Azure SQL Updates for Early-April 2025

Public Preview: Azure Monitor Application Insights Auto-Instrumentation for Java and Node Microservices on AKS
Application Insights integration for Java and Node microservices is now available in Public Preview. You can now easily monitor your Java and Node deployments without changing your code by leveraging auto-instrumentation that is integrated into the AKS cluster.

This integration currently supports Java or Node kubernetes deployments running on Linux node pools. With this feature enabled, the AKS platform will instrument popular Node and Java libraries in your code and automatically send correlated Open Telemetry- based application-level logs, metrics, and distributed tracing to your Application Insights resource.

Additionally, this integration enables efficient identification of whether issues originate from the infrastructure or the application by using Open Telemetry Resource Attributes to link application telemetry with infrastructure signals. This facilitates the inclusion of Container Insights data into Application Insights and introduces Application Insights to Container Insights transition experiences. These capabilities will help you easily assess the performance of your application and identify the cause of incidents efficiently.

Generally Available: Azure Bastion Developer now in 36 public regions
Previously available in 6 limited regions, Azure Bastion Developer has now expanded to a total of 36 public regions with support for more regions coming soon. Bastion Developer provides secure-by-default RDP/SSH connectivity to VMs without the need for a public IP—all for free. This offering is ideal for Dev/Test users who want to securely connect to their VMs but don't need additional Bastion features or host scaling. With Bastion Developer, you can connect to one Azure VM at a time directly through the virtual machine connect blade.

Generally Available: Azure Front Door capturing request header, response header, and request query string values as server variables
Azure Front Door introduced Capture URL path segment in server variable last year. We are now making further enhancements by adding capturing request and response header values and a particular request query string value as server variables for use in the rules engine enable more flexible and dynamic HTTP request manipulations and routing at the edge. This feature is useful for various scenarios, naming a few below:

• Populate or modify a response header based on a request header value (e.g., adding the same FQDN in Access-Control-Allow-Origin as the request Origin header).
• Rename a response header generated by a cloud provider to a brand-specific one by adding a new response header and deleting the original.
• Redirect to a destination host using a value captured from an incoming query string key/value pair.
• Unleash different scenarios along with existing conditions and action.

Public Preview: Power BI Connector for vCore-based Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB
The new Power BI connector for vCore-based Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB simplifies integration. You can now connect Power BI and vCore-based Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB using DirectQuery mode, allowing you to query your live data.

Public Preview: Self-serve enablement for all versions and deletes mode in Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL

You can now enable all versions and deletes change feed mode on your Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL accounts without registering your subscription for the Preview. Before enabling this change feed mode, continuous backups must be turned on in your account. You can enable this change feed mode in the Features blade of your Azure Cosmos DB account in the Azure portal.

Reading the change feed in all versions and deletes mode gives a record of each change that occurred to items within a container, including changes from delete operations and TTL expirations. In this mode, you can only read changes that occurred within the continuous backup period configured for the account. Existing change feed applications will continue to use latest version change feed mode, and new applications can be built in either mode.

Generally Available: I/O Performance Analysis—SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines
We’re excited to announce that I/O Analysis for SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines is now generally available. This powerful feature, accessible in the Azure portal, helps you optimize your SQL Server workloads by identifying I/O performance bottlenecks caused by virtual machine (VM) or disk throttling. With its clear metrics and actionable insights, you can enhance performance, identify latency, and help ensure your applications run smoothly. Whether you’re managing critical databases or scaling operations, this feature empowers you to fine-tune your storage performance.
In addition, you can assess your storage performance health at a glance and apply key best-practice rules to ensure optimal alignment.

If the analysis detects no I/O latency issue or problematic VM or disk I/O throttling in your system, you see a green checkmark to let you know the storage is healthy. If the analysis detects an underlying issue—either with disk latency at the VM or disk level, or an issue with storage caching—the feature pinpoints the level of impact and the date and time the issue occurred.

Additionally, when you need to track I/O-related best practices, you can execute a small subset of the SQL Server best practices assessment rules against your SQL Server instance and use historical data to analyze the latest results.

Generally Available: Azure SQL Updates for Early-April 2025
In early-April 2025, the following updates and enhancements were made to Azure SQL:
Convert existing databases in Azure SQL Database to Hyperscale with improved progress reporting and explicit cutover control.

Public Preview: Fabric Mirroring for Azure Database for PostgreSQL - flexible server
Experience seamless integration and unparalleled data unification with Microsoft Fabric mirroring for Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server. Easily unify your organizational data in OneLake, enhance app integration with rich business insights by joining data across various sources, and enjoy one-click integration with Microsoft Power BI. Optimize your data with Delta table features for swift and efficient access. Elevate your enterprise data applications to new heights with this powerful tool.

Generally Available: Troubleshoot Disk Performance with Copilot in Azure
The Disk Performance Troubleshooting Capability for Copilot in Azure is now available in General Availability as a part of the Copilot in Azure General Availability. Now, you can use Azure Copilot to optimize your disk performance effortlessly.

Azure offers a rich variety of disk metrics, providing insights into the performance of your Virtual Machines (VMs) and disks. These metrics help you diagnose performance issues when your application requires higher performance than what you have configured for the VMs and disks.

Azure Copilot further enhances your experience by analyzing these metrics to resolve performance issues on your behalf, along with providing guided recommendations for optimizing VM and disk performance to improve your application's experience.

Public Preview: New Enhancements to Carbon Optimization – Expanded API limits, Subscription Reader Access, and Filtering Options

Carbon optimization in Azure now includes new capabilities to improve visibility into cloud emissions data. Enhancements include expanded API limits, extended role-based access, and new filtering options for better analysis.

What’s new?

• New API version with expanded limits: The latest API version (2024-02-01-preview) removes the previous 5,000-item limit, allowing users to retrieve emissions data at scale for a more comprehensive analysis. Carbon Service - REST API
• Subscription Reader role access: Users with Subscription Reader role now have default access to carbon optimization, enabling more stakeholders to view emissions data. Access overview
• Emissions by Resource type: Emissions reporting now categorizes data by resource type (e.g., Virtual Machines, Azure Data Explorer) instead of by service, providing deeper insights for optimization. View and analyze emission data and insights
• New resource type and location filters: Users can now filter emissions data by resource type and location, making it easier to focus on specific areas for sustainability improvements. View and analyze emission data and insights

Public preview: Durable Task Scheduler for Azure Functions
Durable task scheduler is a new storage provider for the durable functions, a feature of Azure Functions. It is designed to address the challenges and gaps identified by our customers with existing bring-your-own storage options. Over the past few months, since the initial limited early access launch of the durable task scheduler, we’ve been working closely with our customers to understand their requirements and ensure they are fully supported in using durable task scheduler successfully. We’ve also strengthened the fundamentals by

• Expanding regional availability
• Finalizing APIs
• Ensuring high reliability, scalability and built-in security
• Adding support for all durable functions programming languages
  This is the preferred managed backend solution for customers who require high performance, enhanced monitoring of stateful orchestrations, or find managing bring-your-own storage accounts too cumbersome. It is the ideal choice for stateful functions (durable functions) in Azure Functions.

Generally Available: Azure Networking Capabilities for Microsoft Copilot in Azure

Design, Plan, Migrate & Optimize

• Network product information queries – Copilot can answer questions about Azure networking products and services grounded in public documentation.
• Network product selection and architecture guidance queries – Copilot can assist with questions about product selection and offer guidance on network planning, resilience, and migration from on-prem environments.

Monitor, Secure & Troubleshoot

• Network resource inventory, topology, traffic path queries – Copilot can respond to questions about network resources and traffic paths from any source to destination in your Azure network by generating topology maps and network connectivity graphs.
• Network connectivity troubleshooting and service diagnostics queries – Copilot can perform comprehensive network troubleshooting – root causing connectivity, configuration, and environmental issues by analyzing your network data and control plane as well as resource health.
• Network security attack analysis and investigation – Security Copilot attack investigation capabilities for malicious traffic intercepted by the IDPS feature of Azure Firewalls is now accessible directly on the Azure portal via the Copilot in Azure experience.

**Private Preview: Threat Detection in Azure Backup Powered by MDC
Azure Backup**
We are excited to announce the Private Preview of an advanced Threat Detection capability in Azure Backup, now integrated with Microsoft Defender for Cloud (MDC). This new feature enables you to assess the health of their Azure VM backup RPs by identifying healthy and suspicious RPs based on signals from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE) real-time scans, conducted as part of Microsoft Defender for Servers plans. Azure Backup looks for specific disruption and heuristic-behavior based signals from MDE which indicate that backup data is suspicious with ransomware.

If you are interested in participating in the private preview of this product, please complete the Private Preview enrolment form below and we'll send you email with further instructions. We value your feedback and will be incorporated into our product development.

Generally Available: Application Gateway as a Private Link Enabled Origin for Front Door Premium
You can now configure Application Gateway resources as Private Link enabled origins in your Front Door Premium profile. Private Link enabled origins in Front Door allow you to deliver content to your end-users through public Front Door endpoints while ensuring that your origins remain inaccessible to the public internet.

Public Preview: Azure NetApp Files File Access Logs
Azure NetApp Files file access logs play a critical role in safeguarding sensitive data, detecting anomalies while enabling operational excellence. This new feature provides detailed logging of file access activities, including user identity, operation type, and timestamps, enhancing security, reliability, and operational insights. It supports SMB, NFSv4.1, and dual-protocol volumes, offering valuable features for monitoring unauthorized access, tracing activity for compliance, resolving incidents, and optimizing data usage patterns. By embedding this capability, organizations can strengthen their security posture, maintain system reliability, and achieve operational excellence in alignment with the Well-Architected Framework security best practices.

Generally Available: Microsoft Copilot in Azure is Now Generally Available
Microsoft Copilot in Azure is now generally available. Microsoft Copilot in Azure is an AI-powered tool to help you do more with Azure. With Microsoft Copilot in Azure, you can gain new insights, discover more benefits of the cloud, and orchestrate across both cloud and edge. Copilot leverages Large Language Models (LLMs), the Azure control plane, and insights about your Azure environment to help you work more efficiently.

Customers will now be able to use Copilot in Azure in production with enhanced performance, increased response accuracy, and comprehensive localization support for all Azure portal languages.

Capabilities of Copilot in Azure available at GA are included at no additional cost. Future capabilities may be subject to pricing. Excessive use of a Microsoft Generative AI Service may result in temporary throttling of Customer’s access to the Microsoft Generative AI Service.