This month, thanks in part to the Microsoft Ignite event, significant updates have been announced for Azure Management Services. Through this series of monthly articles, we aim to provide an overview of the most relevant news, keeping you informed about these developments and 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

Govern

Azure Cost Management

Updates for Microsoft Cost Management

Microsoft continually strives to improve Microsoft Cost Management, a solution designed to provide greater visibility into cloud spending, identify and prevent incorrect spending patterns, and optimize costs. This article highlights some of the latest enhancements and updates to this solution, including:

Exports to Microsoft Fabric (preview): With a new connection to Microsoft Fabric, users can export cost and pricing datasets directly into OneLake. This feature simplifies data integration into the Fabric system, eliminating the need for manual transfers from storage accounts.

Azure OpenAI Cost View: Managing Azure OpenAI Service costs is now easier with a new integrated view in Cost Analysis. This feature allows users to:

• View execution costs for OpenAI models over specific periods.
  • Include costs of reserved purchases within the selected subscription.
  • Access the new view quickly under “Smart Views” in Cost Analysis.

Cost Simulations with Copilot: Azure Copilot now includes cost estimates for OpenAI deployments based on tokens. For example, users can simulate scenarios like a 15% increase to predict cost impacts, helping with better budget management.

Copilot-Cost Analysis Integration: The Copilot experience for Cost Management is enhanced with Cost Analysis integration in generated responses. Using the “View in Cost Analysis” button, users can:

• Access a custom view based on their request.
• Analyze costs with specific parameters.
• Share the view with their team and set up email alerts.

Secure

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

AI Security Posture Management for Multicloud Environments

Microsoft Defender for Cloud expands its capabilities to manage the security of generative AI models. New features include:

• Extended Support for Amazon Bedrock: Enables deep discovery of AWS AI technologies, including new recommendations and attack paths to enhance security.
• AI Grounding Data Insights: Provides detailed analysis of datasets used for AI models, identifying associated risks and offering tools for vulnerability prioritization.

These capabilities ensure robust security for AI models, improving data governance and reducing associated risks.

Enhanced Container Security Features (preview)

In addition to existing container capabilities, significant new features include:

• Detection and Response to Suspicious Activity: Defender for Cloud allows custom queries to detect anomalous behavior, improving runtime vulnerability management.
• Rapid Containment: Enables limiting communication between pods or isolating networks to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data.
• AI Support for SOC: AI provides guided remediation, assisting security teams with step-by-step instructions to resolve incidents efficiently, even with limited expertise.

These features represent a further step toward comprehensive container protection.

API Security Enhancements with Microsoft Defender for Cloud (preview)

Microsoft Defender for Cloud introduces advanced features to enhance API security, addressing the growing importance of these interfaces in modern application models. New capabilities include:

• Native Integration with CSPM: Provides complete API visibility through Azure API Management, mapping both front-end and back-end elements for holistic risk management.
• API Data Classification: Now includes query strings and URL path parameters, supporting in-depth analysis and triage of data in transit.
• Security Recommendations: Highlights exploitable attack paths, providing specific context for data exposure scenarios.

These features help organizations mitigate API risks and strengthen application security posture.

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, you can refer to this page, which provides information about new features, bug fixes, and deprecated functionalities.

Protect

Azure Backup

Regional Disaster Recovery with Azure Backup for AKS

Azure announces the availability of Vaulted Backup support for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), an important innovation that ensures protection, compliance, and resilience for cloud-native applications against regional disasters.

Key benefits for Azure customers:

• Cross-Regional Recovery: The Cross-Region Restore functionality enables critical failover, ensuring business continuity and compliance with disaster recovery regulations.
• Regulatory Compliance: Support for long-term retention (LTR) of data for up to 10 years, adhering to major global compliance frameworks.
• Enhanced Security and Resilience: With immutable vaults and role-based access control, backup data is protected from ransomware and unauthorized access.

With the GA support for AKS Vaulted Backup, Azure Backup simplifies compliance, improves resilience, and strengthens the security of cloud-native environments.

Default Security with Soft Delete in Azure Backup (Preview)

Azure Backup introduces soft delete functionality, a default-enabled security measure that allows deleted backup data to be recovered for a period of 14 days. By enabling soft delete at the vault level, Azure provides default protection for all customers, preventing accidental or intentional data loss.

Immutable WORM Storage for Backups in Recovery Services Vaults (Preview)

Azure Backup introduces immutable WORM (Write Once, Read Many) storage for backups in Recovery Services Vaults. Once immutability is enabled and activated, Recovery Points cannot be deleted or have their retention periods reduced before expiration.

Key features:

• Meets compliance requirements with immutable storage.
• Applicable to both existing and new vaults with locked immutability.
• Currently available in preview in limited regions.

This feature ensures advanced protection for backup data, reducing the risk of tampering and meeting regulatory compliance needs.

Migrate

Azure Migrate

New Capabilities of Azure Migrate for Hybrid Cloud Migration and Management

Azure Migrate introduces advanced tools to support the planning and management of migrations to Azure and hybrid environments. Customers can now create a detailed business case to compare the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of on-premises workloads versus Azure, as well as view annual financial analyses during the transition process.

Key updates:

• Azure Arc Value Assessment: Customers can compare the current TCO of on-premises environments with the estimated TCO using Azure Arc, evaluating savings and benefits such as Extended Security Updates (ESUs) and SQL Pay-As-You-Go on Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server.
• Hybrid Cloud Management: Visualize the benefits of security and management tools like Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Azure Monitor, and Azure Update Manager applied to on-premises environments via Azure Arc.
• Customized Planning: For those not migrating everything or planning a phased migration, it’s possible to compare combined on-premises and Azure costs to optimize strategy.

These tools offer greater flexibility and transparency, enabling customers to download reports and involve stakeholders in the decision-making process.

New Releases and Features of Azure Migrate

To stay updated on the latest developments, visit this page, which provides information on new releases and features. This month, notable highlights include:

• Cost Assessments for AVS: Support for the AV64 SKU and the external storage option with Azure NetApp Files.
• Enterprise Linux Machine Migration: Capability to transfer RHEL and SLES machines from VMware and Hyper-V environments to Azure, leveraging the Azure Hybrid Benefit.

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.

This month, Microsoft introduced a series of significant updates related to Azure management services. Through this series of monthly articles, the aim is to provide an overview of the most relevant new features. The goal is to keep you constantly informed about these developments, providing you with essential information to further explore these topics.

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

VM Health Monitoring with VM Watch for Azure VMs (preview)

VM Watch, now available in public preview, is a lightweight and adaptable service for monitoring the health of virtual machines (VMs) and VM Scale Sets in Azure. This service performs health checks within the VM at configurable intervals, sending results to Azure via a uniform data model. The collected data is used by Azure’s AI Operations (AIOps) engines to detect and prevent regressions. VM Watch is deployed through the Application Health VM extension, simplifying management and adoption for customers, and it is offered at no additional cost. The service is compatible with both Linux and Windows environments, suitable for individual VMs or VMSS. Additionally, VM Watch ensures efficient monitoring without compromising system performance, thanks to limits on CPU and memory usage. The service includes a set of predefined tests, easily configurable for specific scenarios, making monitoring ready-to-use right out of the box.

Govern

Azure Cost Management

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:

• Security Findings for GitHub Repositories without GitHub Advanced Security: Starting October 21, 2024, GitHub offers security findings for repositories even without GitHub Advanced Security. This new feature enables users to identify and fix Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) misconfigurations, container vulnerabilities, and code weaknesses, providing greater protection and visibility without the advanced license. However, secret scanning, code scanning with CodeQL, and dependency scanning remain exclusive to GitHub Advanced Security.
• Deprecation of Compliance Standards in Defender for Cloud: Starting November 17, 2024, three compliance standards will be removed from Defender for Cloud: SWIFT CSP-CSCF 2020 (replaced by version 2022), CIS Microsoft Azure Foundations 1.1.0 and 1.3.0 (updated to versions 1.4.0 and 2.0.0, respectively). These updates reflect the latest best practices, and users can consult the Defender for Cloud documentation for an overview of currently supported standards.
• Deprecation of Defender for Cloud Standards for AWS and GCP: As of November 17, 2024, Defender for Cloud will deprecate three standards specific to AWS and GCP (AWS CSPM, GCP CSPM, and GCP Default). These checks have been integrated into the Microsoft Cloud Security Benchmark (MCSB), which becomes the default, unified standard for all multi-cloud security assessments.
• Binary Drift Detection in Containers: Since October 9, 2024, binary drift detection is available for Defender for Containers. This feature detects any suspicious changes within containers in real-time, ensuring greater security for deployments on all versions of Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).
• Updated Recommendations for Container Runtime (Preview): Recommendations for addressing vulnerabilities in containers running on AWS, Azure, and GCP have been unified to reduce duplication and optimize result analysis.
• Kubernetes Identity and Access View in the Security Graph (Preview): Kubernetes identities and access configurations are now visible in the security graph, showing nodes, service accounts, roles, and connections illustrating permissions among Kubernetes objects.
• Identity-Based Kubernetes Attack Paths (Preview): Using RBAC data, Defender for Cloud can identify attack paths across Kubernetes clusters, detecting lateral movement.
• Enhanced Attack Path Analysis for Containers: Attack path analysis now also supports containers, providing a more detailed view of potential attack patterns in cloud environments.
• Complete Discovery of Container Images in Supported Registries: Defender for Cloud now detects all container images in supported registries, improving visibility and allowing in-depth searches through Cloud Security Explorer to identify images based on metadata.
• Container Software Inventory with Cloud Security Explorer: Cloud Security Explorer now provides a comprehensive inventory of software installed within containers and images, facilitating the quick identification of potential vulnerabilities, including zero-day threats, before CVEs are published.

Protect

Azure Backup

Reduced Rates for SAP HANA Backup Protected Instances

As of September 1, 2024, Azure introduced a significant rate reduction for Protected Instances (PIs) related to the SAP HANA backup service on Azure VMs. This update is aimed at enhancing cost efficiency, offering a more affordable service for protecting critical data for companies without compromising quality or performance. Specifically, the backup streaming rate for SAP HANA has been set at a standard price of $80 per instance (in the East US2 region), with a standard regional surcharge, regardless of the HANA database size. For snapshot backups, the cost is $80 per 5 TB increment, with the same regional surcharge. This change allows enterprises to protect their data in a more economically sustainable way.

GRS and CRR Support for Azure VMs with Premium SSD v2 and Ultra Disk in Azure Backup

Azure has announced support for the backup of virtual machines on Premium SSD v2 and Ultra Disk using GRS (Geo-Redundant Storage) vaults. These offerings represent the most advanced storage solutions, designed to meet the needs of IO-intensive enterprise applications requiring sub-millisecond latencies, high IOPS, and throughput. With GRS support and cross-region restore capabilities, users can protect their virtual machines from data loss during disaster events, as well as perform periodic audits by restoring data on demand in the secondary region. Currently, GRS vault enablement for virtual machines using Premium SSD v2 and Ultra Disk is available in various regions, including Southeast Asia, East Asia, North Europe, West Europe, East US, West US, and West US 3. Support will be extended to other public regions in the coming months.

Immutable WORM Storage for Backups in Azure Recovery Services Vaults (preview)

Azure backup introduces the capability to use immutable WORM (Write Once, Read Many) storage for backups within Recovery Services Vaults. This option ensures that a recovery point, once created, cannot be deleted or altered during its retention period, up to the designated expiration date, helping to meet compliance requirements. WORM support will be applicable to all vaults, both new and existing, and is currently available in preview in specific regions.

Transition to Azure Business Continuity Center for Large-Scale BCDR Management (preview)

Starting October 3, 2024, Azure made the new “Azure Business Continuity Center” (ABCC) available in public preview, a centralized solution for large-scale backup and disaster recovery management. This tool arises from evolving customer needs, influenced by the growing threat of ransomware attacks, which have led many companies to seek out multiple vendors for data protection. The ABCC, which will replace the previous Backup Center, offers unified management for Azure and hybrid environments, integrating the functionalities of Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery. The transition is immediate and at no additional cost: users can immediately view their protection status in the new center without needing to take specific actions. Simply log into the Azure portal and search for the Business Continuity Center. The Backup Center has been removed from global search results in the Azure portal but remains accessible through an option within the ABCC.

Migrate

Azure Migrate

New releases and features of Azure Migrate

Azure Migrate is the service in Azure that includes a broad portfolio of tools that can be used, through a guided user experience, to effectively address the most common migration scenarios. To stay updated on the latest developments of the solution, you can consult this page, which provides information on new releases and new features. This month’s main update is that the import of the RVTools XLSX file enables reading storage data, where available, from the vPartition and vMemory sheets (for storage space required for unreserved memory).

Azure Database Migration

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.

This month, Microsoft introduced a series of significant updates related to Azure management services. Through this series of monthly articles, we aim to provide an overview of the most relevant news. The goal is to keep you constantly informed about these developments, providing you with the essential information to further explore these topics.

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

Azure Log Analytics improves resilience with workspace replication across regions (preview)

Azure Log Analytics introduces workspace replication, a new feature that enhances resilience against regional incidents. By enabling replication, a copy of the workspace is created in another region. From that moment, new logs in the primary workspace are also replicated to the secondary workspace (existing logs are not copied). The secondary workspace cannot be managed or accessed directly and serves only to create an active-passive configuration: at any time, there is an active instance of the workspace and an inactive one updated in the background. In case of an interruption affecting the primary workspace, failover can be activated to switch to the secondary workspace. This operation redirects all ingestion and query requests to the secondary workspace, allowing continued monitoring of resources and applications. The secondary workspace maintains a copy of all logs from the time replication is enabled, allowing for a smooth transition and continued use of alerts, workbooks, and other services accessing the logs, such as Sentinel. During this period, the secondary workspace also replicates incoming logs to the primary workspace, allowing a return to the primary region when it is operational again and continuing to work normally. Workspace replication is billed per replicated GB, and replication can be applied to a subset of Data Collection Rules (DCRs) to limit the scope of replication and related costs.

Filtering Kubernetes metadata and logs in Azure Monitor Container Insights (preview)

Filtering Kubernetes metadata and logs enriches the ContainerLogsV2 schema with additional Kubernetes metadata such as PodLabels, PodAnnotations, PodUid, Image, ImageID, ImageRepo, and ImageTag. The log filtering feature provides filtering capabilities for both workload and platform logs (e.g., system namespaces) from containers. This feature enhances the Kubernetes metadata experience by leveraging the Grafana dashboard to visualize log levels, volume, rate, records, and more. Users gain a richer context and improved visibility into their workloads.

Monitoring applications with Java metrics in Azure Container Apps (preview)

It is now possible to monitor the performance and health of applications with Java metrics such as garbage collection and memory usage. These metrics are automatically collected and reported in Azure Monitor, where they can be viewed in an integrated dashboard. It is also possible to set alerts and troubleshoot issues based on these metrics.

Data analysis using Log Analytics Simple mode (preview)

Azure Monitor Logs introduces a significant improvement in the log analysis experience: Simple mode. This new feature offers users a powerful set of tools to explore their logs and gain meaningful insights from the data. Until now, Azure Monitor Logs relied on the Kusto Query Language (KQL) to formulate queries, a powerful and easy-to-learn language, but it still requires some knowledge to use effectively. Simple mode was developed to bridge this knowledge gap, allowing the use of the most common KQL operators and actions through a simple and intuitive point-and-click experience that requires no KQL knowledge. For advanced users, KQL mode continues to offer the full potential of the Kusto language to gain deeper insights from the logs. Currently, Simple mode is an optional experience: to try it, just select “Try the new Log Analytics”. It is possible to return to the classic Log Analytics experience at any time.

Govern

Azure Cost Management

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:

• Remediate security baseline recommendation: Microsoft Defender for Cloud has enhanced the Center for Internet Security (CIS) benchmarks by offering security baselines supported by Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management (MDVM). The new recommendation “Machine should be configured securely (powered by MDVM)” helps secure servers by providing suggestions to improve security posture.
• Configure email notifications for attack paths: It is now possible to configure email notifications for attack paths in Defender for Cloud. This feature allows receiving email notifications when an attack path with a specified risk level is detected. This update helps security teams respond promptly to potential attacks, improving responsiveness and overall protection.
• Integration of Defender for Cloud alerts and incidents with Microsoft Defender XDR: This integration allows security teams to access Defender for Cloud alerts and incidents within the Microsoft Defender Portal. Providing richer context for investigations involving cloud resources, devices, and identities, this feature improves response capabilities and the effectiveness of security operations.
• Checkov integration for IaC scanning in Defender for Cloud (preview): The public preview of Checkov integration for DevOps security in Defender for Cloud has been announced. This integration improves both the quality and the total number of Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) checks performed by the MSDO CLI command when scanning IaC templates. During the preview, Checkov must be explicitly invoked via the ‘tools’ input parameter for the MSDO CLI command.
• Permissions management in Defender for Cloud: The general availability (GA) of permissions management in Defender for Cloud has been announced. This feature enables advanced permissions management, improving security and access control in cloud resources.
• Security posture management for AI in Defender for Cloud: This feature provides security posture management capabilities for AI in Azure and AWS.
• Threat protection for AI workloads in Azure (preview): Threat protection for AI workloads in Defender for Cloud provides contextual insights into threat protection, integrating with Responsible AI and Microsoft Threat Intelligence. Security alerts for AI workloads are integrated into Defender XDR in the Defender portal. This plan helps monitor Azure OpenAI-powered applications at runtime for malicious activities, identifying and mitigating security risks.
• Updated security policy management: Cross-cloud (Azure, AWS, GCP) security policy management is now generally available (GA). This feature allows security teams to manage their security policies consistently and with new characteristics:

• A simplified and uniform cross-cloud interface to create and manage the Microsoft Cloud Security Benchmark (MCSB) and custom recommendations based on KQL queries;
• Management of regulatory compliance standards in Defender for Cloud across Azure, AWS, and GCP environments;
• New filtering and export capabilities for reporting.

• Public preview of Defender for open-source databases on AWS: The public preview of Defender for open-source databases on AWS has been announced, adding support for various Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) instance types. This integration improves the security and management of open-source databases running on AWS instances.

Protect

Azure Backup

Migration of virtual machine backups to enhanced backup policies (preview)

Azure Backup now supports the migration of virtual machine backups from the standard backup policy to the enhanced backup policy. This migration offers several benefits:

• Improved RPO: The recovery point objective (RPO) can be reduced to as little as 4 hours.
• Retention of recovery points: Recovery points can be retained as snapshots for up to 30 days.
• Multi-disk consistency: The enhanced policy ensures multi-disk crash consistency for protected VMs.
• Zone-level resilience: Recovery points created with the enhanced policy are zone-resilient.
• Trusted Launch security: Protected virtual machines can be converted to Trusted Launch security.
• Use of premium SSDv2 or ultra-disk: Migration to the enhanced policy allows the use of premium SSDv2 or ultra-disk without interrupting existing backups.

These improvements make migrating to the enhanced backup policy an excellent choice for optimizing the protection and management of virtual machines on Azure.

Azure Site Recovery

Built-in Azure Monitor alerts for Site Recovery

Built-in Azure Monitor alerts for Azure Site Recovery (ASR) are now generally available. This innovation enables organizations using ASR to benefit from an advanced set of alerting and notification features offered by the Azure Monitor platform. Users can leverage standard Azure Monitor experiences and interfaces to manage ASR alerts at scale, using a single platform. This represents a significant step towards achieving a homogeneous and consistent set of monitoring and alerting experiences for all Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) scenarios on Azure.

Out of Box Reports for Azure Site Recovery (preview)

Out of Box Reports for Azure Site Recovery are now available in preview. This new reporting feature offers organizations using ASR a clear and detailed view of job and health status for protected items. Integrated into the Azure Business Continuity Center and Recovery Services Vault, this feature allows BCDR administrators to effectively monitor and manage all protected items in large-scale backup and site recovery processes.

Support for Azure Trusted Launch VMs (preview)

Microsoft has announced the Public Preview of Azure Site Recovery support for Azure Trusted Launch VMs. Azure Trusted Launch VMs provide security for second-generation Azure virtual machines, enabling Secure Boot and vTPM features. This public preview is currently available only for the Windows operating system.

Migrate

Azure Migrate

New releases and features of Azure Migrate

Azure Migrate is the service in Azure that includes a broad portfolio of tools that can be used, through a guided user experience, to effectively address the most common migration scenarios. To stay updated on the latest developments of the solution, you can consult this page, which provides information on new releases and new features.

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.

This month, Microsoft introduced a series of significant updates related to Azure management services. Through this series of monthly articles, we aim to provide an overview of the most relevant news. The goal is to keep you constantly informed about these developments, giving you the essential information needed to further explore these topics.

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

Support for Managed Identities for Alerts

Azure Monitor alerts are essential tools for monitoring data related to Azure and its applications. These alerts quickly identify issues that could affect service operations. Through log search alert rules, it’s possible to periodically run log data queries to receive notifications or trigger actions when potential problems are detected. A common challenge for developers is managing the credentials of applications accessing different resources. In this context, managed identities prove to be an effective solution, offering an identity automatically managed through Microsoft Entra ID. Applications can use these identities to obtain access tokens without directly managing credentials.

Log search alert rules support the use of managed identities for Azure resources, enhancing the visibility and control of permissions associated with these rules. Managed identities can be employed in log search alert rules in two main ways:

• System-assigned managed identity: in this case, Azure creates a new identity specifically dedicated to the alert rule. After creating the rule, it is necessary to assign this identity the required permissions to access the workspace and the data sources needed to perform the query.
• User-assigned managed identity: before establishing the alert rule, the user creates an identity and assigns the appropriate permissions. This identity can then be used for multiple alert rules, thus optimizing resource management.

This system not only simplifies credential management but also increases security and efficiency in the configuration and monitoring of applications and cloud resources.

Azure Monitor Agent Upload to Storage and Event Hubs (preview)

The Azure Monitor Agent is an advanced solution for collecting telemetry data from IaaS resources, like virtual machines. With the new upload feature, available in this preview version, it is possible to transfer logs directly from Log Analytics workspaces to Event Hubs and Storage services. These data destinations employ specific rules for data collection, allowing for a customized and optimized configuration of the collection infrastructure for agents.

Query Editor for Azure Monitor Metrics (preview)

The public preview of the Query Editor for Azure Metric Explorer within Azure Monitor Workspace (AMW) is now publicly available. This update allows customers to query Prometheus metrics directly from their Azure Monitor Workspace using PromQL. With this feature, users can analyze metric data more effectively by writing and executing PromQL queries directly in the Metric Explorer.

Azure Monitor Pipeline (preview)

Microsoft recently launched the preview version of the Azure Monitor Pipeline for edge environments. This new solution is designed to improve the ingestion and routing of large-scale data from edge environments to Azure Monitor, enhancing observability. Deployable as an extension of the Arc Kubernetes cluster on your own on-premises Kubernetes clusters, the pipeline supports a wide range of resources and can be scaled horizontally to handle large volumes of data. It also offers advanced capabilities for collecting data from resources in segmented networks without continuous cloud connectivity, storing logs locally during outages, and synchronizing them with the cloud once the connection is restored.

Govern

Azure Advisor

Changes to the Display of Savings Estimates on Azure Advisor

From September 30, 2024, Azure Advisor will no longer display the aggregated annual estimates of potential savings. Currently, these estimates are visible on the Azure portal under “Potential yearly savings based on retail pricing” in the cost recommendations pages. This feature will be discontinued on the specified date. Despite the removal of this aggregated display, it will still be possible to calculate specific annual potential savings through alternative procedures. Individual recommendations and their associated potential savings will remain available.

Resiliency Review (preview)

Microsoft has introduced the “Resiliency Review” in public preview on Azure Advisor, a new feature aimed at increasing the resilience of workloads through personalized recommendations. These recommendations, provided by Microsoft’s cloud solution architects, allow users to focus on the most critical aspects to ensure the resilience of their systems. Users have the opportunity to evaluate the recommendations (accepting or rejecting them), manage their lifecycle on Advisor, and collaborate with their Microsoft account team to monitor resolution. It is also possible to request a “Well Architected Reliability Assessment” to optimize the resilience and reliability of workloads by implementing the recommendations and monitoring their lifecycle on Advisor.

Azure Cost Management

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:

• General Availability of Microsoft Defender for Containers on AWS and GCP: Microsoft has announced the general availability of Defender for Containers for AWS and GCP platforms. This service enhances container security through real-time threat detection and agentless container discovery. Notably, an advanced authentication feature on AWS optimizes the service provisioning process.
• Risk Prioritization: Risk prioritization has become the default experience in Microsoft Defender for Cloud. This feature helps users focus on the most severe threats by organizing security recommendations based on the risk factors of each resource. The assessment criteria include the potential impact of a breach, risk categories, and the attack path associated with each security issue.
• Update on Microsoft Defender for Server Plan 2: Microsoft has announced that the Qualys service integrated into Plan 2 of Microsoft Defender for Server will be retired on May 1, 2024. This change is part of a broader initiative to simplify and consolidate vulnerability assessments within Microsoft Defender for Cloud. Following this update, Plan 2 of Defender for Server will integrate Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management as its new solution for vulnerability assessments.
• Defender for Cloud Supports Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server: Microsoft Defender for Cloud can now protect Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server from threats without compromising the performance of the service. This solution reduces the risk of data breaches, attacks, and unauthorized access by monitoring unusual or suspicious activity in the database. This feature can be easily enabled from the Azure portal, to receive security alerts, insights, and recommendations on how to mitigate potentially harmful threats related to Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server.

Protect

Azure Backup

Backup and Restore of Virtual Machines with Private Endpoint Disks

Azure Backup now offers the capability to back up Azure virtual machines using disks with private endpoints. This functionality is available for virtual machines with both standard and advanced backup policies and can be implemented through the standard backup procedures of Azure. Additionally, during the restore process, it is now possible to configure network access settings for the restored disks. Users can choose to maintain the original network configuration of the disks, limit access to specific networks, or allow public access from all networks.

Backup for Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server (preview)

Azure Backup, in collaboration with Azure Database Services, has launched a preview backup solution for MySQL-Flexible servers that allows backups to be retained for up to 10 years. Features offered in this preview phase include: comprehensive data protection against various levels of data loss, from accidental deletions to ransomware attacks; the ability for users to control scheduled and ad-hoc backup operations; isolated backups stored in a separate security and fault domain; long-term backup retention; and centralized monitoring of all backup operations and jobs.

Azure Backup Introduces Vault Backups for Azure Files (preview)

Azure Backup now supports transferring backups of Azure Files into vaults to protect critical business data stored in Azure Files against severe data loss scenarios, such as ransomware attacks. These isolated backups ensure trouble-free recovery even if the source data is compromised. It’s easy to switch from snapshot-based backup, which offers protection from accidental deletions, to vault backup to safeguard File data against a broader range of tampering and data deletion scenarios. Capabilities include:

• Enhanced backup security with features such as immutability, encryption with customer-managed keys (CMK), soft delete, and multi-user authorization (MUA).
• Long-term data retention up to 99 years to meet compliance requirements in regulated sectors.
• Business continuity in case of regional disruptions with the ability to restore from a backup copy replicated in the Azure paired region.
• Guaranteed data recovery even if the production storage or subscription is compromised, with the option to restore in an alternative subscription.

Selecting the “vault” level in the backup policy can improve the security posture of Azure Files data with a native, managed, and secure offsite backup solution, strengthening the business continuity and disaster recovery strategy for mission-critical applications.

Azure Site Recovery

New Update Rollup

Update Rollup 73 has been released for Azure Site Recovery, bringing significant improvements to the latest service components. Notably, the Mobility Service now supports additional Linux operating systems, including Debian 12 and Ubuntu 18.04 Pro for Azure-to-Azure configurations and VMware/Physical migrations to Azure. This update also includes other optimizations and bug fixes.

Azure Site Recovery for Shared Disks (preview)

The public preview of Azure Site Recovery for managing Shared Disks is now available. This feature enhances the protection and recovery of workloads operating on Windows Server Failover Clusters (WSFC) deployed on Azure VMs. This development paves the way for the use of shared disks for mission-critical applications such as SQL FCI, SAP ASCS, and Scale-out File Servers, ensuring operational continuity and efficient recovery capability in disaster scenarios.

With Azure Site Recovery for shared disks, you can:

• Replicate and recover WSFC clusters as a single entity throughout the Disaster Recovery (DR) lifecycle.
• Generate cluster-level consistent recovery points.
• Monitor the protection and health status of the cluster and its nodes from a single interface.
• Manage cluster failover and recovery point selection.
• Re-protect and restore the cluster in the main region minimizing data loss and reducing downtime.

Migrate

Azure Migrate

New releases and features of Azure Migrate

Azure Migrate is the service in Azure that includes a broad portfolio of tools that can be used, through a guided user experience, to effectively address the most common migration scenarios. To stay updated on the latest developments of the solution, you can consult this page, which provides information on new releases and new features.

This month, the main updates include:

• New Features for SAP (preview): Azure Migrate has recently expanded its capabilities by including support in preview for discovery and assessment of SAP systems. Thanks to this feature, users can now perform detailed assessments for on-premises SAP workloads.
• Assessment of Java Web Applications (Tomcat) for Azure App Service and AKS (preview): Microsoft has introduced a new assessment capability for Java web applications (Tomcat) in preview, aimed at both Azure App Service and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). This feature allows developers and IT architects to examine and plan the migration of their existing Tomcat applications, leveraging Azure’s cloud capabilities to enhance the performance and scalability of applications.

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.

This month, Microsoft announced a series of significant updates to the Azure management services. Through this sequence of monthly articles, we aim to provide a detailed overview of the most noteworthy new features. The primary goal is to keep readers up-to-date on these advancements, offering the crucial information needed to delve further into these topics.

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

Expansion and improvements to the Azure Monitor for Prometheus service

The managed Azure Monitor for Prometheus service, which facilitates the collection and analysis of metrics through a monitoring solution compatible with the Prometheus project of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation, has announced significant updates:

• The service is now available in 13 additional Azure regions, extending its geographical coverage.
• Introduction of support for TLS (Transport Layer Security) and mTLS (Mutual TLS) based metrics scraping, aimed at Prometheus configurations that use TLS. This feature adds a significant layer of security for authenticated and protected communication between Azure Monitor and Prometheus instances, enhancing data protection in transit.

Billing for “stateful” log search alerts in Azure Monitor (preview)

Starting from May 1, 2024, “stateful” log search alerts in Azure Monitor will be subject to charges. These alerts allow for the execution of a log analysis query on monitored resources at regular intervals, triggering an alert based on the results obtained. The distinctive feature of “stateful” alerts is their ability to automatically resolve when the alert condition is no longer true, thus reducing alert noise and focusing on issues that require attention. This feature is currently in preview and will become publicly available in May. Details on the pricing for log search alert rules can be found on the Azure Monitor pricing page.

Govern

Azure Advisor

Assessment of the Well-Architected Framework on Azure Advisor (preview)

The introduction of the Well-Architected Framework (WAF) assessment on Azure Advisor (in preview) represents a significant step forward in providing users with a deep and holistic understanding of their architectures. This assessment allows for the examination and optimization of architectures across multiple crucial aspects, including resilience, security, cost optimization, operational excellence, and performance efficiency. Implementing and monitoring the recommendations from the WAF assessment through Azure Advisor are valuable tools for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of cloud infrastructures.

Azure Policy

New feature: simple assignment of regulatory compliance policies to the Azure Landing Zone (ALZ)

Microsoft has announced a new feature for the Azure Landing Zone portal accelerator that will make large-scale regulatory compliance more consistent and simpler to implement. Azure Policy initiatives can now be assigned to Management Groups at deployment with just a few clicks.

Azure Cost Management

Support for the AWS connector in Cost Management will end on March 31, 2025

The connector for AWS in Microsoft Cost Management, designed to consolidate cost data from Microsoft Azure and AWS, will be retired. Users are encouraged to consider an alternative solution before the retirement date to complete the transition in a timely manner. After March 31, 2024, it will no longer be possible to add new AWS Connectors in Cost Management for all users, and from March 31, 2025, access to the AWS Connector as well as cost reports that include AWS data will be discontinued. In addition, all AWS cost data present on Microsoft Cost Management will be deleted, except for Cost and Usage Report (CUR) files which will remain available in the user’s S3 bucket on the AWS console.

Cost analysis add-on for AKS (General Availability)

The cost analysis add-on for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is now available. This native Azure experience offers visibility into the underlying infrastructure costs associated with AKS workloads, with a cost breakdown based on Kubernetes constructs like clusters and namespaces, as well as Azure asset categories. Additionally, cost allocation data can be viewed directly in the Azure portal’s cost management section. The add-on helps monitor, allocate, and optimize AKS costs.

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

Azure Defender for Microsoft Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Flexible Server

Microsoft has made Defender for Cloud available for Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Flexible Server, thus enhancing database security with advanced detection capabilities. This sophisticated solution is designed to detect suspicious activities that may indicate unusual and potentially dangerous attempts to access or compromise databases. With its implementation, Defender for Cloud introduces an additional significant layer of protection for Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Flexible Server, complementary to the already integrated security measures, ensuring an even more robust defense against threats.

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:

• Agentless scanning for VMs encrypted with CMK in Azure: this functionality, already available for AWS and GCP, is now present for Azure. It uses a unique approach to scan VMs encrypted with CMK without Defender for Cloud managing the keys or the decryption process, which is instead handled transparently by Azure Compute. The unencrypted VM disk data is not copied or re-encrypted with another key, and the original key is not replicated. During the public preview, this capability is not enabled automatically, but is available for those using Defender for Servers P2 or Defender CSPM with VM disks encrypted with CMK.
• New recommendations for endpoint detection and response: announced new recommendations that discover and assess the configuration of supported endpoint detection and response solutions. These agentless recommendations are available for those who have activated Defender for Servers Plan 2 or the Defender CSPM plan, but do not support on-premises machines.
• Custom security standards and recommendations based on KQL for Azure in public preview: it is now possible to create custom security standards and recommendations based on KQL for Azure, available in public preview and supported in all clouds.
• Inclusion of DevOps recommendations in the Microsoft Cloud Security Benchmark (MCSB): it is now possible to monitor the security and compliance posture of DevOps in the MCSB, which provides prescriptive details on how to implement its security recommendations agnostic to the cloud.
• General availability (GA) integration with ServiceNow: announced the general availability of the integration with ServiceNow.
• Protection of critical assets in Microsoft Defender for Cloud (preview): Defender for Cloud now includes a feature to identify and protect critical assets through risk prioritization, attack path analysis, and cloud security explorer.
• Enhanced recommendations for AWS and GCP with automatic remediation scripts: improved recommendations for AWS and GCP with automatic remediation scripts that allow for large-scale application of remedies.
• Addition of compliance standards to the compliance dashboard (preview): based on user feedback, new compliance standards have been added in preview to the compliance dashboard for AWS and GCP resources protected by Defender for Cloud.
• Retirement of the container vulnerability assessment by Defender for Cloud powered by Qualys: this assessment has been retired. Customers who were using this assessment should switch to the vulnerability assessments for Azure with Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management.

Protect

Azure Backup

Azure Backup for VMs: agentless backup of multiple disks with crash consistency (preview)

Azure VM backup introduces support for agentless backup of multiple disks with crash consistency, currently in public preview. This feature allows for the backup of VMs without the need to install additional software, such as the VM agent or the snapshot extension, inside the VM itself. This feature can also be used if the operating system is not supported for backup with application-level consistency.

Migrate

Azure Migrate

New releases and features of Azure Migrate

Azure Migrate is the service in Azure that includes a broad portfolio of tools that can be used, through a guided user experience, to effectively address the most common migration scenarios. To stay updated on the latest developments of the solution, you can consult this page, which provides information on new releases and new features.

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.