Azure SQL and SQL Server received updates in late August 2025, including the general availability of local SQL Server containers via the MSSQL extension for Visual Studio Code.
· azure
· timeframe: 2025-08
· tags: Azure Database for PostgreSQL, Entra ID, group login, public preview, user credentials
Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server now supports Entra ID group login using user credentials in public preview on new servers. This feature aims to simplify user management and enhance security.
Azure Database Migration Service (DMS) now supports schema migration for Azure SQL Database, allowing users to migrate missing schema objects along with data using a simple checkbox option.
Azure SQL Database introduced a replication lag metric in late August 2025, enabling real-time monitoring of the recovery point objective (RPO) for Geo-DR configurations.
Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB (vCore) now supports adding physical shards and rebalancing data as clusters scale, leveraging its elastic compute and storage capabilities.
Entra ID and RBAC support for several Azure Storage supplemental APIs, including GetAccountInfo and ACL management for containers, queues, and tables, is now generally available.
· azure
· timeframe: 2025-08
· tags: Azure, CNI Overlay, Application Gateway for Containers, AGIC, AKS, Networking, General Availability
Azure CNI Overlay for Application Gateway for Containers (AGIC) is now generally available. It allows AKS clusters to assign pod IPs from a separate CIDR, conserving VNet IP space and simplifying multi-cluster deployments.
· azure
· timeframe: 2025-08
· tags: Azure NetApp Files, short-term clones, public preview, data snapshots, storage optimization
Azure NetApp Files introduces short-term clones in public preview, allowing instant, space-efficient read/write access by creating temporary thin clones from volume snapshots without full data copies.
The Roslyn Analyzer for Durable Functions in the .NET isolated model is now available in public preview, providing real-time code analysis to enforce durable orchestration coding constraints.
· azure
· timeframe: 2025-08
· tags: Microsoft Azure, cloud region, Austria, digital transformation, AI, data security
Microsoft Azure is now generally available in a new cloud region in Austria, supporting secure data storage and processing for local companies and public administration.
Azure Migrate now supports migrating servers to disks with Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS) redundancy. Users can select ZRS as the redundancy option during migration, enabling automatic provisioning of ZRS disks.
· azure
· timeframe: 2025-08
· tags: Azure, Application Gateway, MaxSurge, Rolling Upgrade, Zero Downtime
Azure Application Gateway now supports MaxSurge, allowing new instances to be provisioned during rolling upgrades without taking existing instances offline. This feature enables zero-capacity-impact upgrades to newer gateway versions.
Azure Log Analytics’ Search Job feature is now generally available and supports returning up to 100 million results. It enables asynchronous queries across all workspace data, including long-term retention, with results delivered in Analytics tables for further analysis.
Azure NetApp Files file access logs are now generally available, providing detailed visibility into file-level operations for SMB, NFSv4.1, and dual-protocol volumes. This feature helps organizations improve their security monitoring.
Azure Functions Flex Consumption plan now supports a 512 MB memory instance size option, in addition to 2048 MB and 4096 MB. This update helps optimize costs for apps with lower resource needs and supports scaling.
Azure Bastion now supports secure tunneling to private Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) clusters, allowing direct access to the AKS API server from local machines using standard Kubernetes tools.
Azure NetApp Files’ Flexible service level now supports cool access, enabling customers to configure storage capacity and throughput independently for workloads with specific performance and sizing needs.
· azure
· timeframe: 2025-08
· tags: Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Azure, 21Vianet, deprecation, retirement
Microsoft is retiring Microsoft Defender for Cloud in the Azure operated by 21Vianet environment due to increasing infrastructure and operational complexity.
The Azure Blob Storage Archive access tier is now generally available in the Malaysia West region, enabling cost-effective storage of infrequently accessed data locally.
Azure Files has introduced the provisioned v2 billing model for its SSD (premium) tier, allowing separate provisioning of storage, IOPS, and throughput.
· azure
· timeframe: 2025-08
· tags: Azure Databricks, Power Platform, Power Apps, Connector, General Availability
The Azure Databricks connector for Microsoft Power Platform is now generally available, enabling seamless integration between Azure Databricks and Power Apps.
Azure Managed Instance for Apache Cassandra now supports Cassandra 5.0 in public preview, enabling access to the latest features such as improved performance and new indexing capabilities without infrastructure management.
Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB (vCore) now supports encryption with customer-managed keys in public preview, adding to the existing service-managed key encryption.
Azure Automation will resume deploying revised Service and Subscription limits starting August 11, 2025, to ensure fair resource distribution and improve reliability and performance.
Azure Monitor now offers Tenant-Level Service Health Alerts in preview, allowing notifications for service health issues affecting the entire tenant rather than single subscriptions.
Azure App Service now generally supports inbound IPv6 for multi-tenant apps across all public regions on Basic, Standard, Premium SKUs, Functions Consumption, Functions Elastic Premium, and Logic Apps Standard.
Azure App Testing is now in public preview, allowing developers and QA teams to perform large-scale functional and performance tests across frameworks such as Playwright, JMeter, and Locust.
· azure
· timeframe: 2025-08
· tags: Azure Data Factory, Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, Upsert, Script activity, General Availability
Azure Data Factory and Azure Synapse Analytics now generally support the Upsert method and Script activity for Azure Database for PostgreSQL, enabling efficient and scalable data operations.
· azure
· timeframe: 2025-08
· tags: Azure Data Box, General Availability, Cloud Storage, Data Transfer, Regional Expansion
Azure Data Box Next Gen is now generally available in additional regions including Australia, Japan, Singapore, Brazil, Hong Kong, UAE, Switzerland, and Norway. Both the 120TB and 525TB Azure Data Box models are generally available in these regions.
· azure
· timeframe: 2025-08
· tags: Azure, Storage, Public Preview, Data Management, Cost Optimization, Security
Azure Storage Discovery is now in public preview, offering enterprise-wide visibility into Azure Storage data. It enables deep analysis of capacity and activity to optimize costs, enhance security, and improve operations.
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is introducing an AI-powered CLI feature called “az aks agent” that integrates agentic reasoning into the Azure CLI for developers and operators.