Azure Update - 20th June 2025

Azure Infrastructure Update - June 20th

Key Concepts:

• Network Security Perimeter (NSP)
• Entra Resiliency
• Linux Virtual Machine Continuous Diagnostics
• Azure Red Hat OpenShift (ARO)
• Confidential Compute (DCsv2, DCsv3, AMD-based)
• .NET Support Lifecycle
• OpenTelemetry
• Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
• Ubuntu 24.04
• Azure Linux
• Long-Term Servicing (LTS)
• Default Implicit Outbound Internet Access Retirement
• Azure SQL Managed Instance (MI)
• Accelerated Management Operations
• Availability Zones (Zone Redundancy)
• Flexible Memory
• Data Virtualization
• Azure SQL Database
• PostgreSQL 17
• Azure Backup
• Azure Site Recovery
• Ultra Disks

1. Network Security Perimeter (NSP)

• Main Topic: Centralized network security management for PaaS services.
• Key Points:
  • Groups PaaS services together, allowing them to communicate only with each other.
  • Prevents data exfiltration.
  • Centralized configuration of inbound and outbound rules for the NSP.
  • Replaces individual PaaS firewall rules with centralized NSP management.

2. Entra Resiliency

• Main Topic: Ensuring the availability and reliability of Entra ID.
• Key Points:
  • A LinkedIn article was created to provide a concise overview of Entra resiliency strategies.
  • Complements the previous week's video on the same topic.

3. Linux Virtual Machine Continuous Diagnostics

• Main Topic: Enhanced performance monitoring for Linux VMs.
• Key Points:
  • Preview Feature: Collects data every five seconds and writes it to a storage account every five minutes.
  • Facilitates diagnosing performance issues by analyzing stored data.
  • Performance insights can be viewed in the Azure portal via:
    • VM Overview -> Monitoring tab
    • Insights -> Performance tab
    • Performance Diagnostics
  • On-demand performance diagnostics remain available.

4. Azure Red Hat OpenShift (ARO) 4.17

• Main Topic: General Availability of ARO version 4.17.
• Key Points:
  • Jointly developed, maintained, and operated by Microsoft and Red Hat.
  • Built on Kubernetes 1.30.
  • Includes virtualization improvements, safe memory overcommit, and Nvidia GPU support for generative AI scenarios.
  • Offers performance and security benefits.

5. Confidential Compute (DCsv2 Retirement)

• Main Topic: Retirement of Intel-based DCsv2 confidential compute SKUs.
• Key Points:
  • DCsv2 SKUs will be retired at the end of June 2026.
  • DCsv2 uses Intel SGX technology, providing a secure enclave within the VM with encrypted memory and processor.
  • Users of DCsv2 should migrate to V3 or AMD-based confidential compute SKUs for whole VM encryption or Intel-based V6.
  • Technical Term: Secure Enclave - A protected area within a processor designed to execute sensitive code and protect data.

6. .NET Support Lifecycle

• Main Topic: End of support for App Service .NET 9.
• Key Points:
  • .NET 9 support ends in mid-May 2026.
  • Users should migrate to a supported version like .NET 10.

7. Azure Functions OpenTelemetry Support

• Main Topic: Preview of OpenTelemetry support in Azure Functions.
• Key Points:
  • Azure Functions can now emit logs and trace data in the OpenTelemetry format.
  • OpenTelemetry is a vendor-neutral, open-source observability framework.
  • Allows integration with any OpenTelemetry-compliant endpoint for data ingestion and analysis.
  • Provides flexibility in choosing application diagnostics tools.
  • Technical Term: OpenTelemetry - A collection of tools, APIs, and SDKs used to instrument, generate, collect, and export telemetry data (metrics, logs, and traces) for analysis.

8. AKS Ubuntu 24.04 Support

• Main Topic: Preview of Ubuntu 24.04 support for AKS node pools.
• Key Points:
  • Users can now specify Ubuntu 24.04 as the OS for their AKS node pools.
  • Alternative to using Azure Linux.

9. AKS Azure Linux LTS GA

• Main Topic: General Availability of Azure Linux for AKS Long-Term Servicing (LTS).
• Key Points:
  • AKS LTS allows running Kubernetes versions outside of the regular community support window (typically one year).
  • Azure Linux is now supported for AKS LTS, in addition to Ubuntu.
  • AKS LTS requires the premium tier.
  • Kubernetes versions 1.31 and 1.32 are in GA for LTS.

10. Networking: Default Implicit Outbound Internet Access Retirement

• Main Topic: Retirement of default implicit outbound internet access for Azure resources.
• Key Points:
  • Retirement date: End of September.
  • Users must configure explicit egress for internet access.
  • Options include:
    • NAT Gateway
    • External Public Load Balancer
    • Public IP Address
    • Azure Firewall
  • Implicit access, where Azure provides an IP for outbound access, will no longer be available.

11. Database: Azure SQL Managed Instance (MI) Improvements

• Main Topic: Accelerated management operations and availability zone support for Azure SQL MI.
• Key Points:
  • Accelerated Management Operations (GA):
    • Provisioning a new instance now takes under 30 minutes.
    • Scaling changes now take under an hour.
    • Improvements are due to re-architecting the underlying virtual cluster.
    • Applies to all tiers at no additional cost.
  • Availability Zones (GA):
    • Zone redundancy for Business Critical and General Purpose tiers.
    • Replicas are spread across different availability zones within a region.
    • Increases resiliency and high availability.
    • Increased cost for compute (approximately 60%) and storage.
    • Technical Term: Availability Zones - Physically separate locations within an Azure region, each with independent power, cooling, and networking.

12. Azure SQL MI Flexible Memory (Preview)

• Main Topic: Ability to customize the memory-to-vCore ratio for Azure SQL MI.
• Key Points:
  • Available on premium series hardware.
  • Allows adjusting memory independently of vCores.
  • Useful for workloads requiring specific memory amounts without needing additional vCores.
  • Can potentially reduce licensing costs.
  • Memory scaling ranges from 7 to 12 GB per vCore on premium and up to 13.6 on premium memory optimized SKUs.

13. Azure SQL Database Data Virtualization (Preview)

• Main Topic: Accessing data in Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 or Blob Storage directly from Azure SQL Database.
• Key Points:
  • Allows querying data stored in CSV, Parquet, or Delta Lake formats without ETL.
  • Data is accessed via T-SQL using external data sources and external tables.
  • Faster data access, reduced duplication, and improved data usage.
  • Technical Term: Data Virtualization - A data management approach that allows applications to retrieve and manipulate data without requiring technical details about the data's format or physical location.

14. Azure Database for PostgreSQL: PostgreSQL 17 Support

• Main Topic: Support for PostgreSQL 17 in Azure Database Migration Service.
• Key Points:
  • Azure Database Migration Service can now migrate PostgreSQL 17 databases from on-premises or other clouds to Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server.

15. Miscellaneous Updates

• New Azure Region: Chile Central (with availability zone support).
• Azure Backup: Increased disk size support for VMs (up to 64 TB per disk, 512 TB total per VM).
• Azure Site Recovery: Ultra Disk support in preview for replicating VMs with ultra-performance disks.

16. Conclusion

The Azure Infrastructure Update for June 20th covers a range of new features and improvements across compute, networking, databases, and backup/recovery services. Key highlights include the general availability of Azure Red Hat OpenShift 4.17, accelerated management operations for Azure SQL Managed Instance, and the preview of data virtualization in Azure SQL Database. The retirement of default implicit outbound internet access necessitates careful planning for explicit egress configurations. The addition of Ubuntu 24.04 support for AKS and Ultra Disk support for Azure Site Recovery provide more flexibility and options for users.