok, on to talk about some of the latest updates in Azure Data Factory. One big announcement was the new and refreshing data factory home page, resulting in a more accessible and modern experience.

 

Videos

We continued to release new and exciting Azure SQL episodes this month. Here is the list, or you can just see the playlist we created with all the episodes!

  • Mara-Florina Steiu: Track and Record Data Changes with Change Data Capture (CDC) in Azure SQL
  • Jason Anderson: Azure SQL Database Ledger​ – The power of blockchain with the simplicity of SQL
  • Rajesh Setlem: Migrating to SQL: Get Started w/ Azure SQL Readiness Assessments & Migrations from ADS (Ep. 6)
  • [MVP Edition] with Monica Rathbun: Performance Tuning on Azure SQLDB and Readable Secondaries

 

We’ve also had some great Data Exposed Live sessions. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see them all and get notified when we stream. Here are some of the recent live streams.

  • Deep Dive: Azure Cloud Experience for Data Workloads Anywhere
  • Something Old, Something New: Not really artificial, not really intelligence (Ethics and AI with Buck Woody)
  • Azure SQL Security series: Data Protection (Ep. 3)

 

Blogs

As always, our team is busy writing blogs to share with you all. Blogs contain announcements, tips and tricks, deep dives, and more. Here’s the list I have of SQL-related topics you might want to check out.

 

Special Segment: SQL in a Minute with Cheryl Adams

Cheryl and Mark Ghanayem came on to do a segment on documentation focused on the new Azure Database Migration Guides which you can find at https://aka.ms/datamigration. The highlighted one new guide recently released which dives into how to migrate MySQL on-premises to Azure.

 

Special Guest: Hasura

Adron Hall from Hasura came to talk about some new updates and connectors for their GraphQL product that integrates with SQL Server and Azure SQL. To learn more, check out their documentation.

 

Upcoming events

As always, there are a lot of events coming up this month. Here are a few to put on your calendar and register for from the Azure Data team:

July 14: DELL Webinar
-              Microsoft SQL Server is evolving… Is your company keeping pace?, Bob Ward

July 28: EightKB SQL Server Internals Conference
-              Inside SQL Waits, Latches, and Spinlocks, Bob Ward
-              Deep Dive: SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machine Storage, Pam Lahoud

 

July 28: Database Professionals Virtual Meetup Group
-              Notebooks 101 for SQL People, Julie Koesmarno & Barbara Valdez

 

In addition to these upcoming events, here’s the schedule for Data Exposed Live:
July 14: Azure SQL Virtual Machines Reimagined: Measuring Performance & Monitoring Health (Ep.3)
July 21: Ask the Experts: Azure Arc and Azure Managed Instance with Bob Ward and Buck Woody

- Ask your Azure Arc and Azure SQL Managed Instance questions on Twitter with the hashtag #AskBW or submit the form for a chance to get them answered live.
July 28: Azure Data Studio Power Hour

Plus find new, on-demand Data Exposed episodes released every Thursday, 9AM PT at aka.ms/DataExposedyt

 

Featured Microsoft Learn Module

Learn with us! This month I highlighted the module: Architect modern applications using Azure SQL Database. In this module, you’ll break down a scenario for an application and build a multi-service solution based on the microservices approach. You’ll learn how to use modern database capabilities, like those found in the Azure SQL Database, to build a foundation for applications. You’ll also learn how to use GitHub Actions for CI/CD of databases.

 

Anna’s Pick of the Month

I know blockchain capabilities in Azure SQL Database technically launched in May, however, on Data Exposed we did a short episode and a deep dive. The more I learn about this technology and the scenarios it unlocks, the more I’m excited and impressed by it. Check out the videos for yourself and tell me I’m wrong!

 

Until next time…

That’s it for now! Be sure to check back next month for the latest updates, and tune into Data Exposed Live every Wednesday at 9AM PST on LearnTV. We also release new episodes on Thursdays at 9AM PST and new #MVPTuesday episodes on the last Tuesday of every month at 9AM PST at aka.ms/DataExposedyt.

 

Having trouble keeping up? Be sure to follow us on twitter to get the latest updates on everything, @AzureSQL. You can also download the iCal link with a recurring invite!

 

We hope to see you next time, on Data Exposed :)

--Anna and Marisa

Posted at https://sl.advdat.com/3hp2EhT
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