Azure Update - 18th April 2025

Key Concepts

Quantum computing, Azure Red Hat Open Shift, Managed Identities, Azure Functions, Confidential VMs, Storage Optimized VMs, Azure Backup for AKS, Azure Container Apps, Virtual WAN Route Maps, Express Route Metro Peering, Global Reach, Azure Front Door Custom Cipher Suites, Disk Performance Plus, Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 Vaulted Backups, SFTP Local Users ACLs, Azure Load Testing Managed Identity, Azure OpenAI GPT Models.

Compute Updates

Red Hat Open Shift Managed Identity Support

• Main Point: Azure Red Hat Open Shift now supports managed identities.
• Details: Managed identities eliminate the need to manage service principals. The Azure resource gets an identity automatically.
• Limitation: Only available when creating a new cluster, not for existing ones.

Azure Functions Python Retirement and Upgrade

• Main Point: Python 3.9 for Azure Functions is being retired.
• Details: End of support is October 2025. Users should migrate to Python 3.11 or above.

New Confidential VMs (D and E series ESV6)

• Main Point: Introduction of new D and E series confidential VMs.
• Details: Uses secure enclaves powered by 5th Gen Intel Xeon processors (Emerald Rapids). Secure enclaves provide a protected partition within the computing environment.
• D vs. E: D-series offers a general memory-to-vCPU ratio, while E-series is memory-optimized with a higher memory-to-vCPU ratio.

New Storage Optimized VMs (L and LA V4 series)

• Main Point: Introduction of new L and LA V4 series storage-optimized VMs.
• Details: Feature local NVMe-connected SSDs for low latency.
• L vs. LA: L series is Intel-based (Emerald Rapids), LA series is AMD EPYC-based.
• Use Cases: Caching, workload storage requiring low latency.
• Sizes: 2 to 96 vCPUs, 8 GB RAM, and 240 GB local NVMe per vCPU (up to 23 TB total).
• L AO V4: 2 to 32 vCPUs, 8 GB memory, 720 GB local NVMe disk per vCPU. Aimed at distributed high-scale workloads, storage caching layers, and data warehouses.

Azure Functions SQL Trigger GA

• Main Point: Azure Functions SQL trigger is now generally available for the consumption plan.
• Details: Triggers serverless Azure Functions based on SQL table updates (create, insert, delete). Supports input/output bindings for database read/write actions.

Azure Functions MCP Support (Preview)

• Main Point: Azure Functions now supports Model Context Protocol (MCP) in preview.
• Details: Azure functions can act as a remote MCP server, triggered by server-side events.
• MCP: Standard way for AI apps to interact with knowledge resources and tools.
• Implementation: Functions are declared as tools in MCP and triggered by the new MCP tool trigger.
• Quick Starts: Available for Python, Node.js, TypeScript, and .NET C#.

Azure Backup for AKS File Share Support

• Main Point: Azure Backup for AKS now supports file share backup.
• Details: Extends backup capabilities to data on Azure file shares used as persistent volumes in AKS.
• Benefits: Instant backup and restore via snapshots, up to 30 days retention.

Azure Container Apps Native Rule-Based Routing

• Main Point: Azure Container Apps now has native rule-based routing.
• Details: Enables routing incoming requests to different apps or versions within Azure Container Apps.
• Use Cases: AB testing, blue-green deployments, traffic splitting.
• Benefit: Eliminates the need for external proxies for traffic management.

Networking Updates

Virtual WAN Route Maps GA

• Main Point: Virtual WAN route maps are now generally available.
• Details: Controls route advertisements and routing for Virtual WAN virtual hubs.
• Functionality: Route replacement, dropping routes based on criteria, route summarization.
• Application: Manages traffic entering/leaving Virtual WAN via Site-to-Site VPN, Point-to-Site VPN, ExpressRoute, and VNet connections.

Express Route Metro Peering and Global Reach Expansion

• Main Point: Express Route Metro Peering and Global Reach are available in more regions.
• Metro Peering: Provides resiliency against peering location failures by splitting connections into two different peering locations within the same city. New locations: Atlanta, Jakarta, Madrid, and Milan.
• Global Reach: Enables private connectivity between data centers via ExpressRoute connections and the Microsoft backbone network. Now available in Belgium, Italy, and Spain.

Azure Front Door Custom Cipher Suite GA

• Main Point: Azure Front Door custom cipher suites are now generally available.
• Details: Allows setting specific cipher suites for TLS negotiation.
• Application: Fine-grained control over encryption for specific security requirements.
• Custom Policies: Can be configured differently based on Azure pre-validated or non-validated domains.

Storage Updates

Disk Performance Plus GA

• Main Point: Disk Performance Plus is now generally available.
• Details: Provides a free performance boost for standard HDDs, standard SSDs, and premium SSDs v1 over 513 GB.
• Benefit: Improves throughput and IOPS.
• Activation: Enabled only at disk creation.
• Considerations: VM limits may become the bottleneck.

Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 Vaulted Backups

• Main Point: Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 now supports vaulted backups.
• Details: Isolates backup data from the source storage account.
• Features: Long-term data retention (up to 10 years), multi-user authorization, resource guard.
• Resource Guard: Prevents unauthorized deletion of backups, even by backup admins.

SFTP Local Users ACLs

• Main Point: SFTP local users now have access control lists (ACLs).
• Details: Enables granular access control to blobs and directories for local SFTP users.
• Local Users: Specific to SFTP, use password or SSH private key authentication.

Miscellaneous Updates

Azure Load Testing Managed Identity Support

• Main Point: Azure Load Testing now supports managed identity.
• Details: Improves authentication flow between components and resources.
• Benefit: Ensures proper authentication and resource access during load tests.

New Regions

• Indonesia Central: Now generally available with availability zones.
• US Government Secret Cloud: New region for US government classified networks.

Azure OpenAI GPT Models

• GPT4.1 and Variants: GPT4.1, Mini, and Nano models are now available. Outperform previous GPT40 models. Support text and image input with text output. Up to 1 million tokens of context.
• GPT4 Mini and 03 Reasoning Models: Available in Azure OpenAI. Reasoning models excel at complex reasoning tasks. Integrate images directly into their chain of thought.

Synthesis/Conclusion

This Azure update covers a wide range of improvements and new features across compute, networking, storage, and AI services. Key takeaways include enhanced security with confidential VMs and vaulted backups, improved performance with storage-optimized VMs and Disk Performance Plus, and increased flexibility with Azure Container Apps routing and Virtual WAN route maps. The introduction of new GPT models in Azure OpenAI highlights the continued advancements in AI capabilities within the platform. These updates provide developers and IT professionals with more tools and options to build and deploy secure, scalable, and intelligent applications on Azure.