This month, Microsoft introduced a series of significant updates related to Azure management services. Through this monthly article series, we aim to provide an overview of the most relevant updates. The goal is to keep you constantly informed about these developments, offering essential information to explore these topics further.
The following diagram shows the different areas related to management, which are covered in this series of articles:
Figure 1 – Overview of Management Services in Azure
Monitor
Azure Monitor
New Monitoring Experience for Azure Kubernetes Service (Preview)
Microsoft has announced the public preview of the new monitoring experience for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), designed to provide a unified and enhanced cluster management experience. This update marks a significant evolution of the current Insights experience, introducing more comprehensive monitoring features in a simplified interface.
The new monitoring experience offers two levels of insights: a basic, free tier available without configuration and an advanced tier, including Prometheus metrics and advanced logging capabilities. Thanks to this integration, users can monitor their clusters more effectively, quickly identify performance issues, and optimize resource management. With this innovation, Azure simplifies Kubernetes environment management, improving visibility and diagnostics for applications running on the platform.
Govern
Azure Cost Management
Copilot: Introduction of Nudges for an Optimized Experience
Copilot provides an efficient way to answer cost-related queries using natural language. Through the ‘View in Cost Analysis’ feature, users can directly access personalized analysis based on their prompts. Now, Microsoft has introduced a new feature to enhance the Copilot Assistant experience: nudges. These preconfigured suggestions, available on the overview page, encourage and guide users in interacting with Copilot. The nudges are designed to support key operations such as:
- Detailed analysis of current costs
- Cost comparisons across different periods
- Expense forecasting
This innovation allows users to maximize Copilot’s features without worrying about prompt engineering challenges, making the experience more seamless and effective.
Updates related to Microsoft Cost Management
Microsoft is constantly seeking new methodologies to improve Microsoft Cost Management, the solution to provide greater visibility into where costs are accumulating in the cloud, identify and prevent incorrect spending patterns, and optimize costs. This article reports some of the latest improvements and updates regarding this solution.
Secure
Microsoft Defender for Cloud
New features, bug fixes, and deprecated features of Microsoft Defender for Cloud
The development of Microsoft Defender for Cloud is constantly evolving, with continuous improvements being introduced. To stay updated on the latest developments, Microsoft updates this page, which provides information on new features, bug fixes, and deprecated features. Specifically, this month’s main news includes:
AWS EC2: Improved Resource Name Display
Microsoft has introduced an enhancement in displaying resource names for AWS EC2 instances within the platform. If an EC2 instance has a “name” tag, the Resource Name field will display its value. If the tag is absent, the field will continue to show the instance ID. The Resource ID remains available in the reference field.
Using the “name” tag allows users to quickly identify resources with meaningful, customized names, simplifying management and reducing the time needed to locate specific instances.
Microsoft Defender for Storage: On-Demand Malware Scanning
The on-demand malware scanning feature in Microsoft Defender for Storage is now Generally Available (GA). This capability allows scanning of existing blobs in Azure Storage accounts at any time via the Azure portal or REST API, with support for Logic Apps, Automation playbooks, and PowerShell scripts.
Key Use Cases:
- Incident response: Scanning specific storage accounts after detecting suspicious activity.
- Security baseline: Analyzing all stored data when enabling Defender for Storage.
- Compliance: Automating scans to meet regulatory and data protection requirements.
Microsoft Defender for Storage: Support for Blobs up to 50GB
Microsoft Defender for Storage now supports scanning blobs up to 50GB, compared to the previous 2GB limit. For storage accounts handling large blobs, the new limit may result in higher monthly costs. To prevent unexpected expenses, users can set a cap on the total scanned GB per month.
Data and AI Security Dashboard (Preview)
Microsoft Defender for Cloud introduces the new Data and AI Security Dashboard, currently in preview. This tool provides a centralized platform for monitoring and managing data and AI resources while assessing risks and security status.
MDC Cost Calculator (Preview)
Microsoft introduces the MDC Cost Calculator, a preview tool for estimating cloud protection costs.
Expanded Coverage for 31 Multicloud Regulatory Standards
Microsoft Defender for Cloud now supports over 31 security and regulatory frameworks across Azure, AWS, and GCP.
Protect
Azure Backup
Vaulted Backups for Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Flexible Server
Microsoft has announced the availability of Vaulted Backups in Azure Backup for Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Flexible Server, a scalable and robust backup solution designed to meet the needs of businesses and developers. This new support expands the coverage of workloads managed by Azure Backup.
Key Benefits:
- Regional Disaster Recovery: Cross-region restore ensures essential failover capabilities for business continuity and adherence to recovery protocols.
- Regulatory Compliance: With long-term retention (LTR) of up to 10 years, organizations can meet international compliance requirements.
- Advanced Security and Cyber Resilience: Backup data is protected from ransomware and unauthorized access through immutable vaults and role-based access control (RBAC).
Azure Backup for PostgreSQL Flexible Server is now available in East Asia, Central India, Southeast Asia, UK South, and UK West, while in other Azure regions, the service is currently in public preview. Customers can start using the service immediately by accessing the Business Continuity Center in the Azure portal and configuring backups.
Azure Site Recovery
Pricing Calculator for Azure Managed Disks
Microsoft has announced the general availability of the Pricing Calculator for Azure Site Recovery (ASR) in Azure-to-Azure use cases with Managed Disks. This new tool enables organizations to accurately estimate the total cost of ownership (TCO) for Disaster Recovery scenarios in Azure, providing greater transparency into pricing structures and simplifying financial planning. With this feature, ASR users can align with FinOps teams for more effective cost management. Currently, the Pricing Calculator is available only for Azure-to-Azure scenarios, while for VMware-to-Azure migrations, the Deployment Planner remains available to estimate Disaster Recovery costs.
Migrate
Azure Migrate
Modernization Advisor for SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines (Preview)
Azure has introduced Modernization Advisor, now available in public preview, an integrated tool within the Azure portal designed to help organizations assess the migration from SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines (VMs) to Azure SQL Managed Instance as a more efficient and cost-effective alternative.
How It Works
Modernization Advisor analyzes the configuration of a SQL Server instance running on an Azure VM and provides a detailed evaluation of the benefits of migration, including:
- Cost Savings: Estimates the total cost of ownership (TCO) reduction achieved by switching to Azure SQL Managed Instance.
- Performance Optimization: Suggests Azure SQL Managed Instance configurations tailored to the existing SQL Server workload.
- Simplified Management: Helps businesses reduce administrative complexity by adopting a fully managed service.
Key SQL Server VM Resources Evaluated
- Number of vCores
- Memory per vCore
- Storage size and type (Standard, Premium SSD, Premium SSD v2)
With Modernization Advisor, organizations can make data-driven decisions to optimize their database infrastructure, enhancing cost efficiency and overall performance. This tool represents a significant step forward in simplifying database management on Azure, providing users with clear and detailed insights to guide their modernization strategies.
Azure Migrate: Support for Premium SSD v2 (Preview)
Azure Migrate introduces support for migration to Premium SSD v2, providing users with advanced storage options featuring greater flexibility and optimized performance. These disks are ideal for mission-critical applications, thanks to high IOPS and throughput, low latency, scalability, reliability, and a competitive cost compared to previous versions. During assessments in regional datacenters where Premium SSD v2 is available, Azure Migrate will automatically suggest this option as the target for data disks, ensuring a migration experience aligned with other disks supported by the platform.
Azure Database Migration
Unified Migration Experience in Azure Database Migration Service
Microsoft has introduced the Unified Migration Experience in public preview within Azure Database Migration Service, streamlining the migration of MySQL workloads from on-premises environments, virtual machines (VMs), or other cloud providers to Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server. The new experience supports both physical and logical migration. With the physical approach, it is possible to quickly restore the source server’s backup files onto the destination server, enabling the migration of terabytes of data with minimal downtime and just a few clicks.
Azure Evaluation
For those who wish to explore and personally evaluate the services offered by Azure, a unique opportunity is available: by accessing this page, you can test various features and services for free. This will allow you to better understand how Azure can adapt and improve your IT operations, while ensuring security and innovation.
