Azure Key Vault

Azure Key Vault can store keys (e.g. API keys) securely which can then be retrieved by applications at runtime. Passwords and certificates can also be stored in the vault.

Objects in the vault are uniquely identified by a case-insensitive identifier called the object identifier. It has a prefix identifying the key vault, object type, user-provided object name, and object version. 

The key vault section starts with https://{vault-name}.vault.azure.net or https://{hsm-name}.managedhsm.azure.net, for Managed HSM Pools.

Object types are "keys", "secrets" or "certificates". 

Object name must be unique within the key vault. Only digits, letters and dashes are allowed in the object name. The object name must be between 1-127 characters. 

Deployment Toolkit (MDT) Support Removed - Try Windows Autopilot

Microsoft has removed support for its legacy enterprise deployment toolkit known as MDT (Microsoft Deployment Toolkit). 

This means no more updates (including for future versions of Windows) or security patches. 

Microsoft have recommended Windows Autopilot for cloud based deployment, or Configuration Manager operating system deployment (OSD) for on-prem infrastructure requirements, as alternatives.

Autopilot can be used to deploy Windows PCs as well as Hololens 2.

Fans lament that MDT was free and did not force Azure cloud adoption.

Relationship of WMIC to WBEM

WMI is the Microsoft implementation of Web-based Enterprise Management (WBEM), a set of systems management technologies for use in distributed systems.  It is based on common standards like the Common Information Model (CIM).

The WBEM initiative was started in 1996 by BMC Software, Cisco, Compaq, Intel and Microsoft.

The specification for the CIM is maintained by the DMTF (Distributed Management Task Force), an industry standards organization consisting of members and alliance partners collaborating on specifications. It also maintains a repository of its operating policies on issues including IP.

AWS S3 (and Auth Methods) for Azure Folks

Amazon S3 is something akin to Azure Blob Storage. 

A quick revision of Azure Blob Storage: 

Azure Blob Storage is a general-purpose cloud storage option for cloud native workloads.  

It supports WORM operating scenarios (Write Once Read Many) aka WORM-compliant storage (which prevents data from being edited or deleted). Role based access control (RBAC) is supported as is authentication with Microsoft Entra (formerly Azure Active Directory).

Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) is a similar offering in AWS.

The services are exposed as a web service with a custom HTTP scheme known as keyed-HMAC (Hash Message Authentication Code).  A more "high level" authentication option is available via AWS IAM.

Progressive Rollout (aka "Canary Deployment") in the Cloud

A canary deployment is an old concept with a new branding in the age of cloud, and terminology-wise is used by both Google, AWS and Azure. Kubernetes technology is one way to manage canary deployments.

Canary deployments are progressive rollouts where new functionality is released to a subset of specially selected users. Therefore the canary deployment runs in parallel to current production deployment used by your regular users. This gives you more time and space to test the reliably of new features "in the wild".

A Windows Cloud in the Azure Sky (backed by Solid Data Centers)

Windows Azure has had a lot of publicity of late, as Microsoft's flagship cloud platform, the latest nuance in its PaaS offering (Platform as a Service). In PaaS, the platform provider provides the data center facilities and tools to deploy applications.

Locations of Azure datacenters include San Antonio, Texas (a migration of their Quincy, Washington site), Hong Kong and Dublin, Ireland. A good way to track datacenter activity is the site datacenterknowledge.com.