Generally Available: New vector data type and functions in Azure SQL

Generally Available: New vector data type and functions in Azure SQL
Azure SQL now supports vector data types for efficient storage, querying of embeddings, and semantic search, making it an ideal database for AI. Now you can integrate advanced AI capabilities into your applications, resulting in smarter and more responsive systems.

With AI agents poised to autonomously interact with databases, centralizing secure data becomes even more critical to prevent unauthorized access. The robust security features in Azure SQL—including advanced threat protection, encryption, and compliance with industry standards—help to safeguard your sensitive data. Native row-level security further restricts access to specific data, helping to prevent malicious prompts and rogue agents from gaining access to unauthorized data.

Combined with full-text search support, Azure SQL streamlines application architectures. You get true multi-model and modern developer features all in one place, eliminating integration overhead and reducing complexity. And there’s no need for specialized external vector databases or full-text search engines.

Vector data support, comprehensive security, dynamic scalability, simplified architectures, and full-text search combine to make Azure SQL a robust and scalable foundation for building intelligent, responsive AI systems with confidence and ease.

Public Preview: Azure Functions enables Open Telemetry support
We're announcing significant improvements to Open Telemetry support in Azure Functions, expanding on the limited preview announced last year
These enhancements deliver better observability, improved performance, and more detailed insights into your function executions, helping you diagnose issues faster and optimize your applications more effectively. These updates make it easier to monitor and troubleshoot your serverless apps with clearer, more relevant insights.

Generally Available: Azure WAF integration in Microsoft Security Copilot
Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) integration in Microsoft Copilot for Security has reached general availability. This integration supports both Azure Front Door WAF and Azure Application Gateway WAF.

By integrating Azure WAF with the Security Copilot, organizations can streamline security operations, and accelerate investigations, helping security teams stay ahead of increasingly sophisticated threats.

Key Features Available in GA
SQL Injection (SQLi) Attack Analysis
Generate summaries of SQLi attacks, explaining why Azure WAF blocks them.
Analyze WAF diagnostic logs and track attack patterns over time.

Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Attack Analysis

1. Summarize attack patterns and enforcement mechanisms used by Azure WAF.
2. Correlate logs across different events to highlight emerging threats.

Top Offending IP Analysis

1. Identify the most malicious IPs within the environment.
2. Review WAF rules triggered by these IPs to refine security policies.

Top Azure WAF Rules Analysis

1. Retrieve contextual details about frequently triggered WAF rules.
2. Optimize security response strategies based on real-time analytics.

Generally Available: Azure Front Door now supports managed certificate for wildcard domains

Azure Front Door standard and premium profiles now support managed certificate for wildcard domains. Previously, you can only bring your own certificate for wildcard domains on Azure Front Door.

This enables customers to secure multiple subdomains with a single certificate—ideal for SaaS providers and large-scale multi-tenant applications.

It brings the following benefits

• Simplified Operations: Customers no longer need to manage individual certificates for each subdomain.
• Improved Scalability: Wildcard support reduces configuration overhead and accelerates onboarding.
• Enhanced Security: Managed certificates ensure automated renewals.

Azure Premium SSD v2 and Ultra Disk are now available in Malaysia West region
Azure Ultra Disks are the highest-performing storage option for Azure virtual machines (VMs), offering high throughput, high IOPS, and consistent low sub-millisecond latency. Ultra Disks are ideal for data-intensive workloads such as SAP HANA, top-tier databases, and transaction-heavy applications.

Azure Premium SSD v2, a next-generation general-purpose block storage solution, offers sub-millisecond latencies and exceptional price performance for IO-intensive workloads at a low cost. Premium SSD v2 is suited for a broad range of enterprise production scenarios, including SQL Server, Oracle, MariaDB, SAP, Cassandra, MongoDB, big data/analytics, and gaming on virtual machines or stateful containers.

If Premium SSD v2 is unavailable in your preferred region and you would like to use it, please complete this survey.