John Savill provides a comprehensive Azure update for August 2025, summarizing new features, major changes to data and security services, and enhancements for cloud professionals.

Azure Updates: 1st August 2025

Author: John Savill’s Technical Training

Stay up-to-date with the latest Azure changes as of August 2025. This roundup covers significant product updates, new features, and service retirements relevant to cloud professionals, data engineers, and security administrators.

Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • New Videos & Resources
  • Key Announcements and Features
    • Custom Maintenance Windows for All Gateways
    • AVNM in Gov Cloud
    • Storage SAS Token Expiry Policy Actions
    • Prem SSD v2 and Ultra NVMe Live Resize
    • Power BI to PostgreSQL Entra ID Authentication
    • Azure Arc Powered SQL Migration
    • Azure SQL New String Functions
    • PostgreSQL Cascading Read Replicas
    • MySQL Accelerated Logs & Backup Intervals
    • Azure Confidential Ledger New Tagging
    • Microsoft Authenticator App New Backgrounds
    • Azure Dedicated HSM Retirement
  • Learning Resources & Certification Materials

New Videos & Learning Paths

  • Recommended Learning Path for Azure: Onboard to Azure
  • Certification Content Repository: GitHub
  • Weekly Azure Update Playlist: YouTube
  • Specialized Playlists: DevOps, PowerShell, Certification Cram, Mentoring, and more

Key Announcements and Feature Updates

Custom Maintenance Windows for All Gateways

Now you can define custom maintenance schedules for all gateway resources, improving control over updates and planned downtime across Azure environments.

Azure Virtual Network Manager (AVNM) in Government Cloud

AVNM is now available in Azure’s Gov Cloud, delivering advanced network management and segmentation for compliant and public sector workloads.

Storage SAS Token Expiry Policy Actions

New actions for Storage Shared Access Signature (SAS) token expiry policies enhance security by helping to automate and enforce token renewal and expiration.

Premium SSD v2 and Ultra NVMe Live Resize

Enhancements to Premium SSD v2 and Ultra NVMe disks allow live resizing, simplifying dynamic scaling and minimizing downtime for high-performance workloads.

Power BI to PostgreSQL Entra ID Authentication

Power BI now supports authentication to PostgreSQL databases using Microsoft Entra ID, helping streamline sign-on processes and improve security integration.

Azure Arc Powered SQL Migration

A streamlined solution for migrating SQL workloads to Azure using Azure Arc, with a direct link: https://aka.ms/ArcSQL/migration

Azure SQL: New String Functions

Azure SQL Database has introduced new string manipulation functions, expanding developer capabilities for data transformation and analysis.

PostgreSQL: Cascading Read Replicas

PostgreSQL on Azure now supports cascading read replicas, enabling improved scalability and high availability architectures.

MySQL: Accelerated Logs & Configurable Backup Interval

New features for Azure Database for MySQL provide accelerated logging and allow customization of backup intervals for better operations and compliance.

Azure Confidential Ledger: Tagging Support

Azure Confidential Ledger introduces resource tagging, enhancing resource organization and automated management.

Microsoft Authentication: New Backgrounds

Microsoft authentication experiences receive UI updates with refreshed background options, impacting user-facing security prompts.

Azure Dedicated HSM: Retirement

Azure’s Dedicated Hardware Security Module (HSM) is being retired—evaluate your current usage and migrate to supported alternatives.


Additional Resources


Stay ahead with the latest Azure platform changes through this monthly update. For further discussions, please use community forums like Reddit or Microsoft Community Hub.