Microsoft Support & Discussions

We are excited to announce the Private Preview of support for Azure Key Vault Managed HSM backup/restore when the storage account is behind a private endpoint. By becoming a Microsoft Trusted Service, we have enhanced our backup flow by allowing for private endpoint connection to Azure Storage accounts while backing up and restoring Managed HSM resources. This helps reduce the risk of exposure to public internet and helps address compliance needs. Continue reading...

Today, I worked on a service request that our customer reported several disconnections with ETL process that maintains the connection open for a long time. Improving the resilient for this type of workload I would like to share my lessons learned using isClosed() and isValid() for JDBC Driver. This article provides an in-depth technical analysis of the differences and advantages of using JDBC's isClosed() and isValid() functions to manage database connections in Java applications, especially when using connection poolers. Introduction: Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) is a Java API that facilitates connecting with databases. Two of the most important functi…

We're thrilled to unveil the new version of HDInsight – Azure's flagship open-source analytics service. A year's worth of dedicated effort has culminated in this moment, and we're eager to put it into the hands of our valued customers. Introducing HDInsight on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), a groundbreaking offering that represents a complete reimagining of our infrastructure, utilizing the power of Azure Kubernetes Service. This update introduces two popular workloads - Trino and Flink - alongside the highly coveted Spark workload.  In today's data-rich landscape, the quest to transform data into a competitive edge is driving customer demands. Enterprises are de…

Heya folks, Ned here again. Beginning in Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25982 (Canary Channel), SMB now supports requiring encryption of all outbound SMB client connections. With this new option, administrators can mandate that all destination servers support SMB 3.x and encryption, and if missing those capabilities, the client won’t connect. This enforces the highest level of network security as well as bringing management parity to SMB signing, which allows both client and server requirements. SMB encryption SMB Encryption supplies SMB data end-to-end protection from interception attacks and snooping. It first shipped in SMB 3.0 on Windows 8 and Windows S…

A huge thank you to Alex Jercaianu, Justin Sapp, Kosi Nwabueze, and Milan Justel for implementing this feature! Discovery of Network-designated Resolvers (DNR) is an upcoming IETF standard to discover encrypted DNS servers. Before DNR, devices getting DNS server from their local network would not be able to use encrypted DNS without manually finding out the IP address of their desired encrypted DNS server and configuring it on client-side. DNR enables devices to use encrypted DNS protocols like DNS over HTTPS (DoH) and DNS over TLS (DoT) on the client-side without requiring manual endpoint configuration. We are excited to announce client-side DNR support in …

Laura Longcore - Vice President of Microsoft Worldwide Learning At Microsoft Learn, our goal is to help you acquire the technical skills you need to reach your full potential and succeed in a rapidly changing technological landscape. Each year, we help millions of learners gain expertise by developing and validating skills. Advances in AI, cloud computing, and emerging technologies have made it more important than ever to demonstrate your proficiency in the most sought-after technical skills. As a result, organizations are quickly adopting a skills-based approach as they search for the right people, with the right skills, at the right time. That’s why we’re excited…

There are many industry reports that focus on the cost of data incidents, but have you ever wondered about the best practices to manage security? Microsoft has recently released a new report called the Data Security Index. We partnered with the independent research agency Hypothesis Group to conduct a multinational survey involving more than 800 data security professionals. In this episode of the Uncovering Hidden Risks podcast, host Erica Toelle talks to Herain Oberoi, the General Manager of Data Security, Privacy, and Compliance at Microsoft, about the findings in this research. Also joining us is Tina Ying, Senior Product Marketing Manager on the Microsoft Data Securit…

We’re excited to share the public preview of delegating Azure role assignment management using conditions. This preview gives you the ability to enable others to assign Azure roles but add restrictions on the roles they can assign and who they can assign roles to.  As the owner of an Azure subscription, you likely get requests from developers to grant them the ability to assign roles in your subscription. You could assign them the Owner or User Access Administrator role, but those roles grant permission to assign any Azure role (including Owner!), and that’s probably a lot more permission than necessary for that developer’s scenario. You could instead make role as…

Workflows are a powerful way to optimize your work and collaboration in Microsoft Teams. They allow you to automate repetitive tasks, integrate with other apps and services, and customize your team’s workflows to suit your needs and preferences. We believe that workflows will level up your work and scale your business to achieve more – and this is why we integrated Workflows more deeply and thoroughly into the fabric of Teams architecture. Below is a list of exciting and significant updates to Workflows in the new Teams client. First, if Workflows in Microsoft Teams are new to you… Workflows can help you save time, minimize errors, and enhance efficiency in the fl…

A Imagine Cup 2024 é uma competição global anual de tecnologia e inovação criada pela Microsoft, destinada a estudantes de todo o mundo. Ela busca incentivar a criatividade, o pensamento inovador e o desenvolvimento de soluções tecnológicas inovadoras que abordem problemas globais e promovam mudanças positivas na sociedade por meio da tecnologia. Se você é uma pessoa que sonha empreender e é apaixonada por inteligência artificial, tecnologia e empreendedorismo, esta é a sua oportunidade de desbloquear o potencial da sua startup e brilhar no cenário global ao participar do Imagine Cup 2024. Aqui, você terá acesso a tecnologias de IA de ponta, orientação especializad…

Improve the information retrieval process, so you have the most optimal set of grounding data needed to generate useful AI responses. See how Azure Cognitive Search combines different search strategies out of the box and at scale — so you don’t have to. [ATTACH=full]54499[/ATTACH] Keyword search — match the exact words to search your grounding data Vector search — focuses on conceptual similarity, where the app is using part of the dialogue to retrieve grounding information Hybrid approach — combines both keyword and vector searches Semantic ranking — to boost precision, a re-ranking step can re-score the top results using a larger deep learning ranking mode…

We're happy to announce a set of new capabilities in Excel for the Web that help make creating and correcting formulas easier, enabling you to work on your spreadsheets more effectively and confidently.   1. Insert Function Dialog: The Insert Function dialog simplifies the process of building complex formulas, as it provides a user-friendly interface to help you select the right function and its arguments. Quickly look up a function or browse through categories to find what you need. Each function comes with a description and expected arguments, and you get a preview of each argument's value and the complete formula. Access the dialog from the Formulas tab &g…

Row-Level Security (RLS) and Column-Level Security (CLS) are methods that simplify the design and coding of security in applications by imposing restrictions on data access. CLS allows for specific users to access only certain columns of a table relevant to their department, protecting sensitive data. RLS, on the other hand, restricts users to accessing only data rows pertinent to their role or department. Both methods locate the access restriction logic in the database tier, applying the restrictions every time data access is attempted from any tier, making the security system more reliable and robust. [ATTACH=full]54478[/ATTACH] In Microsoft Fabric Warehou…

How do you measure the performance of your applications and services over time? If you run load tests regularly, you probably compare the current trends with the baseline. In this blog post, we will explore how Azure Load Testing helps you track trends in client-side metrics across test runs. If you haven’t tried using the service yet, create an Azure Load Testing resource and get started with your first test run in a few minutes. Here are some situations where you might want to see how the metrics change over time: You run load tests on your pre-production environment every month before releasing new updates. You want to quickly see if your application …

You are collecting batched or block data from a source and using a for-each loop with concatenation of a string variable to produce the final data, which you finally want to save in storage. Your Logic App workflow is consuming resources and when your data grows your performance degrades. You can make use of the Append Blob API to append data to a blob file directly without draining your ASP CPU and Memory, iterate through your data and append it to the file block by block. Finally, you can seal the deal by calling the Seal Blob API to switch the file to read-only mode. This solution has been tested for Logic Apps (Standard) but should also work for Logic Apps (Con…

By Julie Sanford, Vice President, Partner GTM, Programs & Experiences The innovative capabilities of AI are advancing exponentially, and Microsoft is making unprecedented investments to help our partners seize the incredible opportunity of this generational moment. We want to help every partner go to market and drive demand for the wide array of AI-based solutions, services, and devices they’re creating. In our previous posts, we explained how Microsoft AI empowers every partner to thrive in the digital economy and highlighted examples of partners who are infusing Microsoft AI into their IP and services, which is helping customers optimize manual process…

Businesses have seen a sharp rise in the number of applications they manage. Seamlessly integrating applications across on-premises and multi-cloud environments is not only vital for streamlined operations, but it also stands as a strategic imperative to outperform competitors in the market. Azure Integration Services, Microsoft's enterprise integration offering, is purpose-built to address the unique requirements and challenges faced by today's businesses. We recently hosted a webinar on this topic in our Microsoft Azure Innovation Forum, titled "Unleash the Power of a Modern Integration Platform." Participants heard from analysts, product leaders, and Microsoft …

Written by Justin Spelhaug, Vice President & Global Head, Microsoft Philanthropies Reflecting on my fifth visit to the United Nations General Assembly, I’m once again inspired and energized by the commitment to tackle global challenges head on. We find ourselves grappling with critical issues that have the power to impact each and every one of us. And after a week spent with people whose mission it is to think big and act boldly, I have come home with a fresh perspective and renewed motivation in what the role of technology is to help accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One key takeaway for me was the potential for Artif…

Written by Kate Behnchen, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Philanthropies AI offers tremendous potential to empower workers around the world – but only if everyone, everywhere has the skills to use it. It's little surprise that, according to the World Economic Forum, AI skills represent the third-highest priority for companies’ training strategies, right alongside analytical and creative thinking. To begin addressing this need, today we are launching a new AI Skills Initiative to help people and communities around the world learn how to harness the power of AI. The Microsoft AI Skills Initiative includes new, free coursework developed with LinkedIn, includi…

Each month, I host a live one-hour Ask Microsoft Anything (AMA) event to discuss what's new and help out with what is top of mind for you when it comes to Windows in the cloud. Our AMAs alternate between Windows 365 and Azure Virtual Desktop, but one thing is always the same. This is a great chance to get answers to your questions and learn from many different members of the product, engineering, and customer experience teams. Up next: AMA: Windows 365 November 22, 2023 – 8:00 a.m. PT [ ADD TO CALENDAR ] How does an AMA work? It’s easy. Just log in to the Tech Community, visit the event page, and post questions or share information about use cases and scen…

Sometimes we hear of issues where specific Exchange Online users are not able to view\access specific Exchange Online public folders using OWA or Outlook. The reason behind these issues is often related to the public folder mailbox that specific user is connected to, or permissions on public folders. How do clients (Outlook or OWA) connect to public folders? When users try to expand public folder information, the client connects to the assigned public folder mailbox for the signed-in user to access the required public folder information through a series of steps. Outlook desktop client (Windows or MacOS): The client contacts the Autodiscover (AutoD) service t…

Today, Government Community Cloud (GCC) customers can choose one of two Windows 365 offerings: Windows 365 Enterprise or Windows 365 Government. This blog will walk through how you can select the right offering, based on your requirements. The two offerings of Windows 365 available to GCC customers are mutually exclusive, meaning only one offering can be active in a tenant. Therefore, before making a purchase, it is important to evaluate and select the right offering before you deploy Cloud PCs in your tenant. When to choose Windows 365 Enterprise Windows 365 Enterprise is authorized FedRamp Moderate with an Agency Authority to Operate (ATO). Windows 365 Enterp…

Welcome to the third edition of Microsoft Viva People Science industry trends, where the Viva People Science team shares learnings from customers across a range of different industries. Drawing on data spanning over 150 countries, 10 million employees, and millions of survey comments, we uncover the unique employee experience challenges and best practices for each industry. In today’s blog, @Avneeta_Solanki and I share our insights on the state of employee engagement in the finance industry. The finance industry is complex to say the least, consisting of players in banking, investment and asset management, insurance, financial technology (fintech) account…

We’ve recently updated the Stream migration tool with several new features that give IT admins greater control and flexibility when migrating videos. Each of these features is now available to use for all customers including GCC customers and helps to ensure a smooth transition from Stream (Classic) to Stream (on SharePoint). As an IT Admin, these features will help you ensure a successful migration of your video content. Partial migration of Stream (Classic) video content Now, you can easily pick and move specific videos from a container rather than the complete container using content filters. You can select videos based on when they were posted or last watc…

As an Azure Database for MySQL user, you most likely understand the importance of maintaining seamless database operations. We’ve traditionally offered two types of maintenance windows: System-Managed Maintenance Windows (SMW) and Custom-Managed Maintenance Windows (CMW). While these have served you well, we've been listening to your feedback, and it's clear that you want more control. That's why we’re thrilled to introduce preview support for flexible maintenance in Azure Database for MySQL! What is flexible maintenance? Flexible maintenance functionality is designed to provide you with unprecedented control over your maintenance operations. This feature prov…