Azure updates
Learn about important Azure product updates, roadmap, and announcements. Subscribe to notifications to stay informed.
January 2019
Avere vFXT for Azure: New ARM Template Deployment now available
A new deployment wizard is now available for the Avere vFXT for Azure, a high-performance caching solution, to improve set-up processes.
Preview refresh: Azure Backup supports PowerShell and ACLs for Azure Files
You can now retain your backup of Azure Files shares for 10 years by using Azure Backup and PowerShell.
November 2018
Blob storage Germany resource GUID and name changes
Effective 1st January 2019, resource GUIDs and names for Azure Blob storage for Germany regions will change.
October 2018
Azure portal October update
The Azure portal received updates in October 2018.
Limited public preview: Premium blobs in the Azure portal
You can create and manage premium blob storage accounts from the Azure portal. This preview is available in the US East 2, US Central and US West regions.
September 2018
Public preview: Virtual network service endpoint policies for Azure Storage
Virtual network service endpoint policies for Azure Storage are now in preview.
Greater storage capacity and performance with new Azure Disks SKUs.
New Azure Managed Disks SKUs for premium SSDs, standard SSDs and standard HDDs will reach up to 32 TiB (32,767 GB). Performance will now reach up to 20,000 IOPS and 750 MBps.
Public preview: Data Box Disk now available in Australia and Canada
Data Box Disk is now available in Australia and Canada.
June 2018
Static website hosting for Azure Storage now in public preview
Today we are excited to announce the public preview of static website hosting for Azure Storage
Announcing the preview for Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2
Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 offers a no-compromise data lake. It unifies the core capabilities from the first generation of Azure Data Lake with a Hadoop compatible file system endpoint now directly integrated into Azure Blob Storage. This enhancement combines the scale and cost benefits of object storage with the reliability and performance typically associated only with on-premises file systems. This new file system includes a full hierarchical namespace that makes files and folders first class citizens, translating to faster, more reliable analytic job execution.
SQL Data Warehouse PolyBase support for Azure Storage Encryption using customer-managed keys
PolyBase in SQL Data Warehouse, the preferred loading mechanism, can transparently read data from the encrypted storage layer and move the data in a secure way by using the WASBS protocol.
Standard SSD Disks for Azure Virtual Machines is now in public preview
Azure Standard SSDs are a cost-effective Managed Disk solution optimized for dev-test and entry-level production applications requiring consistent latency.
May 2018
General availability: Soft delete for Azure Storage blobs
Soft delete for Azure Storage is available in all regions for public, government, and sovereign clouds.
Refresh 2 release for Azure File Sync preview
If you want to take your current deployment of Azure File Sync seamlessly to the upcoming GA release, be sure to update your server agent to Refresh 2.
GUID migration: Storage Managed Disks
Effective July 1, 2018, Premium Managed Disks customers will be migrated to new GUIDs.
April 2018
GUID migration: Zone Redundant Storage
Starting June 1, 2018, we will migrate the GUIDs of zone-redundant snapshots and images for managed disks from Locally Redundant Storage GUIDs to Zone Redundant Storage GUIDs.
General availability: Azure zone-redundant snapshots and images for managed disks
Azure zone-redundant snapshots and images for Managed Disks are now generally available.
March 2018
General availability: Zone-redundant storage
Simplify development of highly available applications by storing three replicas of your data in different Availability Zones with zone-redundant storage.
Public preview: Soft delete for Azure Storage blobs
Soft delete for Azure Storage Blobs is in public preview. The feature is one part of a complete data protection strategy and can help prevent inadvertent data loss.
February 2018
Public preview: Azure Backup integration with Azure Files
You can back up file shares automatically based on policy and restore instantly to a point in time by using the Azure portal.
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