Category: Microsoft
Category Archives: Microsoft
Embrace radical joy with Pride theme in Microsoft 365 for Mac and iOS
Hello, Microsoft 365 Insiders,
Join us in celebrating Pride with a special theme in Microsoft 365 apps for Mac and iOS! This update brings vibrant colors and a spirit of inclusivity to your everyday work tools. By incorporating this theme, we’re promoting diversity and inclusion right where you work. Discover how you can enable this feature and show your support for the LGBTQ+ community while staying productive: Embrace radical joy with Pride theme in Microsoft 365 for Mac and iOS
Thanks!
Perry Sjogren
Microsoft 365 Insider Community Manager
Become a Microsoft 365 Insider and gain exclusive access to new features and help shape the future of Microsoft 365. Join Now: Windows | Mac | iOS | Android
Hello, Microsoft 365 Insiders,
Join us in celebrating Pride with a special theme in Microsoft 365 apps for Mac and iOS! This update brings vibrant colors and a spirit of inclusivity to your everyday work tools. By incorporating this theme, we’re promoting diversity and inclusion right where you work. Discover how you can enable this feature and show your support for the LGBTQ+ community while staying productive: Embrace radical joy with Pride theme in Microsoft 365 for Mac and iOS
Thanks!
Perry Sjogren
Microsoft 365 Insider Community Manager
Become a Microsoft 365 Insider and gain exclusive access to new features and help shape the future of Microsoft 365. Join Now: Windows | Mac | iOS | Android
What’s new from Teams Rooms and Devices at InfoComm 2024
In our conversations with customers and partners, two themes consistently emerge: the impact of AI at work and the challenge of successfully navigating flexible work. We see these challenges as related: adopting AI will enable the improved transformation of our workplaces. This transformation lies not just in adopting AI, but in fully leveraging its benefits. Investing in AI opens unparalleled opportunities for productivity, creativity, and growth, setting the stage for a future where businesses – and workplaces – thrive and employees excel.
Reshaping the future with a Connected Workplace
We know that work is already being revolutionized by AI. In Microsoft’s annual Work Trend Index this year, we surveyed 31,000 people across 31 countries, analyzing labor and hiring trends from LinkedIn and productivity patterns of Microsoft 365 customers globally. We learned that for those surveyed, AI is not just about automating tasks. It expands capabilities and breaks through traditional limitations, providing both employees and organizations with a competitive edge. Employees are not waiting for their companies to adopt AI. Of the knowledge workers we surveyed, 75 percent say they’re already using AI tools at work, with usage nearly doubling over the last six months. And surprisingly, 78 percent of AI users are bringing their own AI to work.
At the same time, many organizations are struggling to revitalize workplace dynamics and team cohesion, with 43 percent of professionals reporting they feel disconnected from their companies.1 The Connected Workplace is where we’re headed. It’s not just about how we work; it’s about how we connect, regardless of where work is happening.
Connect with your voice to bring more intelligence into meetings
500 companies are using Teams Rooms, and there are over 1 million Teams Rooms worldwide. But our customers are not only using Teams Rooms for in-person meetings – many of those rooms host hybrid meetings, with a mix of in-person and remote participants. Hybrid meetings are essential but can have limitations: with 48 percent of knowledge workers worldwide working from home at least one day a week,2 customers are struggling to efficiently capture and act on key insights in hybrid meetings.
We have a solution for that: to enable intelligent meeting recap and Copilot in every space, beginning with Teams Rooms. Meeting recap and Copilot rely on detailed transcripts with speaker attribution to deliver accurate summaries, insights, and action items. Individuals’ contributions are captured, and everyone has a voice.
For this reason, enrolling your voice is crucial. Learn how to enroll your voice at aka.ms/VoiceProfile.
This technology also helps to eliminate distractions during meetings. Teams uses your voice profile to isolate it when you’re speaking in bustling airports, busy cafes, or noisy shared workspaces.
As we’ve announced before, speaker recognition is coming to every Teams Room via the cloud. Now, this feature is in public preview. Soon, hundreds of thousands of rooms will be Copilot-enabled. And our timing couldn’t be better – Team Copilot, which will take notes during your meetings directly from the room, even without a scheduled or online meeting, is arriving soon. This means that Copilot will extend beyond online and hybrid meetings and even impromptu in-person meetings will now be able to also benefit from AI assistance. Just walk into a Teams Room, scan the QR code, and Team Copilot will automatically be part of the meeting.
AI-enhanced experiences for remote participants
AI isn’t just improving work and connections. It’s also solving visual challenges for remote participants. IntelliFrame individually frames participants to create easier engagement for remote attendees. Coming soon, automatic camera switching will enhance the capabilities of IntelliFrame. The feature optimizes views from multiple sources like multiple in-room cameras and laptop cameras, providing remote participants with enhanced interaction and the best view.
And coming soon, remote attendees can manually toggle between views they want to see with multiple camera view, offering customers flexibility and better engagement, wherever they are.
Multiple camera view, available soon
Expanded workplace solutions
We’re leveraging AI and new technologies to enhance workplace efficiency and collaboration from anywhere, not only in traditional meeting rooms. We see an opportunity for a new kind of Connected Workplace: an AI-powered work environment that empowers organizations with great meetings and better ways for people to connect in every space.
Bring your own device (BYOD) rooms
Now, BYOD rooms can enjoy better meeting experiences with features like:
Shared display mode, which streamlines content sharing and ensures privacy for items on your desktop, is now available for Windows users, with Mac coming at the end of June
Enhanced audio, with peripherals like intelligent speakers, enable speaker recognition so Copilot can bring greater productivity to your hybrid meetings
Bookable desks
There is a growing trend in workplaces. Organizations are moving away from assigned offices and desks to desks that are shared and bookable. Microsoft Teams brings intelligence to these spaces as well. Now, users can reserve a desk and make it their own by just connecting to a monitor or other peripheral on the desk. The desk is automatically booked for the day (time is adjustable).
Reserving a desk through Teams on your computer
To learn more about our new BYOD meeting rooms and bookable desk solutions, read our blog article that dives into the solutions we announced just a few weeks ago.
Inform and engage employees with digital signage in Teams Rooms
We’re delivering another way Teams Rooms can help your organization connect with a capability customers have long been waiting for. Coming soon, digital signage enables your Teams Rooms on Windows to become spaces where you can share dynamic content and timely information, allowing you to extend your organization’s communications to meeting spaces when your Teams Room devices are not in use. With digital signage in Teams Rooms, you can:
Configure digital signage settings for your tenant, including enabling third party digital signage provider integrations and adjusting display period directly from Teams Rooms Pro Management
Manage content seamlessly using third party content management systems. Our initial partners include Appspace and XOGO
Display content from web URLs as digital signage sources in cases where you don’t use any of the supported digital signage providers.
Digital signage with customizable multimedia content
While currently in private preview with limited customers, digital signage in Teams Rooms, including integrations with Appspace and XOGO, will be generally available in the third quarter of 2024 for Teams Rooms on Windows. Support for Teams Rooms on Android will follow in 2025.
Next-generation management and deployment in every space
With the addition of BYOD rooms and bookable desks to the Teams Rooms Pro Management service, IT admins will have more data and insights to help them track inventory and plan spaces intelligently.
Auto-discovery from Teams desktop or bulk import now enables visibility of BYOD meeting rooms and bookable work desks in the Teams Rooms Pro Management portal
Devices can be easily associated with rooms or desk pools, making them bookable resources for users
Enhance shared spaces with usage reports for data-driven decisions and improved planning, gaining valuable insights for asset management.
And with Windows Autopilot (now available in public preview) and Autologin (general availability starting today), we’re making it more efficient for admins to set up Teams Rooms, reducing the time and effort from hours or days to under 1 hour. Read our blog post to learn more about Autopilot and Autologin for Teams Rooms on Windows devices.
Remote management in Teams Rooms
IT admins can now easily manage Teams Rooms and Surface Hubs from anywhere in the world, boosting their efficiency to save both time and money. IT admins can securely troubleshoot devices in Teams Rooms and configure software remotely via the Teams Room Pro Management portal, powered by role-based access controls. Remote management will give IT teams time back for more impactful work.
Remote management access
Enhanced cross-platform meetings via SIP join
With enhanced cross-third party platform meetings via SIP join, we’re ensuring that no matter the meeting platform, collaboration is seamless and intuitive in an experience that feels like a native Teams Room. SIP-based conferencing services such as Google Meet, Zoom, Cisco Webex, Meet, Amazon Chime, RingCentral and others will be enabled for Teams Rooms on Windows later this year and for Android devices in 2025.
You’ll experience the look and feel of a Teams Rooms meeting with access to some third-party platform in-meeting controls (depending on the platform being used). Features include up to 1080p video quality, dual screen support, different meeting layouts, and HDMI ingest. This capability requires a SIP calling plan from a Cloud Video Interop (CVI) partner, which is currently available through Pexip.
Cross-platform meetings via SIP
Empowering partners and software developers
We’ve continued to collaborate with more device makers to improve security, ease of deployment, and seamless management. We’re thrilled to announce new partnerships with Barco, which will use the Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform (MDEP) for all future devices, driving their innovative technology forward.
In the coming months, MDEP will introduce updates focusing on:
Zero-Trust security: Ensuring every device is secure from deployment throughout its lifecycle.
Next-Level deployment: Offering a scalable, low-friction, minimal-touch deployment solution.
Premium device management: Prioritizing real-time monitoring and diagnostics for IT professionals.
Attending InfoComm this week? Say “Hi!” to some of our partners!
If you’re joining the fun at InfoComm, you won’t want to miss seeing what some of our partners brought to share.
The Surface Hub 3 and Salamander Lift and Tilt stand that were used in Ilya Bukshteyn’s keynote can be experienced up close at the Salamander Designs booth in the Central Hall, Booth #C8857. Check out the map below to find other Teams Rooms partners on the show floor.
Map of partner booths on the show floor at InfoComm 2024
The Connected Workplace is the future
As the Connected Workplace continues to evolve, we have solutions to that can adjust. From coordinating and connecting with colleagues in the office with Microsoft Places to the speaker recognition that gives everyone a voice in a Teams Rooms to the immersive, virtual meeting spaces of Mesh in Teams, we are breaking new ground in finding ways for people to connect at work. For IT, we’re delivering valuable insights into space planning, usage, and organizational needs. We are excited about the future and committed to seamlessly integrating AI into our solutions, helping our customers become more efficient, creative, productive, and connected.
1 Work Trend Index Special Report: Hybrid work is just work. Are we doing it wrong? September 22, 2022. Microsoft Worklab.
2 Gartner Forecasts 39% of Global Knowledge Workers Will Work Hybrid by the End of 2023, March 1, 2023. Gartner®.
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Hyper-V live migration network selection in Windows Server 2025
Microsoft continues to bring innovation and improvements to our Hyper-V platform. Live migration has been around for a while and is a key component to managing virtual machines (VMs). With Windows Server 2025 you will see improvements that make Hyper-V more reliable, increase scale, and improve performance. This article covers an improvement with Live Migration, and you can expect to see more articles soon to cover other innovations for Windows Server 2025.
NEW! Live migration network selection for Windows Server 2025
The live migration network selection logic in failover clusters has been improved for Windows Server 2025 to accommodate both directly connected cluster interconnects, and multi-site clusters that do not use a stretched subnet (common cluster network).
Directly connected cluster interconnects
The network configuration for most failover clusters is either flowing through switches (see diagram 1 below), or direct connections between each node (see diagram 2 below).
The most common reason to use direct connection topology is Storage Spaces Direct (S2D). It requires high bandwidth, low latency, and reliable network interconnects between each node, and recommends enabling RDMA. This can be satisfied through either the switched or switchless topology. Switched allows for easier scale-out and fewer network interfaces per node. Switchless removes the cost of one or more high-bandwidth switches and the complexity of configuring a switch for RDMA. Reliability can be better with switchless configuration since it removes the potential for network interruptions due to switch resets or switch maintenance and misconfiguration. Both networking topologies are valid and have their own advantages and are fully supported.
Diagram 1: Switched interconnect topology
Diagram 2: Direct Connected Topology
Optimizing live migration in directly connected clusters
Live migration moves a VM between servers, and in the case of a failover cluster between cluster nodes of the same cluster. It’s a critical component of the system, allowing the VM to stay running during host maintenance or to load-balance the cluster.
The state of the VM is moved from the source node to the destination node of the cluster through a network. Since most clusters have multiple networks, there is logic implemented to allow identifying and selecting preferred and possible live migration networks. In the switched topology most, if not all, networks are capable of connecting between the nodes. In the switchless topology, most networks only allow connection between pairs of nodes.
Windows Server 2025 has improved logic to more quickly identify which network is optimal between a specific source and destination set of nodes for the live migration. It gets the list of networks that can send traffic between the source and destination from the cluster, then uses the most preferred network and only interfaces that are on cluster networks that are enabled for live migration will be considered. In previous versions, the logic could take more time because the first preferred network would be tried and would wait approximately 20 seconds for it to succeed. If the connection doesn’t succeed, it will try the next until it finds one that does. Therefore, with Windows Server 2025, live migration initiation will be faster and more consistent.
Optimizing live migration in multi-site clusters
Multi-site clusters (also known as stretched clusters) are commonly deployed for disaster recovery scenarios. VMs can run at either site. If a site goes down, VMs are automatically recovered (restarted) at the other site. While common host maintenance activities like patch/update involve live migration of VMs, it is usually to other nodes in the same site. Live migration of VMs between nodes in different sites is usually used for load balancing or maintenance of systems involving the entire site.
Windows Server 2025 improves the logic in identifying which NICs on the source node of a live migration have a routed path to the destination node. Previously routed paths between nodes were not discovered and could cause issues for live migration. In the examples above (diagrams 1 and 2), there are one or more NICs on the same subnet (cluster network) between every possible pair of nodes. With the multi-site cluster configuration (diagram 3 below), it’s typical that there is no subnet that is common between nodes in different sites. Previously, routed paths between nodes were not discovered and could cause issues for live migration. Windows Server 2025 now accommodates this configuration. When the cluster provides the list of networks in which the source and destination can connect through, it will include routed paths.
Diagram 3: Multi-site cluster showing a routed network path between source and destination servers in different sites
Summary
Hyper-V is a core technology that continues to bring innovation to our on-premises server platforms by bringing new features and functionality that enhance reliability, improve performance, and light up new value. These live migration optimizations are part of the ongoing platform improvement and accrue to both Windows Server 2025 and Azure Stack HCI 24H2.
Helpful References:
Failover Clustering Networking Basics and Fundamentals – Microsoft Community Hub
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Azure Virtual Network Manager (AVNM) Mesh and Direct Connectivity are Generally Available!
Azure Virtual Network Manager’s (AVNM) mesh connectivity configuration and direct connectivity option in the hub and spoke connectivity configuration are generally available in all public regions! Visit our public documentation on connectivity configurations to learn more about AVNM’s connectivity configuration concepts, how they work, and steps to get started.
This feature enables a group of virtual networks to directly communicate to each other without an additional hop, thus improving the latency and management overhead of establish each virtual network’s desired connectivity. For example, you can use this feature to let a subset of the spoke virtual networks in a hub and spoke topology that require low latency to directly communicate to each other. The traffic between these virtual networks can be filtered using network security groups (NSGs) and AVNM’s security admin rules while still maintaining this direct connectivity. To learn more about security admin rules and their use cases, please see our public documentation on security admin rules.
Additionally, the traffic can be monitored using VNet flow logs. For further information, please refer to the public documentation on VNet flow logs.
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Microsoft Fabric: A Must-learn Solution for Informed Data Professionals
As a seasoned data aficionado and SQL expert with three decades of experience, I’ve navigated the Microsoft data product universe from SQL Server to Azure Synapse Analytics to Power BI—and all the data software and solutions in between. I’ve also witnessed the evolution of extract, transform, and load (ETL)/extract, load, and transform (ELT) operations, transforming raw data into actionable business gold to tackle industries’ most time-sensitive and intricate challenges.
Data was good—until it wasn’t. As data volumes exploded, it became very clear that efficient, real-time insights required data sharing and collaboration across organizations’ data silos and data roles (data engineers, scientists, and analysts). However, this proved to be easier said than done. Piecing together disparate services and storage systems is a complex, time-consuming task, further complicated by security and compliance concerns, so it’s a tall order, to say the least.
With the growing need for a centralized, unified, compliant solution for all data-related needs, Microsoft Fabric arrived on the scene, ready to store, secure, scale, collaborate, model, query, update, enrich, analyze, report, and create dashboards, to manage all of our multifaceted data challenges.
What is Microsoft Fabric?
Fabric is a unified analytics solution that delivers an integrated and simplified experience for all analytics workloads and users on an enterprise-grade data foundation with pervasive data governance, greatly simplifying data management. As an integrated software as a service (SaaS) solution, it ingests, stores, processes, and analyzes data in a single environment without the complex and time-consuming need for provisioning. It supports some of the most familiar data languages, like T-SQL, PySpark, Scala, SparkR, and others, and it accommodates all data roles. From streaming data to collaboration, Fabric is your go-to, centralized, end-to-end, AI-powered analytics platform for handling any type of data and efficiently managing your data estate.
OneLake, considered to be the OneDrive for your data, is a single open-format repository in Fabric—a unified, logical data lake for your whole organization. It accepts any data at any speed, whether batch or streaming, and is accessible by all analytics engines on the platform, eliminating the need for data movement or duplication.
Figure 1. Diagram of different experiences all accessing the same OneLake data storage. (Source: What is Microsoft Fabric?)
Microsoft Fabric experiences
Data Engineering makes the most of the top-tier Spark platform for large-scale data transformation and democratization, integrating with Data Factory for efficient scheduling and orchestration.
Data Factory merges with Power Query Online, offering over 200 native connectors for diverse data sources, both on premises and in the cloud.
Data Science enables seamless building, deployment, and operationalization of machine learning models, enriching organizational data with predictive insights.
Power BI is a leading business intelligence platform, helping to ensure quick and intuitive access to all data in Fabric for better informed data-driven decisions.
Real-Time Analytics simplifies integration, efficiently handling and analyzing high volumes of data and offering powerful analytical capabilities.
Synapse Data Warehouse delivers superior SQL performance and scale, separating compute from storage for independent scaling and natively storing data in the open Delta Lake format.
Figure 2. Experiences available in Microsoft Fabric.
Something for everyone
Imagine having the power to create your own data lakehouse or data warehouse in a matter of seconds. (Check out the Microsoft Fabric decision guide: Choose a data store.) That’s what Fabric, a SaaS platform, offers you. It allows you to centralize your data into OneLake by using common data methods, like Dataflow Gen2, data pipelines, Spark Notebooks, or T-SQL. (Explore the Microsoft Fabric decision guide: Copy activity, dataflow, or Spark.)
Data lakehouse
Figure 3. Diagram of a data lakehouse, displaying the folder structure of a data lake and the relational capabilities of a data warehouse. (Source: Explore the Microsoft Fabric lakehouse)
Whether you choose a data lakehouse or a data warehouse, you have easy access to robust querying and transaction capabilities. Fabric is the one-stop shop for all your data tasks across your data estate.
Here’s a snapshot
OneLake is the single source of truth for your organization’s data.
Data Warehouse is a traditional data warehouse that supports full transactional T-SQL capabilities like an enterprise data warehouse. It’s especially useful for industries like e-commerce, retail, healthcare, and others that need advanced analytics for large datasets.
Data lakehouse is a one-size-fits-all solution for storing, managing, and analyzing any type of data. It’s also ideal for real-time data processing with live analysis.
Copilot in Fabric brings generative AI features with new ways to transform and analyze data, generate insights, and create visualizations and reports:
Data Engineering and Data Science. Copilot streamlines your workflow with intelligent code completion, code suggestions, automation of routine tasks, and industry-standard code templates.
Data Factory. Whether you’re a citizen integrator or a professional data wrangler, Copilot is your ally. It offers intelligent code generation and explanations to simplify your data transformation.
Power BI. Simply describe your data insights needs or queries, and Copilot can analyze and present the relevant data in a visually compelling report, instantly transforming your data into actionable insights.
How to get started with Microsoft Fabric
Sign up for a free Microsoft Fabric trial, and test it out.
For resources to help you skill up on Microsoft Fabric, check out the Microsoft Fabric Career Hub, where you can find the Microsoft Cloud Skills Challenge | 30 Days to Learn It and become eligible for 50% off a Microsoft Certification exam.
Review Course DP-600: Microsoft Fabric Analytics Engineer, and complete the lab exercises for each module. Plus, get more interactive practice with our end-to-end Microsoft Fabric tutorials.
To help prepare you for Exam DP-600: Implementing Analytics Solutions Using Microsoft Fabric, watch the recorded Exam Cram for DP-600 sessions, with me as your host.
For detailed information on specific topics to be covered on the exam, watch the Exam Readiness Zone DP-600 videos.
To hone your test-taking skills and learn the types of questions you can expect on the exam, take the free Practice Assessment for Exam DP-600.
Pass the Certification exam, and earn the Microsoft Certified: Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate Certification.
Figure 4. Steps in the Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate Certification journey. (Source: Microsoft Fabric Career Hub)
Consider earning a Microsoft Applied Skills credential
If you’re not quite ready to earn the Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate Certification, why not start with an Applied Skills credential? These are project-based credentials that focus on a specific skill rather than on a broad role. You can complete the online assessment in just two hours, whenever you’re ready.
Two Applied Skills scenarios that validate Microsoft Fabric skills are Implement a data warehouse in Microsoft Fabric and Implement a lakehouse in Microsoft Fabric. Both equip you with foundational Microsoft Fabric skills.
Figure 5. Applied Skills scenarios for Microsoft Fabric.
For more on Applied Skills credentials, read my blog post Real skills for real-time results with Microsoft Applied Skills credentials.
Meet Barbara Andrews, Microsoft Learn expert
Barbara Andrews began her professional career as an accountant but soon discovered that she loves technology and has a passion for learning and teaching. She has worked with almost every on-premises Microsoft server technology (except Exchange Server) and has worked her way through many Azure services. As a Microsoft Technical Trainer, Barbara specializes in Azure infrastructure, data, and AI. She has a passion for helping working professionals and career changers build skills and pursue their dream careers, and she has upskilled more than 20,000 students, both online and in person.
Learn more about Barbara Andrews.
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Azure SQL DB Vector Functions Private Preview | Data Exposed
Vectors and embeddings are the foundation of AI-enabled applications, just like high-quality valuable data is a key asset to build truly smart AI applications. With Azure SQL you can now have both of these requirements satisfied in just one database. No need to have yet another system to manage! In this episode, we’ll go over the features introduced in the Private Preview, some use cases and details on how to enter the Private Preview, so that you can start to build AI-ready application on your valuable data right now.
Resources:
View/share our latest episodes on Microsoft Learn and YouTube!
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Sun light and shadow ?
Hi,
Can we simulate sun light and real-time shadows in Mesh ?
Thanks
Jb
Hi,Can we simulate sun light and real-time shadows in Mesh ?ThanksJb Read More
unable to add off line document to the knowledge base
Use off line documents loaded for responses generatives
When I try to add a .pdf document to my knowledge base I get the message: A problem has occurred with your knowledge source.
I have read the following document :
Not helpful
Use off line documents loaded for responses generativesWhen I try to add a .pdf document to my knowledge base I get the message: A problem has occurred with your knowledge source. I have read the following document :Use uploaded documents as a generative answers data source – Microsoft Copilot Studio | Microsoft Learn Not helpful Read More
Mongolian (Cyrillic) Language in SharePoint Online
Hi Microsoft,
We are in desperate need of Mongolian (Cyrillic) as an available language in SharePoint (Multilingual sites, etc.). We’ve been waiting (hoping) for a few years now, but still nothing. Mongolian (mn-Cyrl) is part of the Azure Language Translation Services, along with many other languages that also aren’t available in SharePoint.
Does anyone from Microsoft know if we will ever get Mongolian in SharePoint, and if so, when?
Hi Microsoft, We are in desperate need of Mongolian (Cyrillic) as an available language in SharePoint (Multilingual sites, etc.). We’ve been waiting (hoping) for a few years now, but still nothing. Mongolian (mn-Cyrl) is part of the Azure Language Translation Services, along with many other languages that also aren’t available in SharePoint. Does anyone from Microsoft know if we will ever get Mongolian in SharePoint, and if so, when? Read More
How to get Header from the copy activity in ADF
We are trying to call ADO REST API to list groups. It’s not working with paging, though.
When i do the request using developer tools, i can use the continuationToken but unable to get the header reposne X-MS-ContinuationToken in paging rules.
Any advice on this is a great help.
Thanks,
Devendra
We are trying to call ADO REST API to list groups. It’s not working with paging, though. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/azure/devops/graph/groups/list?view=azure-devops-rest-7.1&tabs=HTTP When i do the request using developer tools, i can use the continuationToken but unable to get the header reposne X-MS-ContinuationToken in paging rules. Any advice on this is a great help. Thanks,Devendra Read More
POST request is inadvertently converted into a GET request when transition from Edge to IE Mode
Our web application depends on ActiveX control, requiring it to operate in Edge IE mode. Additionally, we use Okta SSO for authentication. While monitoring network traffic with Fiddler, I observed the following during the authentication process:
1. Authentication with Okta: The initial POST response from Okta IDP correctly includes the expected SAMLResponse, indicating successful authentication from Okta’s side.
2. Transition from Edge to IE Mode: After the authentication, as the application transitions from Edge mode to IE mode, a problem occurs. The Okta POST request is inadvertently converted into a GET request during this transition. Consequently, the SAMLResponse is not transmitted in the GET request, breaking the authentication flow.
We attempted to mitigate this issue by configuring the authentication server as “neutral” in the Enterprise Mode Site List (EMIE) . Unfortunately, this did not resolve the problem.
To proceed, we need to retrieve the SAMLResponse and complete the authentication flow. Any guidance or suggestions on how to address this issue would be highly appreciated. If more details are needed, please let me know.
We are currently using Edge version 125.0.2535.92 on Windows 11.
Our web application depends on ActiveX control, requiring it to operate in Edge IE mode. Additionally, we use Okta SSO for authentication. While monitoring network traffic with Fiddler, I observed the following during the authentication process:1. Authentication with Okta: The initial POST response from Okta IDP correctly includes the expected SAMLResponse, indicating successful authentication from Okta’s side.2. Transition from Edge to IE Mode: After the authentication, as the application transitions from Edge mode to IE mode, a problem occurs. The Okta POST request is inadvertently converted into a GET request during this transition. Consequently, the SAMLResponse is not transmitted in the GET request, breaking the authentication flow.We attempted to mitigate this issue by configuring the authentication server as “neutral” in the Enterprise Mode Site List (EMIE) . Unfortunately, this did not resolve the problem.To proceed, we need to retrieve the SAMLResponse and complete the authentication flow. Any guidance or suggestions on how to address this issue would be highly appreciated. If more details are needed, please let me know.We are currently using Edge version 125.0.2535.92 on Windows 11. Read More
Default policy not assigned message
Hi Everyone,
I logged into my Defender for cloud And i had a notification that says ” 3 subscriptions don’t have the default policy assigned. To review the list of subscriptions open the security policy page”.
When I open the page it takes me to the management group and subscription pane but it doesn’t show which subscriptions or what policy its referring to.
Any insight on the matter would be really helpful.
Hi Everyone, I logged into my Defender for cloud And i had a notification that says ” 3 subscriptions don’t have the default policy assigned. To review the list of subscriptions open the security policy page”.When I open the page it takes me to the management group and subscription pane but it doesn’t show which subscriptions or what policy its referring to.Any insight on the matter would be really helpful. Read More
Remote Apps constantly getting focused on to the foreground
Hi ,
We are currently utilizing SAP Business One Remote App that is published from a Windows Server 2019. Users are able to access this application without any issues.
However, we are experiencing a problem where the remote application consistently pops up in the foreground. This becomes disruptive when users are working on other local programs on their machines.
For an example, if a user is working on an email, the RemoteApp (SAP B1) pops up, diverting the focus away from the email. If the user doesn’t realize this, they inadvertently continue typing in the Remote App window.
We have been unable to identify any settings that might be contributing to this issue.
This issue is causing significant frustration as it makes it challenging to use the remote applications, given that they cannot be kept in the background.
Any insights or help would be greatly appreciated.
Hi , We are currently utilizing SAP Business One Remote App that is published from a Windows Server 2019. Users are able to access this application without any issues. However, we are experiencing a problem where the remote application consistently pops up in the foreground. This becomes disruptive when users are working on other local programs on their machines. For an example, if a user is working on an email, the RemoteApp (SAP B1) pops up, diverting the focus away from the email. If the user doesn’t realize this, they inadvertently continue typing in the Remote App window. We have been unable to identify any settings that might be contributing to this issue. This issue is causing significant frustration as it makes it challenging to use the remote applications, given that they cannot be kept in the background. Any insights or help would be greatly appreciated. Read More
Inconsistency with the file attachment feature
As a Copilot Pro user, I’ve been experiencing a frustrating inconsistency with the file attachment feature. It seems to randomly appear and disappear, disrupting my workflow. Some days, I can attach files seamlessly, while on other days, the option vanishes altogether.
Does anyone have any insights on how to resolve this?
As a Copilot Pro user, I’ve been experiencing a frustrating inconsistency with the file attachment feature. It seems to randomly appear and disappear, disrupting my workflow. Some days, I can attach files seamlessly, while on other days, the option vanishes altogether.Does anyone have any insights on how to resolve this? Read More
Azure Pricing: How to navigate Azure pricing options and resources
In this blog we discussed customer pricing needs and how they match different phases of the cloud journey, and we provided various tools and resources to help you with your cloud pricing questions.
Now, we will dive deeper into how Azure pricing works and how you can learn more about it. We will use the example of Contoso, a hypothetical digital media company, to show how they use Azure pricing resources to guide their migration to the cloud.
Consider the cloud through testing and learning
Contoso is considering moving their on-premises environment to the cloud to meet their growing demand for content, expand their services globally, and reduce their operating costs. Before moving to the cloud, the company wants to learn how Azure pricing works. They need to build confidence and showcase the value of the cloud to their leadership to approve the migration project.
To help gather information, their Dev team created an Azure account to test different free services and started to consume others using the Pay-as-you-go model. They learned that Azure spend falls under operational expenditure (OpEx) because it operates on a consumption-based model. With Azure, they only pay for the IT resources they use, and not for the physical infrastructure, electricity, security, or anything else associated with maintaining a datacenter. If they don’t use any IT resources this month, they don’t pay for them, and they can scale or stop using services at any time. This is comparable to how a household would pay for a utility service. Some factors that impact their cost include resource type, geography location, and amount consumed.
The pay-as-you-go model is different than a commitment-based model such as Azure Reservations and Azure savings plan for compute. With a commitment-based model you pay for services upfront for a set amount of time in exchange for a lower price.
Through testing, their dev team deployed and configured different virtual machines to test scalable media processing; set up an Azure Blob storage to store and retrieve media files; experimented with Azure OpenAI services for media analytics, and migrated a sample database to Azure SQL Database for scalable and managed database solutions. They were also able to monitor and analyze their spend using Microsoft Cost Management.
They took the “Describe factors that can affect costs in Azure” Learning Module and read though the “Cost Management + Billing” documentation to dive deeper into Azure costs and billing.
Building confidence with Azure services and costs
After using these resources, they were able to get a better understanding of how Azure services perform and how they are priced based on usage.
In the next blog we will explore how Contoso will start to estimate their costs for their next Azure projects.
Additional Resources:
Azure Enablement Show: Learn to budget & optimize in Azure
Blog: Get the best value in your cloud journey with Azure pricing offers and resources
Blog: Azure pricing | How to estimate Azure project costs
Blog: Azure pricing | How to calculate costs of Azure products and services
Blog: Azure pricing | How to optimize costs for your Azure workloads
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Azure Pricing: How to estimate Azure project costs
In the previous blog we explained how you can learn about Azure pricing with free services and a pay-as-you-go model. Next, lets understand how you can calculate your project costs when migrating or building a new solution in Azure. We will continue to use the example of Contoso, a hypothetical digital media company, and how they use Azure pricing resources to guide their migration to the cloud.
Accurately Estimate Total Cost of Ownership
Now that Contoso has a better understanding of how Azure pricing works, they need to confirm what solutions they want to migrate. This involves understanding their current infrastructure and applications, defining their goals and requirements, and estimating their project costs on Azure.
Through collaboration and internal alignment, the dev team decided to migrate their media content delivery application and their Data Analytics and Business Intelligence solution. They also decided to build an OpenAI chatbot application in Azure.
Azure provides different tools to help you estimate costs before migrating to the cloud. The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Calculator lets you compare costs for running an on-premises infrastructure to an Azure Cloud infrastructure. You enter your current infrastructure configuration (ex: number of servers, storage, storage costs, etc.) and the TCO calculator will compare those costs to anticipated costs when running on Azure.
Customers can also leverage Azure Migrate which provides a simplified migration, modernization, and optimization service for Azure. All pre-migration steps such as discovery, assessments, and right-sizing of on-premises resources are included for infrastructure, data, and applications.
For their migration project Contoso decided to use Azure Migrate to take advantage of the business case capability. This capability builds a business proposal that includes data such as on-premises vs. Azure total cost of ownership, year on year cashflow analysis, and resource utilization based on insight to identify servers and workloads ideal for the cloud.
To help build the OpenAI Chatbot application they leveraged the Azure Architecture Center to get guidance for architecting solutions using established patterns and practices. Using this direction, they identified which Azure products and services would be needed to run this application, such as Azure OpenAI Service, Virtual Machines, and Azure Cosmos DB.
(Baseline OpenAI end-to-end chat reference architecture)
Prepare for new project and build a plan
Knowing the TCO of running their environment on-premises vs Azure and which specific products and services are needed to run their applications lets Contoso successfully estimate their project costs. However, there are options to budget and save on these costs by leveraging Azure’s pricing calculator and benefits. We will discuss these in the next blog.
Additional Resources:
Azure Enablement Show: Learn to budget & optimize in Azure
Blog: Get the best value in your cloud journey with Azure pricing offers and resources
Blog: Azure pricing | How to navigate Azure pricing options and resources
Blog: Azure pricing | How to calculate costs of Azure products and services
Blog: Azure pricing | How to optimize costs for your Azure workloads
Microsoft Learn Training: Compare the Pricing and Total Cost of Ownership calculators
Microsoft Learn: Azure Migrate documentation
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Azure pricing: How to calculate costs of Azure products and services
In our previous blogs we explained the Azure pricing structure and how customers can estimate their project costs when migrating to Azure or building a cloud-native application. We introduced readers to Azure Migrate, the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Calculator, pay-as-you-go account, and the Azure Architecture Center.
Now we will go a step further to address the needs of a customer who has decided to migrate their workloads or deploy cloud-native solutions and wants to budget for the specific Azure services they’ll be using. We will continue using the example of our digital media company, Contoso, and how they use Azure services to feel confident they’re getting the best value at every stage of their cloud journey.
Discovering Azure pricing tools
With a clear picture of the solutions they want to migrate, the Azure services (like Azure OpenAI Service) to employ, and the involved costs, Contoso is ready to finalize their monthly budget. It is important for the digital media company to only pay for what they need, and they are able to maximize their cloud spending by leveraging Azure’s pricing tools and benefits.
First, the Azure pricing calculator allowed Contoso to calculate their monthly and hourly cost for each cloud service before deployment. This interactive tool tailored estimates based on the Azure services they plan to use, estimated usage quantities, and their region. They know, for example, that their OpenAI chatbot will be running E4v5 VMs on West U.S., 24 hours a day for at least 1 year, so they purchase Azure Reserved Virtual Machine Instances to save roughly 40% on their compute cost*.
They also knew that they will consistently be running a standard series 8 vCore provisioned compute size for Azure SQL Standard-series (Gen5) General Purpose in Sweden Central, so they purchased Azure Reservations to save roughly 35% compared to pay-as-you-go*. Reserving a set number of high-performance resources for a one-year term secures a substantial discount, allowing Contoso to allocate more budget towards developing innovative content creation tools, while ensuring their rendering pipeline remained stable and cost-effective.
Contoso also wanted to leverage their existing investment in Windows Server licenses with their Azure virtual machines. When deploying both the VMs and Azure SQL Database they took advantage of the Azure Hybrid Benefit to apply their existing Windows Server and SQL Server with Software Assurance to save on their Operating Service costs. This not only simplified the migration process, avoiding the need to purchase new licenses, but also significantly reduced the cost of running Windows-based workloads in the cloud.
Budget visibility while maximizing resources
By utilizing the Azure pricing calculator, Azure Reservations, and Azure Hybrid Benefit, Contoso gained the confidence to embrace the cloud resources they need while maintaining visibility into their budget. The potential for cost savings doesn’t end there, however. In our final blog we’ll look at how they can optimize their Azure workloads through additional pricing offers and architecture reviews.
*Example only. Actual savings may vary based on region, instance type, or usage.
Additional resources:
Azure Enablement Show: Understand Azure pricing & resources
Blog: Get the best value in your cloud journey with Azure pricing offers and resources
Blog: Azure pricing | How to navigate Azure pricing options and resources
Blog: Azure pricing | How to estimate Azure project costs
Blog: Azure pricing | How to optimize costs for your Azure workloads
Azure pricing skilling content collection
Estimate costs with the Azure pricing calculator – Microsoft Cost Management | Microsoft Learn
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Azure pricing: How to optimize costs for your Azure workloads
In our previous blogs we explained the Azure pricing structure, how customers can calculate their costs when migrating or building in Azure, and how they can budget for specific resources with the Azure pricing calculator, Azure Reservations, and Azure Hybrid Benefit.
In this final installment of our blog series, we will discover how to optimize the value of your Azure investment. Through a mixture of optimization best practices and Azure tools, we will see how the digital media company Contoso maximizes their cloud spend to get more out of their workloads.
Cost-effective tools and strategies to optimize Azure workloads
In the fast-paced world of digital media, efficiency and cost optimization are paramount. With workloads spanning from high-performance video rendering to real-time data analytics, Contoso wants to make sure they are managing costs and ensuring optimal resource utilization. Fortunately, Microsoft provides a suite of tools and best practices to help businesses streamline their Azure workloads and maximize their ROI (returns on investment).
Contoso starts by establishing a collaborative culture between their engineering, finance, and business teams, promoting data-driven decisions aligned with business objectives. This practice is called FinOps, an operational framework and cultural practice that brings together technology, processes, and people to maximize the value of cloud investments. Leveraging tools and services like Azure Policy, Azure Blueprints, Azure Automation, and Azure Resource Optimization to implement FinOps best practices helps Contoso optimize their cloud investments in the following ways:
Enforce consistent resource configurations
Enforce policies for accountability and efficiency
Automate operations
Continuously optimize resource utilization based on workload demands
To get deeper insight into their Azure spending, Contoso also relies on Microsoft Cost Management, our comprehensive solution which leverages the latest in Microsoft Copilot to bring you insights, accountability controls, and the ability to remediate when opportunities arise
The company utilizes Azure VMs for video rendering and transcoding tasks, often requiring high-performance compute resources which can result in significant costs if not managed effectively. With Microsoft Cost Management, the company can easily track and analyze the costs associated with these VMs, categorizing them by resource group, subscription, or custom tags.
By leveraging cost alerts and budgets, Contoso can proactively monitor their spending in Microsoft Cost Management and receive notifications when predefined thresholds are approached or exceeded. This empowers them to take timely actions, such as scaling down resources during periods of lower demand or implementing cost-saving measures like Azure Reservations for workloads with predictable usage patterns. The tool also provides detailed cost analysis reports, enabling the identification of potential cost optimization opportunities. For instance, the company may discover underutilized VMs or inefficient VM sizing, leading to right-sizing or scaling decisions that can significantly reduce costs without compromising performance.
For further streamlining of their workloads, Contoso looks to Azure Advisor. Acting as a personalized cloud consultant that proactively analyzes Azure resource configurations and usage patterns, Azure Advisor provides actionable recommendations to optimize performance, security, and cost-effectiveness.
For example, Contoso uses Azure SQL Database for storing and managing large volumes of media metadata and user data. Azure Advisor can analyze the database configuration and usage patterns, offering recommendations such as scaling the database to a higher or lower service tier based on actual workload demands. This not only ensures optimal performance but also helps prevent over-provisioning and unnecessary costs.
However, they also needed to accommodate dynamic workloads and a zero-downtime cutover to multiple data centers for uninterrupted usage. For this, Azure Advisor recommended Azure savings plans for compute. With savings plan they were able to commit to a consistent spend level based their historical usage and receive automatic savings on eligible compute usage. Azure savings plans provided the flexibility needed to handle Contoso’s dynamic traffic without incurring excessive costs.
Streamlining Azure workloads to maximize efficiency
In the dynamic and resource-intensive world of digital media, optimizing Azure workloads is crucial for maximizing efficiency and reducing operational costs. By leveraging Microsoft Cost Management, Azure Advisor, and FinOps best practices, Contoso gained valuable insights, actionable recommendations, and best practices to streamline their Azure deployments.
Additional resources:
Azure Enablement Show: Understand Azure pricing & resources
Blog: Azure pricing | How to navigate Azure pricing options and resources
Blog: Azure pricing | How to estimate Azure project costs
Blog: Azure pricing | How to calculate costs of Azure products and services
Azure pricing skilling content collection
Control Azure spending and manage bills with Microsoft Cost Management + Billing – Training
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Microsoft Build 2024 with MVP Communities
Microsoft Build took place May 21 to 23, 2024, bringing the latest AI innovations to technology users worldwide. This year’s Microsoft Build showcased a variety of updates focusing on Microsoft AI and Copilot, with the announcement of Copilot+ PC just before the event, offering attendees a firsthand look at new developments from solutions to devices in the AI era.
Like last year, Microsoft Build 2024 was a hybrid event, welcoming numerous Microsoft MVPs and Regional Directors (RDs) from around the globe in person and virtually. In this blog post, we highlight some unique experiences and contributions of MVPs and RDs at the Seattle event venue.
Exclusive Program Experiences
To enhance the conference experience for our global community leaders, we offered several special engagement opportunities. Here are a few examples:
MVP Connect at Microsoft Build: We hosted MVP Connect, a special event for MVPs and RDs visiting Seattle. This gathering allowed 55 MVPs and RDs to meet in person, share updates on the MVP/RD program, learn about the latest Microsoft products and services, and engage in sessions led by fellow MVPs. This provided a unique opportunity for community leaders and program members to connect and interact in person.
Special Seats at Keynote: For an exclusive event experience, special seats were reserved for MVPs and RDs at the keynotes of Microsoft Build. It allowed attendees to bypass the general attendee line and see executive speakers close-up.
MVP/RD Participant Engagements
To bring MVP/RD expertise to a wider audience, we collaborated with them in various initiatives that helped shape Microsoft Build.
Expert Meetup: Throughout the three-day event, nearly 70 MVPs and RDs interacted with attendees as experts. These discussions, based on seven core topics and MVP/RD technical knowledge, provided valuable advice for participants on future technology utilization, supporting attendees’ event experience.
MVP-Delivered Demo Sessions: Nearly 20 MVPs and RDs conducted demo sessions covering topics including AI, Copilot, Power Platform, GitHub, and more. These sessions captivated participants, offering a fresh, community leader’s perspective on utilizing these products and services.
Instructor-led Lab Proctoring: To support participants’ learning, 12 MVPs and RDs served as proctors in instructor-led lab sessions. Many MVPs assisted in multiple labs, helping numerous participants gain hands-on experience with new technologies.
MVP Insights: 14 MVPs and RDs joined interviews with Microsoft Build hosts on the main stage in the Hub. These interviews were broadcast to the virtual audience during interstitial segments and highlighted the Microsoft Build announcements MVP and RD interviewees were most excited about.
The various activities featured above provided MVPs and RDs with more than just a typical conference experience. They not only learned about the latest technologies but also inspired participants by sharing their unique insights. We thank all participants and contributors for making these initiatives a success!
Following the excitement of new announcements at Microsoft Build, MVPs and RDs have been organizing community events to share their learnings. Those interested in learning from community leaders about the latest technologies can join various MVP/RD-led community events. Here is an example of an event information platform where you can find these events, MVP Communities Event Search: https://aka.ms/mvp/upcomingevents
For those looking to further enhance their AI skills, the Microsoft Learn Challenge: Build Edition is currently underway. This challenge runs until Friday June 21 and offers five learning opportunities to dive deeper into Azure AI, Microsoft Fabric, GitHub Copilot, Copilot for Microsoft 365, and Microsoft Copilot Studio. Join any challenge that interests you to expand your skills.
To learn more about Microsoft Build, please visit the following websites.
Microsoft Build (Official website)
Microsoft Build 2024 Book of News (Announcements)
Build on Microsoft Learn (Microsoft Learn)
Microsoft Learn Challenge: Build Edition (Microsoft Learn)
The challenges end on June 21, 2024, at 4:00 PM UTC
Microsoft Build 2024 (Playlist on Microsoft Developer YouTube)
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Deploy Sophos userspecific VPN-configurations
Is there a way to deploy with one app in intune for each user a specific Sophos SSL VPN Configuration.
Each configuration is in the users OneDrive und needs to be copied in C:Program Files (x86)SophosSophos SSL VPN Clientconfig.
The users have no admin rights and can’t write in C:Program Files (x86)SophosSophos SSL VPN Clientconfig.
Is there a way to deploy with one app in intune for each user a specific Sophos SSL VPN Configuration.Each configuration is in the users OneDrive und needs to be copied in C:Program Files (x86)SophosSophos SSL VPN Clientconfig.The users have no admin rights and can’t write in C:Program Files (x86)SophosSophos SSL VPN Clientconfig. Read More
