Over the last week or two, like many in the Microsoft Community, I’ve been watching all the Ignite announcements and sessions. In this post, I wanted to summarise some of the key announcements and sessions that specifically relate to key areas and technologies that I work with, namely:
- Hybrid Cloud – Azure Stack HCI, Azure Arc etc.
- Azure, Networking, and Infrastructure Services
- Azure AI
- Other things I have seen that I think may be of interest, to those working in similar roles to mine 🙂
Keen to catch up on all the Ignite Sessions? – see here: https://ignite.microsoft.com/
Don’t forget – all the announcements can be found in the Book of News!
Hybrid Cloud
By far the most interesting announcement for my area of focus, is that of Azure Local. Azure Local brings together elements including Stack HCI and Arc, into a solution that brings Azure Services to your own locations, both online and offline. Whilst many of us have used Stack HCI and Arc previously, Azure Local also brings with its announcement, lots of additional enhancements, a few of which are summarised below:
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One Click Updates to Azure Local Infrastructure – simple and easy management of Azure Local deployments.
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Migration from VMware to Azure Local via Azure Migrate – using Azure Migrate to migrate VMs from VMware deployments to Azure Local.
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Azure Kubernetes Service, built in.
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Azure PAAS Services – a range of Azure PAAS Services, in your own locations.
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Flexible Hardware Options – including Low Spec/Low cost options for Edge Use cases. There’s an awesome video on this, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxlAfS9mh2E
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Disconnected options
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Network Segmentation – via Network Security Groups
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Option to deploy without Active Directory – which uses Azure Key Vault to store secrets and recovery keys.
You can read more about Azure Local here: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/azurearcblog/introducing-azure-local-cloud-infrastructure-for-distributed-locations-enabled-b/4296017
Breakout Sessions – Azure Arc
Azure Arc is a key supporting component of Azure Local and provides management and central control. During Microsoft Ignite, 2 key breakout sessions were held (and recorded) that are great for learning more about Azure Arc – these are linked below:
- Adaptive cloud: Unify hybrid, multi-cloud and edge with Azure Arc – https://ignite.microsoft.com/en-US/sessions/BRK235
- This session covers all things around Unifying hybrid, multi-cloud and edge, with Arc as the central management plane. This session delves more into how you can control and scale your environments rapidly with Arc and Azure Technologies, and how aspects like AI-enhanced management can help too. This session also covers an overview of potential use cases for local infrastructure powered by Arc and Azure – with use cases like Local AI inferencing, near Real-Time systems and more.
- Operate infrastructure across distributed locations with Azure Arc – https://ignite.microsoft.com/en-US/sessions/BRK214
- This sessions dives into an overview of how Azure Arc enables an adaptive approach, provides an overview of Azure Local, including Low Cost, Connected, and Disconnected servers and scenarios. Aspects like visibility, updates, VMware migration, Azure AI Services, and more are covered. Disconnected operations is also given a detailed overview – which will be key for those operating in highly secure and challenging locations. There’s also a hugely valuable and insightful overview of an Azure Local deployment with over 1000 production instances across a large retailer.
Remember – for any of the Ignite sessions, like the ones above, you can download a copy of the Video, Slides and Transcript should you require them:
How do I get started with Azure Local?
A great place to start is with a Jumpstart deployment – this allows you to run a virtual environment (so there is no hardware required), and get hands on with managing and configuring the solution: https://azurearcjumpstart.com/azure_jumpstart_hcibox
I’ve blogged previously about using Jumpstart (and the wider Azure Stack HCI Local IAC options) – you can read that post here.
Azure, Infrastructure, and Networking
Most of my work in Azure relates to infrastructure services – and there were also a number of key announcements here too:
- Azure HBv5 virtual machines (HBv5 VMs) – Designed for High Performance Compute (HPC) workloads, using High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), delivering significant performance enhancements, and providing aspects like NVIDIA Infiniband networking. These will be Previewed in 2025. Read more about this here: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/AzureHighPerformanceComputingBlog/announcing-azure-hbv5-virtual-machines-a-breakthrough-in-memory-bandwidth-for-hp/4303504.
- NVIDIA Blackwell GB200 – Announced in Preview to help power AI Supercomputing, read more about this here: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/azurehighperformancecomputingblog/microsoft-adopts-nvidia-blackwell-to-power-the-next-frontier-of-ai-supercomputin/4303541.
- Silicon Updates – HSM, Boost DPU, Liquid cooling updates –
- Unveiling the latest in Azure Networking for a secure, connected cloud – another great session well worth a watch, for a detailed look at Azure Networking. During this session I also learned about Azure Copilot’s networking capabilities, currently in Preview. You can read more about that here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/copilot/network-management. During this session a huge range of updates around Azure Networking are covered, including Network Security Perimeter.
- Windows Server 2025: New ways to gain cloud agility and security – This was a session well worth a watch for anyone running Windows Server. There are so many updates, enhancements, and changes in Windows Server 2025. A few highlights from the session include; N-4 upgrade options, Hotpatch, Active Directory updates, and more! I’ve noted a few areas I know will be of interest to people working in similar infrastructure focused fields like myself, with documentation for wider reading where possible:
- Hotpatch – This feature allows security patches to be applied without rebooting the server. It modifies in-memory running processes, ensuring immediate security without the need for a restart. More details available here.
- GPU Partitioning – Allowing you to partition GPUs and get the most from this investment. More details available here.
- Various Security Enhancements – Active Directory capabilities, Storage Updates, and Delegated Managed Service Accounts (dMSA) to name a few!
Azure AI
There were also a range of updates to Azure AI Services, and AI in general. Two that really stood out to me – as they sit within the infrastructure area I focus on, were:
- Azure AI Foundry – Helps organisations design, customise, and build AI Applications and Services, with close integration to tools like GitHub, Visual Studio, and Copilot Studio. All of the updates are within the Book of News and Ignite sessions – but there is also a brilliant overview available here: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/the-next-wave-of-azure-innovation-azure-ai-foundry-intelligent-data-and-more/.
- The Azure AI Foundry SKD was also announced, which provides a unified toolchain for the AI App lifecycle. If you are interested in learning more about this, check out the session “Coding the future of AI”: https://ignite.microsoft.com/en-US/sessions/BRK115
- Azure AI Agent Service – Coming soon to Public Preview, the Azure AI Agent Service, bringing together tools, technologies, and various partners and provides a method to integrate with various sources, allowing you to bring your own data and knowledge. You can read more about this announcement and all of the features here: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/azure-ai-services-blog/introducing-azure-ai-agent-service/4298357
Until next time – thanks for reading!