As is common in Microsoft events, the company had a lot to announce regarding enhancements to its Azure solutions. Apart from free extended security updates for older versions of Windows Server and SQL Server on Azure, it has also revealed improvements to Event Grid and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).
Azure Event Grid, which is a service for the management of routes between source to destination, can now integrate with Azure API Management in preview. This allows the publication of events directly on Event Grid when new users or subscriptions are added to the API. Event Grid now integrates with AKS too, which means that source events like upgrades to Kubernetes and node images are supported. This capability is currently in preview too. Yet another feature in preview for AKS is support for smart defaults, which allows customers to take advantage of cluster-specific configurations based on certain scenarios and requirements.
Azure Synapse partners will be pleased to know that they can list their solutions directly in the Partner Center, and conversely, learn about and use the solutions of other partners in the ecosystem too. The trial for this process can be initiated from Synapse Studio.
Speaking of partners, Azure Stack HCI is getting new partner programs as well. New advanced specializations are available for partners to upskill themselves too. The service itself has been improved to support simpler guest licensing activation and hardened security.
Moving on to Azure Lighthouse, customers will be able to manage Azure SQL as an Azure Arc-enabled resource from July 30. Finally, per-user licensing options are being introduced in Azure Virtual Desktop. Free access is currently available from now up until December 31, 2021. After this date, per-user pricing will officially kick in.