TWIL: December 18, 2022

Lots of new stuff this week, starting with a podcast about Java on Azure, continuing with an interesting article on AltGraph and Cosmos DB and a video playlist focused on Cosmos DB. Following with several articles on Microsoft Purview, Databricks cost management and the new Azure CLX (Connected Learning Experience). To finish, an interesting opinion on ChatGPT and a seriously awesome AI-based image generation tool. Have fun!


Podcasts

The Azure Podcast

Episode 449: Java Jakarta EE Applications
Reza Rahman, a Principal Program Manager for Java on Azure, talks to us about the work his team has done to enable customers using legacy Java frameworks to easily migrate to Azure or modernize in a variety of ways.


Azure Cosmos DB

AltGraph – Graph workloads with Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL
AltGraph is the idea of implementing “graph workloads” not with a graph database, but with the more general-purpose Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL (formerly known as the “SQL API”). Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL is highly performant and offers the best integration with the rest of Azure. It also offers the lowest learning curve since most of the industry already understands SQL (Structured Query Language), the query language used by this database.

Azure Cosmos DB Live TV
Join Azure Cosmos DB product managers and partners for a weekly webcast on new features, tips, tricks, and more.


Microsoft Purview

Data management across Azure Data Lake with Microsoft Purview
As you load more data into Azure, the need to properly govern and manage that data across all your data sources and data consumers also grows. If you don’t have high-quality data in your Azure data estate, the business value of Azure is diminished. The solution is to build a foundation for data governance and management that can produce and deliver high-quality, trusted data.

Manage data across Azure SQL estate with Microsoft Purview
Data needs to be managed at scale across on-premises, cloud, and multi-cloud storage. This management ensures compliance requirements are met around security, privacy, and usage. Well-managed data can also improve self-discovery, data sharing, and quality—improving the use of data in applications and analytics. Microsoft Purview can automatically discover, catalog, classify, and manage data across Microsoft SQL offerings, whether on-premises or in Azure.

Microsoft Purview accounts architectures and best practices
To enable Microsoft Purview governance solutions, like Microsoft Purview Data Map and Data Catalog, in your environment, you’ll deploy a Microsoft Purview (formerly Azure Purview) account in the Azure portal. You’ll use this account to centrally manage data governance across your data estate, spanning both cloud and on-premises environments.

What’s available in the Microsoft Purview governance portal?
Microsoft Purview’s solutions in the governance portal provide a unified data governance service that helps you manage your on-premises, multicloud, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) data. The Microsoft Purview governance portal allows you to create a holistic, up-to-date map of your data landscape with automated data discovery, sensitive data classification, and end-to-end data lineage, enable data curators and security administrators to manage and keep your data estate secure, and empower data consumers to find valuable, trustworthy data.

Microsoft Purview network architecture and best practices
Microsoft Purview is a platform as a service (PaaS) solution for data governance. Microsoft Purview accounts have public endpoints that are accessible through the internet to connect to the service. However, all endpoints are secured through Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) logins and role-based access control (RBAC).

Microsoft Purview security best practices
This article provides best practices for common security requirements in Microsoft Purview. The security strategy described follows the layered defense-in-depth approach.

Best practices for Purview and a federated way of working
Many organizations consult me about how I see Microsoft Purview in relation to data mesh or a federated way of working. They ask me about sharing best practices for establishing a domain-oriented architecture. Let’s explorer in this blogpost how Purview can support your data governance ambitions.


Databricks

Best Practices for Cost Management on Databricks
One of the main advantages of using a cloud platform is its flexibility. The Databricks Lakehouse Platform provides users easy access to near instant and horizontally scalable compute. However, with this ease of creating compute resources comes a risk of spiraling cloud costs when it’s left unmanaged and without guardrails.

Databricks usage and cost analysis
Modern data-driven applications require a modern approach to data processing and transformation, and at People.ai, we rely on Databricks software for a number of data processing. Databricks has been a reliable partner for us, providing a cloud-based orchestration platform for our Spark-driven data processing. We use Databricks primarily for production data analysis, called all-purpose and light jobs; However, we find the platform helpful for product proof-of-concept solutions.


Azure Storage

Azure Storage Mover–A managed migration service for Azure Storage
File storage is a critical part of any organization’s on-premises IT infrastructure. As organizations migrate more of their applications and user shares to the cloud, they often face challenges in migrating the associated file data. Having the right tools and services is essential to successful migrations.


Learning

Microsoft Azure CLX: A personalized program to learn Azure
The CLX program is a four-step program that prepares you for the Microsoft Azure certification exams while optimizing your learning experience and minimizing time invested. At the start of the program, you’ll take a knowledge assessment to test your skills and create a personalized learning path. You’ll then take only the Microsoft Learn courses that are useful to you—saving you time and ensuring that you learn the skills you need to accelerate your career.


Data Sovereignty

Microsoft announces the phased rollout of the EU Data Boundary for the Microsoft Cloud begins January 1, 2023
Today, we are announcing that, on January 1, 2023, Microsoft will begin a phased rollout of our EU Data Boundary solution to public sector and commercial customers in the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).


Cool Stuff

ChatGPT — End of Google?
ChatGPT by OpenAI, uses artificial intelligence to speak back and forth with human users on a wide range of subjects. Deploying a machine-learning algorithm, the chatbot scans text across the internet and develops a statistical model that allows it to string words together in response to a given prompt.


Awesome Stuff

Midjourney
Midjourney is an independent research lab exploring new mediums of thought and expanding the imaginative powers of the human species.


Have an awesome week!

Image generated using Open AI’s DALL-E.