Cloud Native & Linux Advocacy Lead - Microsoft, speaker, champion of IT Ops/IT Pros, from a LAN downunder, Instagram.com/soniacuff/
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Articles by Sonia Cuff
Microsoft FinOps News - September 2026
We've scoured product announcements, blogs, videos and more to bring you a monthly wrap-up of news related to FinOps and cost management, including AI -...
Meet the team at Microsoft Ignite - Chicago 2024
Just over a month to go and Microsoft Ignite will be live in Chicago and available online. If you can make it in person, look out for our team around the expo hall, or in a workshop or breakout session! Rick Claus - Mr Ignite himself, as seen in your social media feeds, Rick is a Microsoft veteran with a love for racking servers and troubleshooting DNS.
Identify your savings potential in Azure
A guide to use Cost Management tools and services to optimize your cloud spending and efficiency. Are you spending more than you need to in the cloud? Do you want to learn how to monitor, analyze, and optimize your Azure costs? If so, this document is for you.
What's the difference between Azure savings plans for compute and Azure reservations?
Cloud computing is a powerful and flexible way to run your applications and services, but it can also be confusing and costly if you don't know how to optimize your spending. Azure offers different options to help you save money on your costs in Azure, depending on your usage patterns and needs. In this article, we will compare and contrast two of these options: Azure savings plans for compute and reservations. We will also show you how to combine them to maximize your savings and flexibility.
Empowering cloud efficiency through FinOps
Now available on-demand, for free, is the recording of our Azure Webinar session "Empowering cloud efficiency through FinOps". Microsoft Cloud Solution Architect, Arthur Clares, explains short term & long term objectives with FinOps FinOps Foundation Founder & Executive Director, J.R. Storment, and Microsoft speakers Sonia Cuff, Arthur Clares and Thomas Lewis, explain FinOps concepts and relevant Microsoft solutions and resources.
Meet Microsoft at FinOpsX 2024 in San Diego
For the second time, Microsoft will be a platinum sponsor of the FinOps X conference, taking place in San Diego, CA, from June 19 - 22. This year, you can visit our dedicated Microsoft Event Hub website to learn more about our activities, connect with our experts, and register for our exclusive sessions. This includes: Our exclusive evening event, where you can network with industry leaders over amazing food, and celebrate the kickoff of FinOpsX. Spaces are limited.
Azure Advisor Cost Optimization workbook - April release
Overview The Azure Cost Optimization workbook is a powerful tool that helps you monitor and optimize your Azure costs. It provides you with a comprehensive overview of your Azure environment and offers actionable insights and recommendations based on the Well-Architected Framework Cost Optimization pillar. This workbook is natively available on Azure Advisor for all customers, and an editable version is also available as part of the FinOps toolkit.
FinOps Blog
3,015 Use these resources, tools and guidance to help you increase the value of your Azure investments and drive continuous im...
7 steps for a successful Azure migration
Migrating an on-premises environment to Azure requires preparation, planning, and time. Join Microsoft MVP Gregor Reimling and learn seven key steps for a successful Azure migration. In this video, you will learn: - How to use the Cloud Adoption Framework and the Well-Architected Framework to guide your cloud journey and optimize your Azure environment. - How to assess and evaluate your current servers, databases, and apps using the Azure Migrate appliance and service.
Grow your FinOps practice with the Microsoft community
In February 2023, Microsoft announced that we had joined the FinOps Foundation as a premier member and had joined the Governing Board defining the strategy and vision of the organization.
Step-by-Step : Assign access packages automatically based on user properties in Microsoft Entra ID
Microsoft Entra ID offers the capability to manage the access lifecycle of resources through access packages, which are organized into catalogs and define the resources available within them. Each access package includes at least one policy that outlines who can request access to it, the approval process, and access lifecycle settings such as assignment expiration and access review configuration.
Our top Microsoft Ignite sessions for IT Pros
We've scoured the Microsoft Ignite session catalog to hand-pick a selection of topics for IT Pros. These sessions are available in-person, online live and available as a recording after the event, unless otherwise stated. Visit the session links for more information, including scheduling details for your own time zone.
Step-by-Step Guide to Azure AD PIM for Groups
Azure AD Privileged Identity Management (PIM) offers organizations a comprehensive solution for managing, monitoring, and auditing access to their Azure resources. Among its key functionalities, Azure AD PIM allows the implementation of just-in-time (JIT) access to both Azure AD and Azure resources. Sometime ago Microsoft released preview feature that enable the usage of Azure AD PIM for Azure AD role-assignable groups.
The care and feeding of Azure Arc for Servers
Microsoft Azure has a great set of capabilities for managing non-Azure based servers, including monitoring, policy evaluation, inventory and change tracking, and security tools. Access to those services for non-Azure servers may be via Azure Arc – specifically installation of the Azure Connected Machine Agent. Let’s dig into the technical specifications of the agent and how to take care of it.
Microsoft Build - Sessions for IT Pros
If the latest in code and application development is not your focus area of technology, you might be tempted to give the Microsoft Build conference a miss this week. But if you manage infrastructure & cloud resources, play with low-code/no-code apps or support teams of developers, we’ve dug into the session scheduler to find the topics for you. Register at the Microsoft Build website and catch the content live in person in Seattle, WA, online live or online on-demand.
Announcing the ITOpsTalk GitHub repo - A central location for IT/Ops related samples
Today we’re happy to announce the launch of the ITOpsTalk GitHub repo – a place on which the Modern Infrastructure Cloud Advocates team will host Infrastructure samples for anything related to Azure Infrastructure, Hybrid, Windows Server, Containers, etc. GitHub has become the central location for open-source projects, samples, and even content – but primarily focused on developers.
Group your Azure resource costs with the cm-resource-parent tag
No, not the 1968 movie starring Haley Mills or the 1998 movie with Lindsay Lohan (depending on your vintage) - the parent tag is a new way to group related Microsoft Azure resources in Microsoft Cost Management + Billing. But wait, can’t you already combine resource costs by giving them the same tag name and value, like Application: Purchasing? Yes, you can, kind of … so let’s take a look at the difference.
What's New in Azure Networking - December Edition
Azure Networking is the foundation of your infrastructure in Azure. So @pierre and I decided we’d bring you a monthly update on What’s new in Azure Networking. In this blog post, you’re introduced to the topics from our show, Wired for Hybrid, with helpful links for you to dive deeper into each of the topic areas. This month, we cover a few items to round out the year, and some things for you to look forward in 2023.
Connect with the Modern Infrastructure team at Microsoft Ignite 2022
I’m drafting this offline at 35,000 feet, somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. After more than 2.5 years since my last international flight, I’m heading to Seattle for Microsoft Ignite. I feel out of practice! But many little travel things are comforting in their familiarity. So, with 12.5 hours ahead of me, let me share how you can connect with the Modern Infrastructure team at this year’s hybrid Microsoft Ignite event.
PsRule: Introduction to Infrastructure As Code (IAC) Testing
Introduction One of the fundamental ideas of DevOps is to combine the best practices from the infrastructure and development worlds, to learn from each other. This means applying the concept of testing to our Infrastructure As Code (Bicep, Arm, etc). However, it can sometimes be tricky to know where to start and what tools are available to you. This blog post will be a part of a series of posts that will show you how to start, what tools to use and why. Testing Infrastructure As Code (IAC) Why?
Apply Azure Policy to Azure Arc-enabled Servers in a Hybrid environment
If you have connected your non-Azure Servers with Azure Arc, and you can now see them via the Azure portal and other management tools (like Azure PowerShell), a good next step is to apply some Azure Policies to them. This lets you see if they meet the configuration requirements that are important to your organization, and you can apply some policies to all of your servers - regardless of whether they are in Azure or not.
Learn Microsoft Azure for system administrators & solution architects with Azure Skills Navigator
If you’re wanting to learn the foundations of Microsoft Azure (including cloud computing concepts, Azure’s structure, and its product range), you might start out with training materials like the Azure Fundamental learning paths on Microsoft Learn. These will also give you a good start if you’re considering taking the AZ-900 Azure Fundamentals certification exam. But what else do you need to know? What other resources exist?
Accessing trials and kits for Windows (Eval Center workaround)
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The top technical skills for the modern IT Pro
There are many niche areas within infrastructure and security, but we find that most IT Pros have a very broad set of responsibilities, touching different products and tasks. If you’re working in a Microsoft-focussed environment, especially one that is using Azure, these are the tools and technologies to become familiar with. The Basics Infrastructure concepts underpin so many technology workloads.
Deep dive: How does Conditional Access block Legacy Authentication?
Mar 24 2022 03:00 AM Azure Active Directory's Conditional Access feature is great for reducing risk during sign-in attempts, by analyzing the user and sign-in conditions and applying appropriate policy controls. These can include prompting for multi-factor authentication or blocking the sign-in attempt. Unfortunately, some protocols don't have the capability to be "interrupted" during their authentication workflow for a process like MFA - they demand a yes answer or they fail.
Step-by-step: How to connect AWS machines to Microsoft Defender for Cloud with Azure Arc
Mar 10 2022 03:00 AM This article contributed by Linda Murray and Amy McAuley, Assc Consultants in Azure Cloud and AI at Microsoft. You can now connect AWS accounts to Microsoft Defender for Cloud, to get a unified multi-cloud view of your organization's security posture. Specifically, AWS Security Hub detected misconfigurations and findings are now included in our Secure Score Model and Regulatory Compliance Experience.
How to transfer files to your Azure VM with no public open RDP port
Feb 15 2022 03:00 AM Microsoft released Azure Bastion as a way to connect with a remote session into a virtual machine (VM) on Microsoft Azure, without needing to have the VM’s RDP port available on the internet. Now you can keep port 3389 closed in your Azure Network Security Group and even configure the VM without a public IP address.
How Azure Active Directory Kerberos works, including Azure Virtual Desktop and FSLogix
Jan 25 2022 02:00 AM If you have ever explored the differences between Active Directory (AD DS) and Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), you would have found that Azure Active Directory doesn't support the Kerberos authentication protocol, but Active Directory does. Kerberos is used to authenticate your account with an Active Directory domain controller, so the SMB protocol is then happy for you to access file shares on Windows Server.
Getting started with Azure Bicep
Jan 18 2022 02:00 AM As technology has evolved, so have the tools we can use to build (or rebuild!) standard, repeatable system configurations. I remember building my first Windows-based computer systems using an "answer file" to populate and bypass the "out of the box" configuration experience prompts - speeding up the build process by removing the user interaction steps and standardizing the build of the systems.
Help me find our Women IT Pros
When I joined the IT Department in December 1995, I was the second woman in the team. In 2021, I could still (virtually) attend a technical training session or user group and count the number of women on one hand. And yet I'm surrounded by ads for coding bootcamps and women in tech awards, that just don't feel like a space I fit in to. Hi, I'm Sonia and I'm an IT Pro.
How to configure automatic key rotation (preview) in Azure Key Vault
Dec 21 2021 03:00 AM With the news that automated rotation of keys is now available in preview in Azure Key Vault, I tested the configuration and notification options. Key rotation used to require a manual process, an API call, or an automation script using a combination of Azure Event Grid and an Azure Function app. Azure Key Vault settings First, you need to take note of the permissions needed for the person who is configuring the rotation policy.
Azure Security product name changes - Microsoft Ignite November 2021
Nov 25 2021 12:25 AM Do you remember that on release in Feb 2010, Azure was known as Windows Azure? It took four years before it was renamed to Microsoft Azure, to more accurately reflect that it wasn’t just for Windows workloads.
Azure Monitor agent and Data Collection Rules
Oct 04 2021 11:06 PM Last week Sonia Cuff wrote about finding your Azure Log Analytics agent deployments in your environment in preparation for the Azure Monitor agent migration. This was in response to an email you might have received if you are currently using the Log Analytics Agent. We previously covered the reasons behind the need for a new agent. But the reason for today’s article is to explore a bit the DCR or Data Collection Rules.
How to find your Azure Log Analytics agent deployments in preparation for the Azure Monitor agent
Sep 30 2021 03:00 AM If you have been using the Azure Log Analytics agent to monitor your Microsoft Azure virtual machines, you may have received an email stating that this functionality is being replaced by the Azure Monitor agent: Start using the Azure Monitor agent instead of the Log Analytics agent before 31 August 2024 You're receiving this email because you use the Log Analytics agent to monitor your virtual machines (VMs) or servers.
Top 6 tips for configuring a new Microsoft Azure environment
Sep 14 2021 03:26 AM A sparkling new Microsoft Azure environment is a beautiful thing, but before you start creating resources, what should you configure first? The Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework has detailed guidance on defining your strategy, planning for the cloud, getting ready with landing zones, then adopting, governing and managing cloud resources. All of these steps are important for an organization's cloud environment.
PowerShell Basics: Query Azure Role Based Access Control Assignments
Sep 09 2021 02:57 AM A great way to learn PowerShell is to set up a scenario in the Azure portal, then try different PowerShell commands to see if you can get the same results. In this article, we'll use Azure Role Based Access control, as it's both visible in the Azure Portal and we have some PowerShell commands for it. The scenario: What Role Based Access Control does somebody have?
Introduction to Secured-core computing
Aug 31 2021 03:00 AM Security is a broad topic that has components across all layers of the technology stack. Lately I’ve been investigating the concept of Secured-core computing, available with hardware from OEM providers running Windows 10 and now also Windows Server 2022 (preview). Why would you use a secured-core device and what additional security features does it have?
Step by step: Adding multiple IP addresses to an Azure Virtual Machine with PowerShell
Aug 24 2021 03:00 AM When creating a new Azure virtual machine using the Azure portal, you can create and assign a static public IP address to it, but what if you need it to have more than one? In this article, we'll use PowerShell commands in the Azure portal's Cloud Shell to add multiple public IP addresses to a virtual machine. Overview of IP address configuration on Azure Virtual Machines Lets start with the architecture of how IP addresses work with Azure Virtual Machines.
Introduction to Azure AD B2C for IT Pros
Aug 10 2021 03:26 AM Though Microsoft’s Azure Active Directory is the underlying identity platform for Azure resources and Microsoft 365 applications, there are two other identity capabilities with specific functions – Azure AD B2B and Azure AD B2C. Azure AD B2B lets you allow external users access to your Azure resources and applications by trusting their credentials that have been verified by their own identity provider (including other Azure AD tenants).
Deep Dive: Windows hybrid join single-sign-on to Azure Active Directory
Aug 03 2021 02:00 AM In a previous article, we explored the process of logging on to Windows and authenticating with an on-premises Active Directory domain, against a Windows Server domain controller. Many organizations are now using both on-premises and cloud resources, and users want to be able to log on once to access both. But with Azure Active Directory not understanding Active Directory credentials (and vice versa), how does this single sign on process work?
How to display Azure Monitor alerts with smart lights and no code
Jun 22 2021 02:57 AM Ever since IT Pros started building servers, we’ve been monitoring them – Are they operational? Are they responsive? Are they running out of disk space? The challenge is ... who is monitoring the monitoring? While it’s common to send notifications to email, automatically create a helpdesk service ticket or even post an alert in a Microsoft Teams channel, I have to watch those other systems to know if a monitoring alert has fired (activated).
Am I billed for an Azure Virtual Machine if I shut it down?
Jun 17 2021 03:00 AM Come to the cloud, it has consumption-based billing! But what does that mean, exactly? Is my virtual machine free if it is shut down? Let's explore the billing components of an Azure Virtual Machine. Resources in Azure all have particular cost meters and charging methods. Each product page details what those are. For consumption-based billing, you need to broaden your perception of what the word "consumption" means.
Video recording and remote presentations with my home office equipment
My role at Microsoft has always been primarily a remote role, from home. But as travel has decreased, the amount of time I spend on video has dramatically increased, and that’s not just from meetings. Many technical presentations are pre-recorded (and moderated live when aired), or delivered live to camera, and I also record short promotional videos which are usually scripted for training content or events.
Deep dive: Logging on to Windows
Jun 07 2021 03:00 AM Logging on to your computer is certainly faster than it used to be, yet there are a bunch of technical steps that happen in the background. At our ITOps Talk: All things hybrid event, senior developer Steve Syfuhs took us through the details, including access to cloud resources.
VPN access to Azure from macOS with Azure Active Directory authentication
May 31 2021 03:00 AM Whether you are using Microsoft Azure for development, for production workloads, or for both, it's important to consider the security of the connections to those cloud systems. Virtual private networks are often used to encrypt traffic between a device and Azure using a private tunnel over the public internet - especially for information and systems you don't want to be made available to the public or open to the possibility of being captured and read.
Find the team at Microsoft Build
May 24 2021 03:00 AM Learn. Connect. Code. That's Microsoft Build! But if your role is less "developer" and more "IT Pro", you'll be pleased to know you can catch a glimpse of some of our Modern Infrastructure team participating in Microsoft Build, May 25-27 2021. Click on the title to find out the session date and time in your local timezone, and add it to your schedule builder if you've signed in. Not registered yet?
What's the difference between Azure roles and Azure AD roles?
May 18 2021 03:03 AM If you peek inside your Microsoft Azure environment, you’ll see two different kinds of roles – Azure roles and Azure AD roles. Lets see how Tailwind Traders matches these roles to maintain their “least privilege” security principle.
Understanding Microsoft Azure Virtual Machine sizes
May 03 2021 03:00 AM Having an on-premises infrastructure background, I’m used to scoping hardware by defining the specifications (CPU, memory etc) we’ll need to run the applications and expected concurrent users and allowing for some growth. Then we’d often buy a box that would give us room to upgrade further, so for example we’re not putting the maximum amount of RAM in that server today.
What is a dynamic group in Azure or Microsoft 365?
Apr 12 2021 03:00 AM When I first started in IT, my large organization had an entirely separate "Data Security" team who were responsible for user management - adds/moves/deletes and password resets. They were a small but busy team, handling both calls from users via the helpdesk and requests generated by HR. Apart from using some Active Directory automation scripting with VBScript instead of the GUI, each request was handled individually.
Hunting for security threats in Microsoft 365 with Azure Sentinel
Mar 15 2021 03:00 AM You might think of Azure Sentinel in the context of connecting the logs of third party devices (such as physical firewalls), to add the full picture of your environment for your Security, Information Event and Management processes. Azure Sentinel can also include other Microsoft solutions as data sources, such as Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Cloud App Security and Microsoft 365. Let's take a look at the built-in threat hunting queries available for Microsoft 365.
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