Azure Update - 28th November 2025

Key Concepts

• Azure Functions Custom Handlers: Enables using unsupported languages or runtimes with Azure Functions by creating a lightweight web server.
• Azure Bastion Entra ID Integrated RDP: Allows browser-based RDP connections to VMs using Entra ID authentication.
• Network Watcher Managed Identity Support: Provides secure, credential-free authentication for Network Watcher components to access storage and Log Analytics.
• Azure File Sync in New Zealand North: Extends Azure File Sync capabilities to a new region for lower latency synchronization.
• Azure SQL Database REGEX Support: Introduces native regular expression functions (REGEXP_LIKE, REGEXP_REPLACE) within T-SQL.
• Azure MCP Server MySQL Support: Allows AI apps using MCP servers to access and query Azure Database for MySQL.
• Azure Machine Learning Low Priority VM Retirement: Phasing out low-priority VMs for ML workloads by the end of March.
• Azure Load Testing in Italy North: Expands the availability of Azure Load Testing to a new region.
• API Management and API Center Model Context Protocol Support: Enhances integration and security for MCP servers and API discovery.
• Anthropic Claude Opus 4.5 Preview: Availability of the advanced Claude Opus 4.5 model in Azure AI Foundry for various AI tasks.

Compute Updates

Azure Functions Flexible Custom Handlers (GA)

• Description: Azure Functions, a serverless compute service, now supports custom handlers, allowing developers to use languages or runtimes not natively supported by Azure Functions.
• Mechanism: Developers write a lightweight web server that runs in any language supporting HTTP primitives. This web server receives events from the Azure Function host process and sends back the response payload.
• Benefit: Provides significant flexibility for developers who need to leverage Azure Functions with custom language runtimes like Go or Rust, or unsupported environments.

Azure Bastion Browser-Based Entra ID Integrated RDP (GA)

• Description: Azure Bastion now supports browser-based RDP connections authenticated via Entra ID.
• Previous Limitation: Previously, Entra ID integrated authentication was available for SSH and RDP from the native client, and for SSH only from the browser.
• New Capability: Users can now use RDP via the browser with Entra ID integrated authentication.
• Requirements: Requires the "AAD login for Windows" extension to be enabled on the target VM and either the "Virtual Machine User Login" or "Virtual Machine Administrator Login" role assigned.
• Benefits: Enhances security by moving away from local authentication and provides a more seamless user experience.

Networking Updates

Network Watcher Managed Identity Support (Preview)

• Description: Several Network Watcher components, including VNet flow logs, traffic analytics, and packet capture, now support managed identities.
• Problem Solved: These components typically write data to Blob Storage or Log Analytics workspaces, requiring authentication mechanisms like secrets or Shared Access Signatures (SAS).
• Solution: Managed identities provide a native identity for Network Watcher that can be granted data plane permissions to Blob Storage and Log Analytics workspaces.
• Benefit: Eliminates the need to manage credentials for storage accounts, improving security and simplifying configuration.

Azure File Sync Availability in New Zealand North

• Description: Azure File Sync is now available in the New Zealand North region.
• Azure File Sync Functionality: This service synchronizes and tiers data from multiple Windows-based SMB servers to a single cloud endpoint (Azure File Share). It acts as an orchestration component and can tier content off local Windows file servers when capacity is reached.
• Impact: For servers located in New Zealand North, this expansion will result in lower latency for synchronization operations.

Database Updates

Azure SQL Database REGEX Support in T-SQL (GA)

• Description: Azure SQL Database now natively supports regular expression (REGEX) functionality within T-SQL, a feature also present in SQL Server 2025.
• New Functions:
  • REGEXP_LIKE: Checks for a match against a REGEX pattern.
  • REGEXP_REPLACE: Returns a modified string based on a REGEX pattern.
• Benefit: Allows for complex string matching and manipulation directly within the T-SQL engine, eliminating the need to offload processing to external compute resources.

Azure Database for MySQL Support for Azure MCP Server

• Description: The Azure MCP (Machine Learning Compute Platform) server now supports Azure Database for MySQL.
• MCP Server Purpose: MCP servers enable AI applications to access additional knowledge and tooling by reflecting capabilities in a format understandable to the AI.
• New Capability: AI applications using the Azure MCP server can now retrieve schema information, query data, and perform other operations on Azure Database for MySQL instances without requiring custom code development.

Miscellaneous Updates

Azure Machine Learning Low Priority VM Capability Retirement

• Description: The low-priority VM capability for Azure Machine Learning is being retired at the end of March.
• Functionality: This feature allowed users to leverage unused Azure capacity at a lower cost, similar to spot instances, with the risk of interruptions.
• Action Required: Users must migrate their clusters to dedicated VMs before the retirement date to avoid service disruption.

Azure Load Testing Availability in Italy North

• Description: Azure Load Testing is now available in the Italy North region.
• Azure Load Testing: This service is part of Azure's app testing capabilities and is used for high-scale load and simulation testing against workloads on managed infrastructure.
• Usage: Tests can be created via a GUI or by using custom JMeter or Locust scripts.

API Management and API Center Model Context Protocol Support (GA)

• Description: API Management (APIM) and API Center now support the Model Context Protocol.
• APIM Role: Handles runtime integration and communication with APIs.
• API Center Role: Facilitates development-time discovery, cataloging, and understanding of available APIs.
• Benefits with Protocol Support:
  • APIM: Can provide authentication, authorization, and rate limiting for MCP servers when placed in front of them, enhancing security. It can also convert regular APIs exposed via APIM into MCP servers.
  • API Center: Can act as a private registry for MCP servers, improving their discoverability within an organization.

Anthropic Claude Opus 4.5 Preview in Azure AI Foundry

• Description: The Anthropic Claude Opus 4.5 model is now available in preview within Azure AI Foundry.
• Current Deployment: Currently available as a global standard deployment type.
• Capabilities: Opus 4.5 is noted for its strengths in coding, code refactoring, agent development, computational tasks, and deep research.
• Integration: Can be used in the Foundry playground, GitHub Copilot, and Microsoft Copilot Studio.

Conclusion

This Azure update introduces several enhancements across compute, networking, database, and miscellaneous services. Key takeaways include increased flexibility with Azure Functions custom handlers, improved security and user experience with Azure Bastion's Entra ID RDP integration, and simplified credential management for Network Watcher through managed identities. Database users benefit from native REGEX support in Azure SQL and expanded AI capabilities with Azure Database for MySQL integration. The update also signals the retirement of Azure ML low-priority VMs and the expansion of Azure Load Testing to a new region, alongside significant advancements in API management and the availability of advanced AI models like Claude Opus 4.5.