Azure Policy vs Blueprints: Governance for Azure Resources

🌟 Azure Public Preview: Microsoft.FileShares Microsoft has introduced a new preview feature, Microsoft.FileShares, making Azure file share deployment easier than ever. You can now create file shares directly at the resource group level, no storage account required! Key highlights: ✔️ Deploy file shares as top-level resources, right alongside VMs, disks, and VNets. ✔️ Dedicated performance per share with custom IOPS and throughput. ✔️ Cost visibility per resource, enabling precise chargeback and reporting. ✔️ Private Endpoints and Service Endpoints supported in preview. ✔️ NFS protocol only (SMB remains available via classic file shares). A great step forward in simplifying architecture and providing more flexibility for Azure Files. https://lnkd.in/e2DKng2P #Azure #MicrosoftAzure #AzureStorage #AzureFiles #CloudComputing #AzurePreview #CloudStorage #HybridCloud #AzureArchitecture #AzureCommunity

Top 3 reliability actions you need to take for your Azure deployments that sadly many customers are not! AND an amazing new resource to help educate and implement. https://lnkd.in/g9BKB4Ej 00:00 - Introduction 01:18 - 1, Use Availability Zones 05:32 - 2, Network gateway SKUs 07:06 - 3, Network connectivity 13:28 - Reliability Guidance Hub 17:12 - Summary 18:02 - Close #azure #microsoft

Great info here as always! In the last few years I’ve seen so many deployments of zonal resources to networks with non-zonal gateways and it’s not always something people think to check. Typically the gateway was deployed years back on a standard (non-zonal) SKU and forgotten about, because it just works it’s not looked at again. Not much point deploying zonal resources if your network connectivity dies with the affected zone.

Azure Spot VMs vs Reserved VMs – The Real Difference One of the most common questions I get is: “Why does Azure offer Spot VMs at up to 90% discount while Reserved VMs only give around 72%?” Here’s a simple explanation Azure Spot VMs :- Azure data centers always have some unused capacity. Instead of keeping that hardware idle, Microsoft offers it as Spot VMs at a very low cost. The trade-off is that these VMs can be evicted anytime if Azure needs the capacity back. When creating a Spot VM, you decide: Eviction type – Evicted only if capacity is gone, or if capacity is gone and price goes above your set limit. Eviction policy – After eviction, the VM can either stop/deallocate (you can try to start it again later) or be deleted. How to create a Spot VM :- Go to Azure Portal → Create Virtual Machine Under Basics → Pricing options, select Spot instance Choose eviction type and policy Complete VM creation as usual (You can also use Azure CLI with --priority Spot) Best for: Test environments, batch jobs, rendering, and simulations. Azure Reserved VMs :- Reserved VMs work differently. Here, you commit in advance for 1 or 3 years. In return, Azure gives you a discount (up to 72%) and guarantees that your capacity will always be available. How to purchase Reserved VM capacity :- Go to Azure Portal → Reservations Click Add → Select Virtual Machine Choose Region, VM size, and term (1 year or 3 years) Purchase the reservation. Any running VM that matches the size and region will automatically get the discount. Best for: Production systems, always-on workloads, and predictable environments. Real-Life Example :- Spot VMs are like last-minute cheap tickets – great deal, but you may lose your seat if someone else pays full price. Reserved VMs are like booking a season pass – you pay upfront, but your seat is always guaranteed. Final Takeaway Spot VM = Maximum savings, but no guarantee Reserved VM = Stable savings with guaranteed availability Many smart companies actually combine both: Reserved VMs for critical workloads Spot VMs for flexible or short-lived tasks That way, they get the best balance of cost and reliability. #Azure #AzureVM #CloudCostOptimization #AzureSpotVM #AzureReservedVM #MicrosoftAzure #CloudComputing #finops

Sometimes “perfect on paper” turns into “two weeks of my life I’ll never get back.” I’d been chasing a way to scale down Slide Speaker’s Azure costs—experimenting, iterating, and asking all the “what if we tried…” questions. On paper, Azure VM Scale Sets ticked every box: cost savings, performance, automation. In reality… let’s just say I learned a lot about what Azure does (and doesn’t) let you customize. The good news? That rabbit hole means you don’t have to fall into it. If your VM workloads need certain customizations, you might want to think twice before going down this road. The full breakdown (and what I wish I’d known before starting) is here: https://lnkd.in/eGnGPi-e

Enforce or Audit Policy Inheritance in API Management. We’re excited to announce a new Azure Policy definition that lets you enforce or audit policy inheritance in Azure API Management. With this capability, platform and governance teams can ensure that API Management policies are always inherited across all policy scopes — operations, APIs, products, and workspaces — strengthening consistency, compliance, and security across your API estate.   Why this matters In Azure API Management, the policy element plays a critical role: it ensures that a runtime policy inherits policies defined at a higher scope, such as product, workspace,... #techcommunity #azure #microsoft https://lnkd.in/g9rUzpPh

Azure Service Groups are a new group construct for resources in Azure and are going to be very important as we start seeing new offerings. Learn what they are, and what they aren't! https://lnkd.in/gp7pcnx7 00:00 - Introduction 00:15 - Existing Azure grouping constructs 01:58 - The challenge 03:32 - Azure Service Group flexibility 04:53 - Root service group 06:33 - Service group hierarchy 08:38 - Globally unique names 10:50 - Hierarchy depth 11:06 - Permissions to create service groups 11:29 - What can be in a service group 12:50 - Relationships 14:23 - Permission to add relationship 15:40 - Limits 16:37 - What is the point? 16:59 - What I CAN'T do 17:23 - What I CAN do 19:47 - Future 20:33 - Summary 21:03 - Close #azure #cloud #microsoft #cloudcomputing #microsoftazure #azurecloud #azureadministrator #azurearchitect #microsoftcloud

How to Create and Customize Azure Sentinel Workbooks Step by Step. Read the full article: How to Create and Customize Azure Sentinel Workbooks Step by Step ▸ https://lttr.ai/AiIiC #AzurePortal #M365Show #ResponsesupplyChainMonitoringcompliance #HandleBigDatasets #ThreatManagementSection #KustoQueryLanguage #AnswerQuestionsFast #AzureSentinelWiki #OrganizationSSecurityGoals #AddPreviewImages #m365show

It’s official: Autonomous Discount Management (ADM) for Microsoft Azure is now Generally Available! 🎉 Managing Azure commitments is complex. Cyclical workloads, confusing pricing structures, and inadequate showback tools often lead to missed savings and wasted effort. ProsperOps for Azure automates it all, enabling you to maximize savings and commitment flexibility with zero operational overhead. Based on valuable customer feedback from our Early Access program, this release includes key updates: ✅ Commitments Dashboard ✅ Intelligent Showback ✅ Enhanced Automation with Coverage Optimization ✅ Azure Marketplace Integration ✅ Multi-currency Support Read the full announcement ➡️ https://bit.ly/4pnYibH #ProsperOps #MicrosoftAzure #Azure #FinOps #CloudCostOptimization #AzureADM #MicrosoftPartner

MSPs: Are your #Azure margins getting tighter? 📉 Clients want more flexibility. 💸 Microsoft keeps adjusting pricing. ⏳ And billing teams are spending way too long trying to track costs across tenants. That’s why more MSPs are turning to automated optimization tools like Kalibr8 — not just to see what’s happening in Azure, but to control it. 🔍 Spot waste 📈 Forecast spend 🔁 Automate savings ✅ Protect margins You can’t scale what you can’t measure. 👉 Let’s fix that: https://lnkd.in/eFv-XdhA #MSPs #AzureOptimization #CloudMargins #Kalibr8 #ChannelTools