Quarter 3, 2024 - Key Azure Updates

Released: July 15, 2024

Core Compute Enhancements

Azure Virtual Machines - New Generation Available

Introducing the latest generation of Azure Virtual Machines, offering significant improvements in performance, cost-efficiency, and security for your most demanding workloads.

  • Up to 30% better price-performance compared to previous generations.
  • New hardware accelerators for AI and machine learning.
  • Enhanced network throughput and reduced latency.

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) - Latest Version Support

We've updated AKS to support the latest stable Kubernetes versions, providing access to new features, performance optimizations, and security patches.

  • Streamlined cluster upgrades with improved rollback capabilities.
  • Enhanced node autoscaling with new metrics integration.
  • Expanded support for custom resource definitions (CRDs).

Data & AI Innovations

Azure SQL Database - AI-Powered Performance Tuning

Leverage AI to automatically detect and resolve performance bottlenecks in your Azure SQL Database. This new feature proactively optimizes queries and indexing for peak efficiency.

  • Real-time performance monitoring and recommendations.
  • Automated index creation and dropping.
  • Intelligent query plan analysis.

Azure Machine Learning - New Responsible AI Toolkit

Our updated Azure ML platform includes a comprehensive Responsible AI Toolkit, making it easier to build, deploy, and monitor AI models that are fair, transparent, and ethical.

  • Bias detection and mitigation tools.
  • Explainability features for model insights.
  • Privacy-preserving techniques for data handling.

Networking & Security Advancements

Azure Firewall - Advanced Threat Protection Enhancements

Strengthen your network security with enhanced threat intelligence feeds and new detection capabilities integrated directly into Azure Firewall.

  • Expanded list of threat intelligence sources.
  • New signature-based and anomaly detection rules.
  • Simplified policy management for large-scale deployments.

Azure Private Link - Improved Performance and Scalability

Experience faster and more reliable private connectivity to Azure services with significant performance and scalability upgrades to Azure Private Link.

  • Reduced latency for private endpoints.
  • Higher throughput limits for critical services.
  • Simplified network integration for hybrid environments.