Azure Beginner to Hero

In this episode of the Azure Essentials Show, I am joined by Priyanshi from Microsoft Azure to explore how organizations can optimize their cloud spending using Azure Reserved Virtual Machine Instances. The discussion covers the fundamentals of reserved instances, practical strategies for leveraging Azure’s recommendations, and key best practices to maximize savings while maintaining performance … The post Optimize Azure Costs with Reserved Instances appeared first on Thomas Maurer . อ้างอิงค์ : https://www.thomasmaurer.ch/2025/10/optimize-azure-costs-with-reserved-instances/

In this video I will provide a brief Azure Local Overview, why it exists, and where it fits in with your hybrid cloud architecture. I cover primary use cases such as hybrid infrastructure, edge computing, digital sovereignty, and disconnected scenarios, and I walk through the benefits of running diverse workloads locally while retaining cloud management. … The post New Video: Azure Local Overview appeared first on Thomas Maurer . อ้างอิงค์ : https://www.thomasmaurer.ch/2025/10/new-video-azure-local-overview/

Microsoft has just dropped the Azure Local 2510 release, and it’s packed with powerful new features aimed at boosting edge resilience, security, and deployment flexibility. You can leare more about this release here: New Azure Local features and previews At the same time the Azure Local team also made new feature and previews available: Let … The post Azure Local 2510 Release And New Preview Features appeared first on Thomas Maurer . อ้างอิงค์ : https://www.thomasmaurer.ch/2025/10/azure-local-2510-release-and-new-preview-features/

Welcome to another episode of the Azure Essentials Show, in which Thomas Maurer and Clayton Siemens from Microsoft Azure dive into the world of multi-agent AI orchestration. This conversation explores how specialized AI agents can collaborate to solve complex enterprise challenges, moving beyond simple information retrieval to real business impact through coordinated action and automation. … The post Optimize Complex Workflows Using Multi-Agent AI Patterns appeared first on Thomas Maurer . อ้างอิงค์ : https://www.thomasmaurer.ch/2025/10/optimize-complex-workflows-using-multi-agent-ai-patterns/

In this episode of the Azure Essentials Show, host Thomas Maurer and guest Britt Henderson from Microsoft Azure dive into the Azure Pricing Calculator, exploring its features, benefits, and practical applications for cloud cost estimation. The discussion covers how the calculator provides precision, clarity, and confidence for users planning and managing Azure workloads, and highlights … The post Azure Pricing Calculator: Estimate Smarter, Plan Confidently appeared first on Thomas Maurer . อ้างอิงค์ : https://www.thomasmaurer.ch/2025/10/azure-pricing-calculator-estimate-smarter-plan-confidently/

Microsoft Switzerland just launched a new website dedicated to one big topic that’s on everyone’s mind: digital sovereignty. In other words — how Swiss organizations can stay in control of their data while taking full advantage of the cloud. This can also be applied in other countries in the EMEA region. You can check it … The post How Microsoft is addressing digital sovereignty in Switzerland appeared first on Thomas Maurer . อ้างอิงค์ : https://www.thomasmaurer.ch/2025/10/how-microsoft-is-addressing-digital-sovereignty-in-switzerland/

I am thrilled to share some exciting news with you all—I am starting a new chapter in my Microsoft journey as Global Black Belt (GBB) for Sovereign Cloud! 🎉 In this role, I’ll be focusing on Microsoft sovereign cloud solutions, including hybrid cloud, multicloud, and edge computing. My mission is to work with some of … The post My New Role as EMEA Global Black Belt (GBB) for Sovereign Cloud at Microsoft appeared first on Thomas Maurer . อ้างอิงค์ : https://www.thomasmaurer.ch/2025/10/my-new-role-as-emea-global-black-belt-gbb-for-sovereign-cloud-at-microsoft/

If you’re in IT, cloud architecture, or make decisions about your organization’s technology roadmap, finding ways to modernize infrastructure while controlling cloud costs is likely high on your agenda. The latest episode of the Azure Essentials Show, featuring Thomas Maurer and Shreya Baheti, dives into just that—exploring how the Azure Hybrid Benefit for Linux enables … The post Unlock Cloud Savings for Linux VMs with the Azure Hybrid Benefit appeared first on Thomas Maurer . อ้างอิงค์ : https://www.thomasmaurer.ch/2025/09/unlock-cloud-savings-for-linux-vms-with-the-azure-hybrid-benefit/

In this episode I sit down with Thomas Bryant from Commvault to explore one of the most critical topics in modern cybersecurity: identity protection and recovery in Active Directory and Microsoft Entra. 💡Links: 🔐 What We Cover: 💡 Whether you’re an IT leader, security architect, or just passionate about protecting digital identities, this episode is … The post Protecting Identity in Active Directory & Microsoft Entra appeared first on Thomas Maurer . อ้างอิงค์ : https://www.thomasmaurer.ch/2025/09/protecting-identity-in-active-directory-microsoft-entra/

Azure has officially launched the Generally Available feature of same-region replica clusters for Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB (vCore) , enhancing high availability and disaster recovery capabilities within the same Azure region. This capability allows continuous data streaming between a primary cluster and one or more read-only replica clusters in the same region, providing improved read scalability and resilience without needing a multi-region setup. Key points about this launch include: Same-region replica clusters enable disaster recovery and read scalability by maintaining real-time data replication within a single Azure region. These replica clusters store full copies of the MongoDB data—databases, collections, and documents—and provide a separate endpoint for read operations. They can be promoted to handle write operations in case the primary cluster becomes unavailable. The feature complements existing cross-region replication, which duplicates data across geographically ...

I’m excited to share that I recently passed the AI-900 exam and earned the Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Fundamentals certification! This certification validates a foundational understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) concepts and how they are implemented in Microsoft Azure. It covers key areas such as: For me, this journey was not only about achieving a … The post Passed the Microsoft AI-900 exam for Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Fundamentals! 🎉 appeared first on Thomas Maurer . อ้างอิงค์ : https://www.thomasmaurer.ch/2025/08/passed-the-microsoft-ai-900-exam-for-microsoft-certified-azure-ai-fundamentals-%f0%9f%8e%89/

In this episode of the Azure Essentials Show, Thomas is joined by Ben Brauer from Azure Marketing to explore how organizations can build and scale a Generative AI Center of Excellence (CoE). As AI adoption accelerates, a dedicated CoE helps teams govern, operationalize, and continuously improve their AI initiatives across the enterprise. Watch the Episode … The post Implementing a Center of Excellence for Generative AI appeared first on Thomas Maurer . อ้างอิงค์ : https://www.thomasmaurer.ch/2025/08/implementing-a-center-of-excellence-for-generative-ai/

Are you eager to harness the power of AI while ensuring your solutions are secure, reliable, and efficient? The latest episode of the Azure Essentials Show, “Design AI Workloads with the Azure Well-Architected Framework,” is your must-watch resource. Hosted by industry expert Thomas Maurer and featuring guest Clayton Siemens, this episode dives deep into applying … The post Design AI Workloads with the Azure Well-Architected Framework appeared first on Thomas Maurer . อ้างอิงค์ : https://www.thomasmaurer.ch/2025/07/design-ai-workloads-with-the-azure-well-architected-framework/

In this episode of the Azure Essentials Show, Thomas Maurer is joined by Sergio Navar and John Downs for a discussion on the application of the Microsoft Well-Architected Framework to building Software as a Service (SaaS) solution. They explain the five pillars of the framework—Security, Cost Optimization, Reliability, Operational Excellence, and Performance Efficiency—and how these … The post Video: Build a Well-Architected SaaS Solution on Microsoft Azure appeared first on Thomas Maurer . อ้างอิงค์ : https://www.thomasmaurer.ch/2025/05/video-build-a-well-architected-saas-solution-on-microsoft-azure/

I’m incredibly excited to announce that I’ll be speaking at this year’s Windows Server Summit 2025, a free online event for all to join on April 29-30, 2025. This is a fantastic opportunity for anyone passionate about server management, connectivity, and the future of technology to learn and connect. In my session, “Modernize server management … The post Speaking at the Windows Server Summit 2025 appeared first on Thomas Maurer . อ้างอิงค์ : https://www.thomasmaurer.ch/2025/04/speaking-at-the-windows-server-summit-2025/

Azure Monitor Log Analytics has launched significant enhancements to Search Jobs , making large-scale data exploration faster, easier, and more efficient[1]. A Search Job runs asynchronous queries on large datasets in your Log Analytics workspace, including long-term retention data, splitting queries into smaller time-based segments processed in parallel for scalability over petabyte-scale data[1]. Key improvements include: A more intuitive and streamlined UI for quicker and simpler job setup. A cost estimation preview before running a job to help manage expenses. Removed limits that previously restricted result sizes and concurrency; now supporting up to 100 million records and allowing more parallel jobs. Lifted the date-range limit , so queries can cover any time span within the data retention period, with no upper bound[1]. Usage involves running a search job query in the Log Analytics workspace via the Azure portal, which creates a new "search results" tabl...

The Public Preview of Cosmos DB in Microsoft Fabric was announced in mid-2025, introducing significant new capabilities that integrate operational database workloads with Microsoft Fabric’s analytics ecosystem. Key Features and Capabilities Seamless Integration with OneLake via Automatic Mirroring Cosmos DB in Fabric automatically mirrors your operational NoSQL data to OneLake in near real-time, using the open-source Delta format. This replication is continuous—covering inserts, updates, and deletes—and requires no manual setup. It enables your OLTP data to be accessible for analytics, reporting, and data science workflows within the broader Fabric ecosystem. You can query this data with T-SQL, Spark, notebooks, and leverage Copilot-powered Power BI for real-time insights[1][3]. Advanced Vector and Full-Text Search The service supports efficient vector indexing and search, enabling similarity searches based on the semantic meaning of data through vector embeddings. It offers mu...

I had the chance to discuss network load balancing in the cloud with Kurt Jung. Join me, Thomas Maurer, as I sit down with Kurt Jung from Progress to discuss load balancing in Azure with KEMP LoadMaster. In this insightful conversation, we explore the intricacies of load balancing in Microsoft Azure, on-premises, and hybrid environments. … The post Video: Load balancing in Azure appeared first on Thomas Maurer . อ้างอิงค์ : https://www.thomasmaurer.ch/2025/04/video-load-balancing-in-azure/

Retirement of DCsv2-series Azure Virtual Machines The DCsv2-series Azure Virtual Machines are scheduled for retirement on June 30, 2026 [1][2][3]. This means that after this date, these virtual machines will no longer be available for use. Here is a summary of key points related to this retirement: Key Points Retirement Date : June 30, 2026[1][2][3]. Impact : This retirement affects anyone using DCsv2-series virtual machines, including those on Azure Kubernetes Service and Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets[1]. Migration Recommendation : Users are advised to migrate their workloads to DCdsv3-series virtual machines or consider alternatives like DCasv5/DCadsv5/ECasv5/ECadsv5 VMs, DCasv6/ECasv6 series , or Azure Confidential Container Instances (C-ACI) [1]. New Sign-Ups : Starting from July 1, 2025 , no new subscriptions will be allowed for DCsv2-series virtual machines due to capacity restrictions[1]. Ongoing Support Microsoft will continue to provide support, including SLA as...

Azure Site Recovery (ASR) has officially launched general availability support for Azure Trusted Launch virtual machines (VMs) running Linux operating systems. This means that Azure customers can now use ASR to provide disaster recovery and replication capabilities for Linux VMs secured with Trusted Launch, a feature that enhances VM security through mechanisms like Secure Boot and measured boot. Key details include: Supported Linux distributions: ASR supports Trusted Launch VMs running major Linux distributions such as Ubuntu (18.04, 20.04, 22.04, 24.04), Red Hat Enterprise Linux (various 8.x and 9.x versions), SUSE (15 SP3 to SP6 with specific kernel versions), Alma Linux (8.10, 9.4, 9.5), and Debian 12[1]. Support status: Previously, ASR support for Trusted Launch was generally available for Windows VMs, while Linux support was only in private preview. As of now, Linux Trusted Launch VM support has transitioned out of preview to general availability, providing full disaster r...