Shiny Made Simple: Building Interactive Data Visualizations for Beginners

This presentation introduces the basics of creating a Shiny app in R, aimed at individuals with little R programming experience and no prior knowledge of Shiny. Shiny is a user-friendly R package that enables the development of interactive web applications for data visualization. This session is ideal for data analysts, researchers, and web developers who are new to these tools and want to explore how Shiny can enhance their data visualization and presentations.

Participants will learn to set up RStudio, install Shiny, and build a simple Shiny app. The focus will be on understanding the essential components of a Shiny app, including the user interface and server logic, without requiring extensive programming knowledge.

Machine Learning in a Hurry for IT Practitioners

Make no mistake. There is no shortcut in learning. And no, I don't believe one can become a Machine Learning expert in 75 minutes. There is, however, a productive way for an IT practitioner to acquire minimal knowledge in a relatively short period of time, identify the relevance and develop criteria for integrating and optimizing a Machine Learning solution with IT practices. Which is what this session is about.

Yung will explain in layman's terms and illustrate how Machine Learning works with examples and scenarios relevant to our daily lives. As a cloud IT practitioner and a Machine Learning application developer, Yung will also walk you through a sample application, examine how Machine Learning algorithms and modeling concepts are translated into programming logic and how the results are generated, visualized, interpreted, and assessed, while the all are also impacted by IT practices.

Machine Learning Explained for Non-Data Scientists

The term, Machine Learning, sounds fascinating. What is learning exactly? What makes something qualified as learning, as opposed to just calculations or reflection? Will a machine eventually become smarter than human? Data Science over the years has developed many statistical and computational models to realize how computations with data analysis can together approximate human’s learning, thereby to possibly predict what may be coming. However, how Machines Leaning works and how to apply Machine Learning programmatically remain obscure for many. And this presentation is to help clarify some.
This presentation explains Machine Learning essentials with scenarios applicable to personal and business activities which we are all familiar and likely have experienced with. The demonstrations depicts how problem solution strategies are translated into algorithms and computation models to approximate "learning", thereby possibly making a prediction based on provided data. Overall, this delivery servers as a primer for all business and technical disciplines to learn what and how Machine Learning works.

Live Azure WAF Demo: Securing Web Apps Against Common Threats

In an era where web applications are increasingly targeted by sophisticated digital threats, implementing robust security measures is crucial. Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) offers a vital layer of defense designed to protect web applications from a range of exploits and vulnerabilities. This session provides a hands-on demonstration of Azure WAF using a test environment deployed via an Azure ARM template. The environment includes Azure WAF, the OWASP Juice Shop application—a deliberately vulnerable app designed for security testing—and a Kali Linux VM for simulating attacks.

Attendees will witness Azure WAF in action through a live demo, showcasing its ability to defend against real-world threats. By observing Azure WAF's capabilities in this controlled test environment, participants will gain practical insights into its effectiveness in mitigating common web application vulnerabilities, such as cross-site scripting (XSS) and SQL injection attacks. The goal of this session is to provide a clear understanding of how Azure WAF operates and to illustrate its practical applications in enhancing web application security.

Get Your Things Going Now

Want to learn IoT, yet not sure where to start and how to do it? Come to this workshop and you may find out that learning and mastering IoT is a very reachable goal. This delivery is to help those who are new to IoT get started and accelerate their learning. The content covers IoT architecture and fundamentals for constructing of an IoT solution. We will step through the process to build a simple and functional IoT solution with simulated devices and optionally a physical one like a Raspberry Pi., while examining key architecture components, message flows, and how IoT components and services integrated with another, as a whole.

To work on the labs, you should have already acquired an Azure free trial subscription, if not already having an active subscription. You will also need to bring a personal laptop with local administrator rights for connecting to Internet, downloading and installing tools, as needed. Either Windows 10 or Linux, the labs are applicable to. Having a programming background is helpful, however not required for this workshop since you can simply employ provided sample code. Nevertheless, to have a productive learning experience, you should be proficient with and able to independently perform basic administration tasks on the OS your laptop runs.

Building the Shield: Configuring and Deploying Azure WAF for Web App Defense

In today's ever-changing tech landscape, where digital threats abound and web applications remain prime targets, safeguarding your online assets is non-negotiable. Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) steps in as a crucial line of defense—a cloud-native security platform meticulously crafted to shield web applications from a barrage of exploits and vulnerabilities. This 2-part series is your guide to empowering both IT professionals and developers with essential technical know-how, practical insights, and actionable strategies for strengthening web application security through Azure WAF.

Part 1, Building the Shield: Configuring and Deploying Azure WAF for Web App Defense, sets the stage and focuses upon the operations of Azure WAF, integration with other Azure services, and essential steps for configuration, deployment, and monitoring.

Part 2, Real-Time Defense: Live Demonstrations with Azure WAF for Web App Protection, takes a practical approach with real-time, demonstrations attempting to breach a web application with and without WAF protection, and showcases how Azure WAF effectively defend against common threats such as cross-site scripting and SQL injection.

Don't miss out on the chance to explore Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) in depth, gaining essential skills to protect web applications effectively.

Azure BCDR in Action Part 2/2: Disaster Recovery

For an enterprise, BCDR is too important to overlook, yet often overwhelmingly complex to architect and cost prohibitive to implement. With Azure, it is no longer the case. We can now deploy a BCDR infrastructure with cross-region replication in minutes, verify the readiness of a DR scenario with a few clicks, and more significantly deploy/test/execute a BCDR solution on demand.

In this 2-part presentation:

- Azure BCDR in Action Part 1/2: Backup and Restore
- Azure BCDR in Action Part 2/2: Disaster Recovery

I will walk through and demonstrate the process to architect, configure, and operate the backup, restore, and disaster recovery of an IIS/SQL application in two US regions to help you achieve the following learning objectives:

• Advance technical depth in Azure High Availability and Resiliency solutions including Site Recovery, Availability Set/Zone, SQL Always-On, cross-region storage replication, etc.

• Become familiar with Azure BCDR solution architecture and components.

• Develop operation-level proficiency in configuring, deploying, and managing an Azure BCDR solution.

This 2-part delivery may benefit cloud practitioners for developing technical depth for architecting and implementing a BCDR solution in Azure. The live demos offer an opportunity to witness an end-to-end BCDR scenario from planning to implementation.

Azure BCDR in Action Part 1/2: Backup and Restore

For an enterprise, BCDR is too important to overlook, yet often overwhelmingly complex to architect and cost prohibitive to implement. With Azure, it is no longer the case. We can now deploy a BCDR infrastructure with cross-region replication in minutes, verify the readiness of a DR scenario with a few clicks, and more significantly deploy/test/execute a BCDR solution on demand.

In this 2-part presentation:

- Azure BCDR in Action Part 1/2: Backup and Restore
- Azure BCDR in Action Part 2/2: Disaster Recovery

I will walk through and demonstrate the process to architect, configure, and operate the backup, restore, and disaster recovery of an IIS/SQL application in two US regions to help you achieve the following learning objectives:

• Advance technical depth in Azure High Availability and Resiliency solutions including Site Recovery, Availability Set/Zone, SQL Always-On, cross-region storage replication, etc.

• Become familiar with Azure BCDR solution architecture and components.

• Develop operation-level proficiency in configuring, deploying, and managing an Azure BCDR solution.

This 2-part delivery may benefit cloud practitioners for developing technical depth for architecting and implementing a BCDR solution in Azure. The live demos offer an opportunity to witness an end-to-end BCDR scenario from planning to implementation.

Azure Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) 101

This is an introduction of Azure IaaS and focusing on compute, storage, network, and lifecycle management of VMs or Virtual Machines. This presentation is intended for those who are new to or interested in learning Azure IaaS. While technical professionals understanding virtualization and are familiar with basic server administration of either Windows or a Linux distro may find themselves on a fast-track for learning Azure via this delivery.

Facilitating Compliance and Security in the Cloud with Azure Landing Zone Accelerator

Abstract: Azure Landing Zone Accelerator is a set of tools and best practices for building a secure and compliant cloud environment in Microsoft Azure. In this presentation, we will discuss how Azure Landing Zone Accelerator helps organizations ensure compliance with industry standards and regulatory requirements while maintaining high levels of security. This presentation offers an opportunity to learn about:

Yung Chou’s 10 Must-Know Azure IaaS Serviecs Relevant to Developers

Cloud sometimes become complex and overwhelming for those developers seeking proficiency in Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) to better develop applications natively benefiting from the underlying platform capabilities. Here Yung offers his 10 must-know Azure IaaS services for those developers who are interested in expanding their development skills with IaaS and cloud solution architecture practices.

Yung has designed the contents for those who are foreign to IaaS and new to Azure. He will focus on providing minimal technical knowledge sufficient for one to become productive in operating Azure and IaaS for application development. The demonstrations are centered on introducing pertinent Azure IaaS services for facilitating the development, deployment and management of an application and its associated infrastructure and resources.

Yung Chou’s Azure Advanced Topic: VM Scale Set (VMSS) in Depth

Azure VMSS lets you create and manage a group of load balanced VMs with auto-scaling based on demand or a configured schedule. Despite conceptually straightforward, in actual operations there is a learn curve to manage what should, can, and will happen in a VMSS deployment. And this delivery with live demonstrations is to help flattening that curve for you.

The attendees will benefit more if having already been familiar with Azure portal operations, Azure VMs administration, and Windows desktop operations.

Yung Chou's Azure Advanced Topic: Azure Disk Encryption How-To

Encryption at Rest is a key mechanism for securing and protecting stored data. And BitLocker is a solution for implementing encryption at rest for Windows deployment. While for Azure Windows VMs, Azure Disk Encryption (ADE) is the BitLocker equivalent.

This presentation will first start with a brief review of BitLocker for a typical on-premises Windows environment. Secondly, in Azure what Encryption at Rest encompasses and how components and services together protect data at various levels. Most of the presentation will spend time on the 3rd part detailing and demonstrating how Azure Disk Encryption works, and how to troubleshoot common scenarios.

The attendees should have already been familiar with Azure portal operations, Azure VMs administration, and Windows desktop operations. Experience with Cloud Shell/PowerShell is helpful, however not required.