Building a custom container-based API using Docker Desktop and Azure App Service

Photo by @chuttersnap / Unsplash.com

Many times when I’ve worked with Microsoft partners and customers in projects the need arises when we need a custom API to be implemented. Perhaps the reason is that we need the versatility and freedom this provides, or simply because the developer feels this is the best approach for the given business problem. So, while you can host your APIs in multiple ways in Azure, I wanted to try out how easy (or complex!) it… Read More »Building a custom container-based API using Docker Desktop and Azure App Service

Learn the fundamentals of Azure today, and pass the exam!

Photo by @markusspiske / Unsplash.com

Azure turned 10 years just this month, and I’m excited to see so much happening around the platform – both from IT Pros, devs and architects, but also from people aspiring to work with Azure in the future. While a certification is not – per se – a proof that you are knowledgeable about everything there is to Azure, I like to think of it as the minimum badge for proving your understanding. When I… Read More »Learn the fundamentals of Azure today, and pass the exam!

Building a simple yet robust monitoring solution for a website using Azure Application Insights

Photo by @ripato / Unsplash.com

I’ve grown to use and love Azure Application Insights quite a bit in recent years. It’s a relatively simple, yet powerful monitoring, debugging, troubleshooting and analysis tool that lends itself to many use cases. As I’ve recently migrated my personal blog to a hosted WordPress, I needed to build something simple (as time is always a scarce resource) yet powerful enough monitoring to notify me if something fails. Perhaps the hoster’s MySQL cluster is down?… Read More »Building a simple yet robust monitoring solution for a website using Azure Application Insights

Introducing ‘Just Enough Migration’

Photo by @hugowiz / Unsplash.com

I wrote last July about how I run my blog as a static site. In essence, I ran a local virtual machine with Windows Server 2019 and XAMPP. I would author my posts, and generate a static HTML site periodically, that I would then publish to Azure App Service. I had this setup for about a year, and I was pretty satisfied with it. I was fond of this setup. I could leverage the flexibility… Read More »Introducing ‘Just Enough Migration’

How to run business logic code as background jobs in Microsoft Azure

Photo by @nate_dumlao / Unsplash.com

Microsoft Azure offers multiple ways to run, schedule and trigger business logic code in the background. Business logic is a fancy way to say you need to execute a series of tasks, based on a process. In this article, I aim to provide a convenient and prioritized list of options to choose from, with the goal of clarifying these options for developers and architects working with Azure. What is the need to run code in… Read More »How to run business logic code as background jobs in Microsoft Azure

Interesting events and meetups in Finland for January and February

Photo by @theunsteady5 / Unsplash.com

As part of my work at Microsoft, I support and help local communities that revolve and evolve around technologies I have a passion for. This includes platforms such as Microsoft Azure, but also general topics such as serverless, AI and coding. While I’m ramping up on my role – and believe me, there’s plenty to digest and ingest – I wanted to share interesting events and meetups from local communities and user groups in Finland,… Read More »Interesting events and meetups in Finland for January and February

Azure Community: Azure Heroes is now live

Photo by @tkristin / Unsplash.com

Azure Heroes is a program for the community from Microsoft, that aims to recognize and empower technical Azure practitioners to achieve more. Recognized community members will be rewarded with a digital badger, that is backed by blockchain (from Enjin). You can see the public ledger here. You can reach out to me also directly (via Twitter, Teams, or email) if you have any questions or feedback with regards to the program. [Update Jan 21: As… Read More »Azure Community: Azure Heroes is now live

Microsoft Edge is now available!

Microsoft Edge, the new Edge, is now Generally Available. You can download it here for Windows 7, 8, 10, and macOS. It’s also available for iOS and Android. I’ve been an avid Google Chrome user since 2008 when it was initially released. I was working at Microsoft at the time and happened to be at the office early in the morning on September 2, 2008. My oldest son was about 4 months old, so I… Read More »Microsoft Edge is now available!

Quick book review: Smart Marketing for Engineers: An Inbound Marketing Guide to Reaching Technical Audiences

I’ve been reading more lately, and it’s a mixture of articles, books, blogs, and whitepapers. I enjoy them all, but books often give me more ideas, as I need to concentrate more and find time for reading. One of the books I finished early this year was Smart Marketing for Engineers: An Inbound Marketing Guide to Reaching Technical Audiences by Rebecca Geier. I purchased the book for Kindle, and read it quite rapidly during two… Read More »Quick book review: Smart Marketing for Engineers: An Inbound Marketing Guide to Reaching Technical Audiences

Building a high-performance workstation PC for professional use (Part 1)

Building a server - Photo by @iamjsullivan / Unsplash.com

I’ve built PCs since I was a kid. Planning and designing which parts to get, figuring out your budget and sourcing components have always been a fun experience for me. Waiting to get the parts, building the system and powering it on even before building the case “just to test it” is the highlight. And finally running benchmarks to satisfy your inner curiosity that “it’s that much faster, so it was a good purchase.” In… Read More »Building a high-performance workstation PC for professional use (Part 1)

My experience using the Garmin Fenix 6X Pro fitness watch for 100 days

Trail running - Photo by @asoggetti / Unsplash.com

I’ve been an avid smartwatch and fitness watch user for years. Previously I had the Garmin Fenix 3 HR (Sapphire Edition) for three years, in non-stop use. Before this, I had numerous devices in use including a Fitbit device and an Android Wear watch. Out of these, the Garmin Fenix 3 was spectacular. It’s a real fitness watch to track sports, and very robust. I bought the HRM-Run belt, which is an HR belt with… Read More »My experience using the Garmin Fenix 6X Pro fitness watch for 100 days

Hello, 2020! And thanks 2019 – you were awesome!

2020 logo - photo by https://unsplash.com/@judebeck / Unsplash.com

Yet another year has just ended, and it was memorable, and a great year. I was busy, met amazing people, spent a lot of time with my family and friends, and enjoyed life. I wanted to put some things in numbers, as I feel they make things more tangible, real and also rewarding for me. In 2019 I had a chance to: Write two books – one on Azure Governance, and another on getting started… Read More »Hello, 2020! And thanks 2019 – you were awesome!

So, what’s up?

Photo by @danielcgold / Unsplash.com

Don’t worry. This is not one of those end-of-the-year/end-of-a-decade posts. I’ll do that next week. I’ve taken the habit to reflect, reminisce and gather up my thoughts a few times a year. I did that a few months ago in October, and before that in June. As I’ve perhaps mentioned, I’ve been on an extended leave of absence since April. I spent the summer finishing up some projects, focusing on my well-being and spending time… Read More »So, what’s up?

Building a monitoring solution for Office 365 service availability using Azure Logic Apps

Photo by @rgrzybowski / Unsplash.com

I spent some time in early December building an integration between Azure Log Analytics (and Azure Sentinel, obviously) and Office 365 Audit Logs. The latter exposes the logs through Office 365 Management Activity API, which is very handy, albeit slightly cumbersome to use. I wrote about that experience here. I noticed that there is also a separate Office 365 API I found useful, called the Office 365 Service Communications API. It’s much simpler to use,… Read More »Building a monitoring solution for Office 365 service availability using Azure Logic Apps

Getting started with a podcast – the equipment, setup, and logistics

Photo by @farber / Unsplash.com

I’ve wanted to start a new podcast for a few years now. It’s been a project that I put into the lowest priority when something more urgent comes up. And there’s already something more urgent. I’d been chatting with Tobias Zimmergren on and off about work-related stuff, and we both came up with the idea that a podcast would be great. I wrote about this experience a few months ago here. Our podcast is named… Read More »Getting started with a podcast – the equipment, setup, and logistics