Azure SQL News Update: February 2021

by | Jan 27, 2021 | Technology | 0 comments

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Today, and every Wednesday Data Exposed goes live at 9AM PT on LearnTV. Every 4 weeks (mostly the first week of each month), we’ll do a News Update. We’ll include product updates, videos, blogs, etc. as well as upcoming events and things to look out for. We’ve included an iCal file, so you can add a reminder to tune in live to your calendar. If you missed the episode, you can find it at https://aks.ms/AzureSQLYT along with other videos.


 


Along with the News Update on Data Exposed Live, you can read this blog to get the guide and links to all the things discussed in the show. Here’s the February 2021 update:


 


Product updates


Confidential computing using Always Encrypted with secure enclaves went into public preview last week. This expands Always Encrypted by enabling in-place encryption and rich confidential queries, including pattern matching, range comparisons, and sorting. This announcement is available in the new DC-series hardware configuration in preview for Azure SQL Database. Jakub Szymaszek came on the show to explain more and show a demo. You can read more in the blog here.


Also related to security is the topic of Azure Defender for SQL. Over the past month, a few updates and enhancements were made to Azure Defender for SQL in the Azure Security Center:



 


A great resource which I have recently found is the Release notes for Azure Security Center. Not always related to SQL, but oftentimes relevant in some form or fashion.


 


Also slightly unrelated but at the same time very much related to Azure SQL was the announcement that Microsoft will establish a new datacenter region in Chile as part of a “Transforma Chile” initiative.


Microsoft recently released a website dedicated to the topic of .NET application migration. Of course, Azure SQL plays a big part here, so you might find the new site and resources interesting.


 


Alan Yu came on the show to talk about the latest updates to Azure Data Studio including some sneak peeks.


 


Videos


We continued to release new and exciting Azure SQL videos this month. Here is the list, or you can just see the playlist we created with all the episodes!



  • What is aka.ms/sqlworkshops? – Buck Woody

  • [MVP Edition] Always Encrypted in SQL Server 2019 – Mladen Prajdic

  • Azure SQL Connectivity Performance Tips & Tricks – Silvano Coriani

  • Simplify Authentication with Managed Identities for Azure Resources – Silvano Coriani

  • How to Troubleshoot Elastic Job in Azure SQL Database – Kate Smith


 


Blogs


As always, our team is busy writing blogs to share with you all. Blogs contain announcements, tips and tricks, deep dives, and more. Here’s the list I have of SQL-related topics you might want to check out.



Upcoming events


As always, there are lots of events coming up this month. Here are a few to put on your calendar and register for:

2/3: Data Exposed Special: The Azure SQL and Azure Data Factory engineering teams are partnering for an all-day learning event where the community can come together to learn about Azure SQL and Azure Data Factory, connect with the experts, and participate in a Hackathon, all across two time zones – America and Asia. Learn more

2/11: Azure Webinar Series: Gain Economic Value Migrating to Azure SQL


2/20: Multicloud4U
SQL Edge to Cloud, Bob Ward


2/27: Scottish Summit
Notebooks 101 for SQL People, Julie Koesmarno

In addition to these upcoming events, here’s the schedule for Data Exposed Live:
2/3: Around the Clock with Azure SQL & Azure Data Factory
2/10: Deep Dive: Best practices assessment for Azure SQL VMs, Managed Instances, and SQL Servers
2/17: Azure SQL Security: The What, Why & How of Securing your Data with Azure SQL
2/24: Something Old, Something New with Buck Woody 

Plus find new, on-demand Data Exposed episodes released every Thursday, 9AM PT at aka.ms/DataExposedyt


Featured Microsoft Learn Module


Learn with us! This month I highlighted the Deploy and configure servers, instances, and databases for Azure SQL module. Check it out!


 


Anna’s pick of the month: SQL Server Virtual Conference by C# Corner


This pick of the month is technically in January, but it’s at the very end and it hasn’t happened yet, so here we are. This is an awesome, community-run event taking place this Friday. When you register, you can buy a ticket (for only $5!) or donate to a charity focused on helping food-insecure children related to COVID 19. I am a big fan of C# Corner already but using this event to help raise money for the kids is special. Additionally, the SQL Server and Azure SQL product group leader, Asad Khan, will be delivering the keynote! Get your tickets here, the event is January 29-30th.


 


Until next time…


That’s it for now! Be sure to check back next month for the latest updates, and tune into Data Exposed Live every Wednesday at 9AM PST on LearnTV. We also release new episodes on Thursdays at 9AM PST and new #MVPTuesday episodes on the last Tuesday of every month at 9AM PST at aka.ms/DataExposedyt.


Having trouble keeping up? Be sure to follow us on twitter to get the latest updates on everything, @AzureSQL. You can also download the iCal link with a recurring invite!


 


We hope to see you next time, on Data Exposed!


–Anna and Marisa

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.

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