This week in DevOps we have announcements for GKE, Google SpeechToText and new GCP regions. Azure previewed a new Backup Reports utility and an integration with Cisco IoT. HashiCorp updated their Terraform Modules guides while AWS did not make any major announcements.
GoogleCloud
GoogleCloud::GKE – New Management fee for GKE Clusters
Google Cloud has announced that starting on June 6th, 2020 GKE clusters will incur a management fee of $0.10 per hour. While this practice is in line with other Kubernetes as a Service offerings such as Amazons EKS it comes at a time when developers had switched to GCP for the cost savings.
Many developers have expressed their concern that this move feels a bit like a bait and switch on the the part of Google and some are wondering if this is the beginning of a round of price increases for Google Cloud, which was historically seen as cheaper than AWS.
It’s also in stark contrast to the AWS strategy of always lowering prices. Overall the optics are not ideal for GCP at a time when they are struggling to catch up with Azure’s growth and Amazons current dominance in the cloud sector.
GoogleCloud::SpeechToText – Enhanced models and features now available in new languages
This update adds enhanced models and features for 7 new languages bringing the total languages supported to 71. The enhanced features include support for Advanced Telephony Models, Speech Adaptation, Speaker Diarization and Automatic Punctuation.
GoogleCloud::Regions – Introducing 4 new regions for 2020 in addition to those previously announced
Google Cloud previously announced that they will add regions in Jakarta, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Seoul and Warsaw in 2020. This new announcement adds Delhi, Doha, Melbourne and Toronto to that list, bringing the total expected region additions for 2020 to 9. The exact timing for the launch of each region is unclear and will likely be announced as each region is finished.
Azure
Azure::Backup – Reports now in preview
Backup Reports is a monitoring and reporting service for Azure Backups which will enable users to identify key trends and events across their backups and proactively deal with potential issues before they become a problem. Azure says the service will work across multiple workload types including Virtual Machines, SQL, SAP and Data Protection Manager.
Azure::IoT – Introducing seamless integration with Cisco IoT
Azure IoT will now integrate seamlessly with Cisco IoT, offering a better user experience for companies on both platforms. The system appears to use Cisco’s Edge Intelligence solution to connect with Azure IoT Hub and Device Provisioning Services.
Hashicorp
HashiCorp::Guides – New Terraform modules guides
HashiCorp has always maintained a fairly exhaustive library of guides and documentation but Terraform Modules remain a confusing topic for many users. This update adds a more extensive Terraform Modules track to their existing education library and includes best practices for HCL 2.0.
The guide is organised into 3 main subjects: Understanding Modules, Creating Modules and Using Modules. Since modules are key to Terraform reusability we can only hope that this update will encourage more module use amongst companies writing lots of Terraform configuration.
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