What's New in Azure for Developers

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Shifting Things to the Left

  • Shift left = do things earlier in the dev process
    • Testing
    • Security
    • Deployment

As developers, we have to learn more about security

Azure Virtual Networks πŸ”—

  • Similar to a traditional network, but in Azure
    • Address space, subnets
    • VNets can be connected through VNet Peering
    • Network Security Rules (NSGs) filter traffic to/from VNets
    • Can be connected to an on-premises network using VPN Gateway
  • Private EndpointsΒ bring Azure PaaS offerings into your VNet πŸ”—
    • Optionally, make your own services available through PEs
  • Private DNS for managed DNS services inside VNet

Limit network accessability of services to a minimum

Challenges

  • Limited knowledge about networking in dev teams

    • Traditionally, devs did not care so much about firewalls, proxies, routers, DNS, address ranges, etc.

  • Troubleshooting challenges

    • How to access resources not accessible via Internet?

    • VPN hard to get right especially in larger enterprises

    • Azure Bastion πŸ”—Β might be a possible solution. Challenge: VMs

  • It is always DNS! πŸ˜…

Azure DNS Private Resolver πŸ”—

  • Query Azure DNS private zones from an on-premises environment and vice versa

    • Important for scenarios with Azure VNets, Private Endpoints, and Enterprise VPN Gateways

    • Previously: Manage your own DNS solution based on VMs

  • New solution is fully managed, no VMs needed

  • Currently in public preview

Demo
Time!

ssh rainer@20.101.140.92
 
dig rsmanagedstorage.blob.core.windows.net
 	# Returns public IP of storage
dig @10.0.200.4 rsmanagedstorage.blob.core.windows.net
 	# 10.0.200.4 is inbound interface of Private DNS Resolver
    # Returns private IP of storage
   
sudo vim /etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml
	# add nameservers: addresses: [10.0.200.4]
sudo netplan apply
dig rsmanagedstorage.blob.core.windows.net
 	# Returns private IP of storage

Azure Frontdoor

  • Integrated Routing, CDN, and security solution
    • Caching
    • Web Application Firewall
    • Reverse Proxy
  • "Front door" to static and dynamic assets
  • Premium tier support Private Endpoints
  • Greatly simplified pricing πŸ”—
    • Now affordable in even smaller projects

Demo
Time!

https://pingpong-fga4hxg0dfbghmdj.z01.azurefd.net/api/PingPong?name=Rainer
https://pingpong-fga4hxg0dfbghmdj.z01.azurefd.net/images/itv.gif

Workload identity federation πŸ”’πŸ”‘

Token Exchange

  • Goal: Turn external JWT into AAD token
  • Use AAD token to access AAD-protected Azure resources
  • Examples: GitHub, Google Cloud, K8s

Demo
Time!

GitHub Actions -> Azure

Azure Container Apps

What is ACA?

  • Run container-based workload without maintaining a K8s cluster
  • Scaling similar to Azure Functions
    • Scaling done with KEDA πŸ”—
    • Can scale down to zero -> attractive pricing for some apps πŸ”—
  • Unopinionated about runtime or programming model

Yet another container option?

  • App Service
    • Optimized for web sites and APIs
    • Serverless, event-driven with Functions,
      butΒ Functions-specific programming model
  • Container Instances
    • Single pod, Hyper-V isolated containers on demand
    • No scaling, load balancing, etc.
    • Building block for other services (e.g. AKS virtual nodes)
  • Kubernetes Service, Red Hat Open Shift
    • Managed clusters
    • Configured by customers
  • Container Apps
    • More general than App Service
    • Less configuration/maintenance work than AKS

Feature Highlights

  • VNet support
  • Optional support for Dapr πŸ”—
  • Any Linux-based x86-64 container works
    • No Windows support yet
  • Multiple containers per Container App (=Pod)
  • Support for revisions
    • Support for traffic shaping
  • Well suited for Microservices
    • Service discovery
    • Dapr integration
    • Independent scaling, versioning per app
  • Authentication support
    • Similar to App Service Easy Auth

Demo
Time!

Demo Azure Container Apps

What else?

Azure Dev Box πŸ”—

Private Preview

Codespaces anybody?

Azure Load Testing πŸ”—

Public Preview

Copilot πŸ”—

Technical Preview

Azure 🀘