10 Major Microsoft Announcements At Inspire 2018

New Apps And Technologies For Azure

Microsoft Thursday revealed several new cloud apps and technologies that will be available through the channel. The first, Azure Data Box Disk, has been spun out of the Azure Data Box appliance introduced last year. Azure Data Box Disk, unlike its predecessor, is an SSD-disk based option that businesses can use move data, regardless of where it lives, into Azure. According to Jason Zander, executive vice president for Microsoft Azure, the offering is well-suited for a recurring or one-time data migration of up to 35 TB, or for data transfer from multiple remote branches or offices.

Another new technology, Azure Firewall, is a cloud-native network security service that protects Azure Virtual Network resources. The offering is highly available and has unrestricted cloud scalability, which can be used to centrally create, enforce, and log application and network connectivity policies. Azure Firewall policies can be fully integrated with customers' DevOps model and help businesses hit their compliance requirements.

Also introduced Thursday was Azure Virtual WAN, a networking service that gives businesses optimized branch to branch connectivity and connection to Azure using last mile internet. Users can also build a "hub and spoke" network in Azure to route traffic to virtual appliances, including firewalls and Azure network security services.