This Week I Learned - Week #1 2019

This Week I Learned -

Azure VNet is a Layer 3 network

Azure Load Balancer works only with VMs that are in the same region whereas Traffic Manager can work across regions

Palo Alto's VM-Series 54 paged reference architecture guide for Azure (Aug 2018) is a good refresher of key Azure concepts & services

* Relying solely on  Layer 4 security through services like Azure Network Security Groups makes security of cloud deployment inadequate. More specialized products like Palo Alto's VM-Series and the recently introduced Azure Firewall complement Azure Network Security Groups port-based controls to protect your SAP deployment by reducing your attack surface. Palo Alto Networks VM-Series on Azure allows you to embrace a prevention-based approach while providing Automation and centralized management features

Some key sizing and implementation considerations for the VM-Series on Azure are that  it must be deployed in the Azure Resource Manager (ARM) mode & it supports D3_v2, D3, D4, A4, D5_v2, DS5_v2

The two VM-Series for Azure licensing options are the traditional, bring-your-own-license model or the pay-asyou-go model available from the Microsoft Azure Marketplace.

Virtualization is the emulation of the computer hardware (emulates hardware like CPU, RAM, I/O devices). The software emulating this is called ‘Hypervisor’. Every VM interacts with the hypervisor through the OS installed on the VM. The OS installed on the VM can be or not be aware that it is running on top of a Hypervisor and not on top of actual hardware. There are many Type 1 & 2 Hyervisor products available like Oracle VirtualBox, VMware Player, Parallel Desktop, KVM, PowerVM, VMWare EXI, Hyper-V, Citrix XenClient.  Containerization or container-based virtualization is an OS level virtualization method for deploying and running distributed applications without launching VMs for each application.

While it doesn’t have an SLA, Direct Peering lets customers connect directly to Google by cutting the egress fees significantly.

* Back in 2014, I wondered how it would be if Cortana & Siri spoke with each other. Cut to 2018 - there are plans to integrate Alexa & Microsoft Cortana with each other!

FreeTime Unlimited on Alexa features a growing catalog of kid-friendly content including podcasts, more than 1,000 Audible books, kids skills, Alexa Routines and there is a Echo Dot Kids Edition.

*  Loan waivers don't solve the farmers' problem.. since the biggest farmers with the biggest loans are the biggest gainers. Loan waivers penalise honest farmers who repay on time, and then look foolish when their neighbours (many of whom can afford to repay), get loans written off.  Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik says that of the 32 lakh cultivators in the state, only the richest 20 lakh have farm loans, and they should not be the main beneficiaries of an anti-distress programme - Swaminomics

* The Madhya Pradesh government started giving Rs 25,000 per month to MISA  (Maintenance of Internal Security Act promulgated during Emergency) detainees under a scheme started by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government (which was cleared through an Act) in 2008. Shivraj himself is a MISA detainee, having been arrested at the age of 17 - Times of India

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