Anyone know the future of Azure Blueprints? - azure-resource-manager

Anyone know the future of Azure Blueprints? Is Microsoft embracing Terraform as a replacement? I don't mind ARM templates just trying to get a sense of the future for managing infrastructure.
I currently use ARM and Blueprints to manage our Azure subscriptions and infrastructure but I have been seeing a lot of posts around Terraform in relation to Microsoft and Azure.
I have also looked into other tools such as Bicep and Pulumi but right now I more interest in what the planned future for Blueprints is.

Future or roadmap of Azure Blueprints:
Most of the Blueprint resourcing is going towards Template Specs (video overview) and Deployment Stacks, which is what Blueprints are eventually going to use under the covers. For authoring improvements, focus is bicep. The GA (General Availability) ETA is set for March/April when the new underlying resource types (template specs and deployment stacks) are ready and we can migrate everything over.
More info in this talk:
Blueprints migration plan
Deployment stacks overview
Most of the Blueprint UserVoice asks are either already implemented in Templates/Template Specs, or they are something we will address with above mentioned future improvements to templates/bicep and stacks.
Lastly, even though the Blueprint service is listed as “Preview”, we treat the service as GA, which means even once a migration path is made available, we will continue to support the current Blueprint APIs for 1-3 years or until everyone has been migrated.
Source of above information: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/177308/index.html

Related

Difference between Microsoft AI Builder and Microsoft Cognitive Services

I am exploring ways to improve some of our processes and applications using microsoft tools and more specifically the Custom Vision Cognitive Service. However, i am getting lost in the MS offerings and the Preview AI Builder service in PowerApps which seems to be offering the same capability.
The test that I am trying with both services i using Products pictures and utilize the services to provide me with the brand, sub-brand and some other specifications on the product. To start with, i have started with the browser version of the Custom Vision service (not the SDK) which, because it is a non-programmer interface, is really similar to the AI builder.
Has someone more inputs on the strategy behind the AI Builder in Powerapps and how it complements/replaces some of the capabilities of the MS cognitive services (and more specifically their browser/non-programmer versions)?
In a few words, tools in PowerApps (like in Microsoft Flow or even Logic Apps) are backed by other (more technical) services provided by Microsoft (or third party).
PowerApps and Flow are solutions designed to be used by non-developer people: understanding the technical behaviour / implementation is not needed.
Using AI Builder service in PowerApps vs Custom Vision: generally, there may be a delay between new technical features and the time they are provided in those tools for example. Some features are also never available in "business" versions.

Azure API gateway vs nginx

I am evaluating wep api gateway for my new projects. I used azure api gateway in the past. Reading about nginx as it is new and adopted by many. Can someone help me point out with some facts, pros, cons? Bug matrix will be a best help for me
Azure API Management is a mature and widely-used product, with many customers being very respected enterprises. Take a look at some public case studies.
It offers a very wide range of features, which are typical of an API management platform, and it is still being very actively developed. However, one of its biggest strengths lies in integration with Microsoft Azure services and features - multiregional deployments, virtual networks, monitoring and alerting solutions, native support for Service Fabric, Azure Function Apps and Azure Logic Apps, Azure Active Directory and others.
If you are considering hosting your new projects with Microsoft Azure, Azure API Management is a no-brainier.
The product is also one of the main reasons why Gartner named Microsoft a leader in the enterprise integration space.
Disclaimer: Although all of the above is best to my knowledge, I am affiliated with Azure API Management.
Although I have just started looking into this myself, here's what I can already conclude.
Looking at www.nginx.com/blog/deploying-nginx-plus-as-an-api-gateway-part-1/, Nginx requires a lot of manual configuration washed over many text files. That doesn't look flexible or effective, but I may have gotten a wrong impression.
Judging by how you're supposed to define your API keys using the map directive, Nginx API Gateway also looks like a new idea stretched on top of the existing product, while Azure API was designed for that exact purpose from the ground up.
Azure APIs, when published, come with auto-generated documentation and an interactive console that are in sync with all your updates.
With Azure API, you're putting all your eggs into one basket and completely depending on it's pricing and availability. At any moment Microsoft can increase their prices, or discontinue the product, and you cannot migrate elsewhere, at least not easily/quickly. At the same time, you can do your Nginx work once and run it on pretty much any server, starting with a low-end VPS or a Raspberry PI, if you'd like. It's pretty much yours.

Is work logging supported by Phabricator or Can we bring in a work logging feature?

We were checking the feasibility of using Phabricator in our software development activities.
We are currently using JIRA and is looking for a lighter replacement. We feel JIRA as a generic tool that doesn't only focus on software development and Phabricator for us looks lighter and well integrated.
One feature we couldn't find is Work logging. Currently we are using jira work logging feature for extracting data for project management reporting.
So basically my query is
Is work logging feature available in Phabricator ?
Would it be possible to extend the Phabricator for this purpose ?
Technically, yes, there is a work logging feature called Phrequent. It is one of the prototype applications in Phabricator (prototypes must be turned on from Config).
However, it has a lot of missing features. While individuals can start and stop work time on tasks, they cannot edit or delete time entries, and the reporting features are less than ideal (you can only view by person, not by time range or task). More features are planned, though they appear to be low priority right now for the core development team.

Mutli-tenancy Vs Single tenancy

I want to know the difference between multi-tenancy and single tenancy.
Is tomcat supporting mutli-tenancy .Can you explain both with an example.
I am asking this question in context to http-servers.
Definition
From Wiki definition
In a multitenancy environment, multiple customers share the same application, running on the same operating system, on the same hardware, with the same data-storage mechanism. The distinction between the customers is achieved during application design, thus customers do not share or see each other's data.
So you can imagine that single tenancy is the other way around.
Example
Let's take JIRA as an example,
If you use OnDemand JIRA Service, it is multi-tenant, cloud-based service.
If you download JIRA Standalone and install it for you organisation. It is single tenancy case.
Designing multi-tenancy software
Designing multi-tenancy software is nothing to do with the hosting technology. It's actually about the way you architect the software.
Tomcat in your case, is absolutely suitable for multi-tenancy software.

Embeddable Enterprise Collaboration (Microblogging) Engine

Short Version (tl;dr):
Is there an open source or commercial engine that provides embeddable collaboration and microblogging functionality?
Long Version:
I am creating a niche application that has need of this functionality and do not want to reinvent the wheel. The following are must have requirements:
Data API only. My application is SaaS, and I want to build the functionality around the data. This eliminates most of the offerings out there (facebook, salesforce chatter, yammer, present.ly, teambox)
Does not require use of a built-in front end. I really just want an engine that will take care of the storage and events, and gives me a means of querying. Requiring the use of a specific front end renders it useless for embedding into my app. This eliminates everything else I have found (status.net, Yonkly, Jaiku)
Beyond standard updates and replies, can handle custom events. For example, if I were embedding this into an logistics application, I could have the engine handle events like "shipped", "received", and "cancelled".
Beyond this, there are several nice to have features that a framework would have:
Should not require a specific platform or server technology to run (i.e. something like a RESTful API would be nice)
Should be message based so that commands that affect its state can come from any source
Should encapsulate its own storage so that external resources are not necessary (i.e. no database needed)
Should have pluggable extendable UI components/widgets for web, mobile, and desktop clients
Should have search and retrieval APIs available for many languages/platforms
It seems that someone out there should have this already, or at least be in progress with it. Please point me in the right direction.
Since nobody had any answers and continued research did not find anything, I created a solution on my own called Collabinate. Updates can be found on Twitter, and the project itself is hosted on GitHub.

Resources