// V022 - Weekly Technology Vlog #22

Welcome to Weekly Vlog #22! This episode is a dedicated Microsoft Build 2021 recap — Chris not only walks through the headline announcements but also shares his experience presenting at the conference and reflects on the week’s standout moments.

Chris at Microsoft Build

Chris presented Creating Friction-Free Code Across All Tools and Frameworks alongside Dean Brian and Carol Logan, showcasing an end-to-end workflow with Blazor, GitHub Codespaces, GitHub Actions, and Azure Static Web Apps — recovering live demo issues on-stage in true developer fashion. The session also spotlighted UK developer communities (Thames Valley Azure, Cloud Security London, and carol’s Glasgow groups) to encourage broader community engagement.

The highlight of Build for many was Scott Hanselman’s developer-focused keynote — filmed like a Netflix production, featuring Abel Wang, Isaac Levin, and others in an entertainingly authentic planning-session format.

The Biggest Announcement: Azure Arc for Application Services

Microsoft announced that Azure App Service, Azure Functions, Logic Apps, Azure Event Grid, and Azure API Management can now run on any Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes cluster — across Azure, AWS, GCP, or on-premises infrastructure. This is a landmark capability: organisations can deploy familiar PaaS developer services consistently across any environment. Chris is producing a dedicated five-to-six-part blog series exploring deployments and the operational differences hands-on.

Key Build Announcements

Kubernetes & Cloud Native

• Azure Arc for Kubernetes RBAC authorization in AKS now GA, including the ability to remove local admin credentials for a stronger security posture.
• AKS: Encryption at host, FIPS compliance nodes, regulated industry baselines, Kubernetes 1.21 preview, containerd support, Windows Server containers, cluster auto-upgrade respecting planned maintenance windows.
• AKS on Azure Stack HCI now GA.

Serverless

• Durable Functions: PowerShell support GA; new Netherite storage provider preview (built on Azure Event Hubs + page blobs, a Microsoft Research collaboration); MSSQL backend in preview.
• Premium Azure Event Hubs tier now available.

Data & AI

• Azure Cosmos DB: RBAC for data plane GA, integrated cache preview (reduce read RUs), always encrypted preview, partial document updates preview, and an enhanced free tier.
• Azure SQL Database Ledger preview — immutable, tamper-evident audit trail for compliance scenarios.
• Azure Applied AI Services: Task-specific AI solutions built on top of Cognitive Services (e.g. Form Recogniser, Metrics Advisor) for targeted business problems.
• Azure Machine Learning and Azure Confidential Ledger updates also announced.

Security & Identity

• GitHub Actions + Azure Security Center integration — inline security scanning directly within CI/CD pipelines.
• Azure AD External Identities / B2C and Microsoft Identity Platform sessions covering zero-trust application patterns.
• Confidential computing sessions covering Intel SGX-based workload protection.

Developer Tooling & Communication

• App Service Managed Certificates now GA.
• GitHub OpenJDK GA; Developer Velocity Lab for onboarding Java apps to Azure App Services.
• Azure Communication Services: UI library (the first Azure UI library), Windows calling SDK, and Teams interoperability for web-to-Teams scenarios.
• Microsoft Graph Toolkit and Microsoft Mesh / HoloLens updates for collaborative and mixed reality applications.

Cloud with Chris Updates

• GitHub Action with .NET Core + Docker blog post: How to package a cross-platform .NET console app as a reusable GitHub Action — part of the Hugo CrossPoster project journey.
• DevOps Knots presentation: GitHub Actions for static site build and deployment — a shout-out from Chris’s own Build session the following day.
• App Service Easy Auth + Application Gateway blog post: A detailed walkthrough securing App Service with Easy Auth behind a public Azure Application Gateway (a 17-minute read based on a real customer scenario).
• Matt Bradley — Tales from the Real World: Setting up a cloud practice at UK Fast and serving customers on Azure.
• Coming up: Cloud Gaming Notes with Lee Williams, a Career & Mental Health episode with Glenn, and a live panel discussion with Cyrilline.