All tips and tricks of MS-700 exam are provided here
killexams.com is a reliable and dependable company that offers MS-700 examination questions along with 100% pass assurance. You have in order to practice MS-700 questions with regard to one day in order to score well inside the Managing Microsoft Teams exam. Your own real task within MS-700 exam, actually starts with killexams.com MS-700 cheat sheets this is the particular great and legitimate.
MS-700 Managing Microsoft Teams history | http://babelouedstory.com/
MS-700 history - Managing Microsoft Teams Updated: 2024
Simply retain these MS-700 questions before you go for test.
The Microsoft Teams Administrator configures, deploys, and manages Office 365 workloads for Microsoft Teams that focus on efficient and effective collaboration and communication in an enterprise environment.
The Teams Administrator must be able to plan, deploy, and manage Teams chat, apps, channels, meetings, audio conferencing, live events, and calling. The Teams Administrator is also responsible for upgrading from Skype for Business to Teams. Candidates for this test should be proficient at managing Teams settings by using PowerShell. The Teams Administrator has a fundamental understanding of integration points with apps and services, including but not limited to SharePoint, OneDrive, Exchange, Azure AD, and Office 365 Groups. The Teams Administrator understands how to integrate external apps and services.
The Teams Administrator collaborates with Telephony engineers to integrate advanced voice features into Microsoft Teams. This role is not responsible for configuring direct routing, configuring call routing, or integrating telephony. The Teams Administrator may work with other workload administrator roles, including security and compliance, messaging, networking, identity, and devices.
- Plan and configure a Microsoft Teams environment (45-50%)
- Manage chat, calling, and meetings (30-35%)
- Manage Teams and app policies (20-25%)
Plan and configure a Microsoft Teams environment (45-50%)
Upgrade from Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams
choose an appropriate upgrade path and coexistence mode to meet specific requirements
plan and troubleshoot meeting migration
configure Microsoft Teams upgrade notification and meeting app preferences
configure coexistence mode for the organization and per-user
use Teams Advisor to assess and identify steps to roll out Microsoft Teams
Plan and configure network settings for Microsoft Teams
plan for successful network deployment by using Network Planner
calculate network bandwidth capacity for Microsoft Teams voice, video, meetings and Live Events
assess network readiness by using the Network Testing Companion
configure network ports and protocols used by Microsoft Teams client application
configure media optimizations by using QoS
configure and manage locations including reporting labels, emergency addresses, and network topology, and networks & locations
Implement governance and lifecycle management for Microsoft Teams
create and manage team templates
set up policies for Microsoft 365 group creation
configure Microsoft 365 groups, expiration policy, and naming policy
archive, unarchive, delete, and restore a team
configure and manage update policies
Configure and manage guest access
configure guest users for Microsoft Teams
configure guest permissions for a team
configure meeting and live events experiences for guests
configure messaging and calling options for guests
remove guests
manage Azure AD access review for guests
configure guest access from Azure AD portal
Manage security and compliance
assign Microsoft Teams Admin roles
create and manage compliance features, including retention policies, sensitivity labels, and data loss prevention (DLP) policies
create security and compliance alerts for Microsoft Teams
create an information barrier policy
interpret security reports for Microsoft Teams
Deploy and manage Microsoft Teams endpoints
deploy Microsoft Teams clients to devices, including Windows, VDI (Virtual Desktop), Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD), MacOS, and mobile devices
manage configuration profiles
manage Microsoft Teams device tags
manage device settings and firmware
configure Microsoft Teams Rooms
Monitor and analyze service usage
interpret Microsoft Teams usage reports
interpret Microsoft 365 usage reports
optimize call quality by using Call Analytics
analyze organization-wide call quality by using Call Quality Dashboard
use Power BI to identify call quality issues
Manage Chat, Calling, and Meetings (30-35%)
Manage chat and collaboration experiences
configure messaging policies
manage external access
manage channels for a team
manage private channel creation
manage email integration
configure external access for SharePoint and OneDrive for Business
manage cloud file storage options for collaboration
Manage meeting experiences
configure meeting settings
create and manage meeting policies
configure settings for live events
create and manage policies for live events
configure conference bridge settings
Manage phone numbers
recommend a PSTN connectivity solution based on specific business requirements
order phone numbers
manage service numbers
add, change, or remove an emergency address for your organization
assign, change, or remove a phone number for a user
manage voice and audio conferencing settings for users
configure dynamic emergency policies
Manage Phone System
manage resource accounts
create and configure call queues
create and configure auto attendants
manage call park policies
manage calling policies
manage caller ID policies
interpret the Direct Routing health dashboard
Manage Teams and app policies (20-25%)
Manage a team
create a team
upgrade an existing resource to a team
manage privacy levels for a team
manage org-wide teams
customize and apply policy packages
Manage membership in a team
manage users in a team
configure dynamic membership
manage access review for team members
Implement policies for Microsoft Teams apps
manage Org-wide app settings
create and manage app permission policies
create and manage app setup policies
manage apps store customization
Managing Microsoft Teams Microsoft Microsoft history
Killexams.com proud to have huge collection of real questions braindumps in its database. Passing MS-700 test is not big deal. All you have to do is to register to get our MS-700 dumps questions and vce test simulator and spend 24 hours to memorize and practice the questions. Then plan to sit in the test and you are done. You will get Good Score in the exam.
MS-700 Dumps
MS-700 Braindumps
MS-700 Real Questions
MS-700 Practice Test
MS-700 dumps free
Microsoft
MS-700
Managing Microsoft Teams
http://killexams.com/pass4sure/exam-detail/MS-700 Question: 4 Section 7
Introductory Info Case study -
This is a case study. Case studies are not timed separately. You can use as much test time as you would like to complete each case. However, there may be additional case studies and sections
on this exam. You must manage your time to ensure that you are able to complete all questions included on this test in the time provided.
To answer the questions included in a case study, you will need to reference information that is provided in the case study. Case studies might contain exhibits and other resources that provide
more information about the scenario that is described in the case study. Each question is independent of the other questions in this case study.
At the end of this case study, a review screen will appear. This screen allows you to review your answers and to make changes before you move to the next section of the exam. After you begin
a new section, you cannot return to this section.
To start the case study -
To display the first question in this case study, click the Next button. Use the buttons in the left pane to explore the content of the case study before you answer the questions. Clicking these
buttons displays information such as business requirements, existing environment, and problem statements. If the case study has an All Information tab, note that the information displayed is
identical to the information displayed on the subsequent tabs. When you are ready to answer a question, click the Question button to return to the question.
Overview -
Contoso, Ltd. is a pharmaceutical company that has 3,000 users in offices across North America.
Existing Environment -
Active Directory -
The network contains an on-premises Active Directory domain. All user accounts are in departmental organizational units (OUs).
Microsoft Office 365 -
All users are assigned a Microsoft Office 365 E5 license and are enabled for the following services:
Microsoft Yammer
Microsoft Exchange Online
Microsoft SharePoint Online
Microsoft OneDrive for Business
Azure Active Directory (Azure AD)
Azure AD dynamic group membership
Microsoft Skype for Business -
Contoso has an on-premises deployment of Microsoft Skype for Business Server 2015. All the latest cumulative updates are installed on all the servers. The following services are used in Skype
for Business Server 2015:
Meetings
PSTN calling
Instant messaging (IM)
Federation to external companies
Departments -
Contoso has the following departments:
IT
Sales
Human resources (HR)
Research and development (R&D)
All groups are created by using dynamic group membership that use the department attribute.
Requirements -
Business Goals -
Contoso identifies the following business goals:
Migrate the maximum number of users to Microsoft Teams.
Minimize administrative effort.
Device Requirements -
Contoso identifies the following device requirements:
Replace Skype for Business IP phones with Microsoft Teams phones.
All Microsoft Teams phones must be set to lock automatically after 60 seconds.
Meeting and Live Event Requirements
Contoso identifies the following meeting and live event requirements:
Requirement1: Guest users must be able to join live events.
Requirement2: Guest users must always wait in a meeting lobby.
Requirement3: Contoso users must always bypass the meeting lobby when they join meetings by using the Microsoft Teams client.
Requirement4: After the upgrade to Microsoft Teams, all meetings must be scheduled by using Microsoft Teams.
Calling Requirements -
Contoso identifies the following calling requirements:
Migrate all existing auto attendants and response groups to Office 365.
Minimize the on-premises PSTN infrastructure.
Technical Requirements -
Guest users must be prevented from making private calls.
Security Requirements -
Contoso has the following security requirements for the Microsoft Teams deployment:
The number of ports allowed on the companys firewall must be limited.
Team names must be prevented from containing the name of any products produced by Contoso.
Users in the R&D group must be prevented from sending chat messages to users in other departments.
To meet the companys compliance policy, users in the sales department must continue to use on-premises Skype for Business for IM and calling only.
Pilot Project -
Contoso begins a pilot project for the upgrade to Microsoft Teams.
You identify the following issues during the pilot project:
Microsoft Teams users report that they often receive continuous notifications from the Microsoft Teams client for 20 minutes.
Two pilot users in the HR department report that they are not members of the HR team. Question DRAG DROP -
You need to recommend a voice topology for the departments. The topology must meet the calling requirements and the security requirements.
What should you recommend for each department? To answer, select the appropriate options in the answer area.
NOTE: Each correct selection is worth one point.
Select and Place: Answer:
Reference:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/direct-routing-landing-page https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/calling-plan-landing-page https://docs.microsoft.com/en-
us/skypeforbusiness/skype-for-business-hybrid-solutions/plan-your-phone-system-cloud-pbx-solution/plan-skype-for-business- cloud-connector-edition Question: 1 Section 8
Introductory Info Case study -
This is a case study. Case studies are not timed separately. You can use as much test time as you would like to complete each case. However, there may be additional case studies and sections
on this exam. You must manage your time to ensure that you are able to complete all questions included on this test in the time provided.
To answer the questions included in a case study, you will need to reference information that is provided in the case study. Case studies might contain exhibits and other resources that provide
more information about the scenario that is described in the case study. Each question is independent of the other questions in this case study.
At the end of this case study, a review screen will appear. This screen allows you to review your answers and to make changes before you move to the next section of the exam. After you begin
a new section, you cannot return to this section.
To start the case study -
To display the first question in this case study, click the Next button. Use the buttons in the left pane to explore the content of the case study before you answer the questions. Clicking these
buttons displays information such as business requirements, existing environment, and problem statements. If the case study has an All Information tab, note that the information displayed is
identical to the information displayed on the subsequent tabs. When you are ready to answer a question, click the Question button to return to the question.
Overview -
General Overview -
Litware, Inc. is an international manufacturing company that has 4,000 users. The company has the following five departments:
IT
HR
R&D
Sales
Compliance
Physical Locations -
Litware has two main offices. The offices are located in New York and London.
All offices connect to each other by using a WAN link. Each office connects directly to the Internet.
Existing Environment -
All user accounts have an Azure Active Directory Premium Plan P1 license.
Litware has a Microsoft 365 subscription that has Office 365 Enterprise E3 licenses for all users. All the E3 products and services are enabled for each user.
Litware uses Microsoft Skype for Business Online.
Requirements -
Planned Upgrade -
Litware identifies the following requirements for a planned upgrade from Skype for Business Online to Microsoft Teams:
Provide high quality audio, video, and online meeting experience for Microsoft Teams end users.
Implement a data retention solution in Microsoft Teams.
Minimize costs and administrative effort.
Use the principle of least privilege.
For the sales department, Litware plans to create a team that dynamically updates its membership when users leave and join the department.
Department Upgrade Requirements -
Litware plans to implement upgrade requirements for the departments as shown in the following table.
Microsoft Teams Requirements -
All teams must meet the following requirements:
Only users in a partner company that uses a domain named fabrikam.com must be able to collaborate in teams by using guest accounts.
Only users in the compliance department of Litware must be able to create teams.
Planned Network Tasks -
Litware identifies the following network validation tasks:
An administrator named Admin5 must be able to review the required bandwidth to support audio conferencing, video conferencing, and screen sharing in
Microsoft Teams.
An administrator named Admin6 must be able to review network issues that cause poor call quality reported by users.
Data Retention Requirements -
Litware identifies the following data retention requirements:
Requirement1: All messages in team collaborations must be deleted after seven years.
Requirement2: all files used in team collaborations must be retained for five years.
Requirement3: All files used in personal chats must be retained for five years.
Device Requirements -
You provide Microsoft Teams-certified IP phones to users in the IT and R&D departments. Each device must meet the following requirements:
The time zone on the phones used by the R&D department must be set to UTC-8.
The time zone on the phones used by the IT department must be set to UTC-5.
All phones must lock automatically after 60 seconds of inactivity.
Voice Pilot Requirements -
Litware wants to pilot Phone System as a calling solution for 20 IT department users. The pilot project will receive phone numbers from Microsoft.
Collaboration and Meeting Requirements
Litware identifies the following collaboration and meeting requirements:
Cloud recording must be disabled for all Microsoft Teams meetings organized by users in the HR departments only.
Meeting email invitations must be customized to include the Logo URL, Legal URL, and Help URL of Litware.
Question You need to identify the requirements for the voice pilot project.
Which two actions should you perform? Each correct answer presents part of the solution.
NOTE: Each correct selection is worth one point.
A. Assign an additional license and phone number to each user.
B. Deploy a Session Border Controller (SBC) for Litware.
C. Purchase a Phone System license for each user.
D. Create a dial plan for Litware.
E. Purchase a Calling Plan for Litware. Answer: AC Question: 2 Section 8
Introductory Info Case study -
This is a case study. Case studies are not timed separately. You can use as much test time as you would like to complete each case. However, there may be additional case studies and sections
on this exam. You must manage your time to ensure that you are able to complete all questions included on this test in the time provided.
To answer the questions included in a case study, you will need to reference information that is provided in the case study. Case studies might contain exhibits and other resources that provide
more information about the scenario that is described in the case study. Each question is independent of the other questions in this case study.
At the end of this case study, a review screen will appear. This screen allows you to review your answers and to make changes before you move to the next section of the exam. After you begin
a new section, you cannot return to this section.
To start the case study -
To display the first question in this case study, click the Next button. Use the buttons in the left pane to explore the content of the case study before you answer the questions. Clicking these
buttons displays information such as business requirements, existing environment, and problem statements. If the case study has an All Information tab, note that the information displayed is
identical to the information displayed on the subsequent tabs. When you are ready to answer a question, click the Question button to return to the question.
Overview -
General Overview -
Litware, Inc. is an international manufacturing company that has 4,000 users. The company has the following five departments:
IT
HR
R&D
Sales
Compliance
Physical Locations -
Litware has two main offices. The offices are located in New York and London.
All offices connect to each other by using a WAN link. Each office connects directly to the Internet.
Existing Environment -
All user accounts have an Azure Active Directory Premium Plan P1 license.
Litware has a Microsoft 365 subscription that has Office 365 Enterprise E3 licenses for all users. All the E3 products and services are enabled for each user.
Litware uses Microsoft Skype for Business Online.
Requirements -
Planned Upgrade -
Litware identifies the following requirements for a planned upgrade from Skype for Business Online to Microsoft Teams:
Provide high quality audio, video, and online meeting experience for Microsoft Teams end users.
Implement a data retention solution in Microsoft Teams.
Minimize costs and administrative effort.
Use the principle of least privilege.
For the sales department, Litware plans to create a team that dynamically updates its membership when users leave and join the department.
Department Upgrade Requirements -
Litware plans to implement upgrade requirements for the departments as shown in the following table.
Microsoft Teams Requirements -
All teams must meet the following requirements:
Only users in a partner company that uses a domain named fabrikam.com must be able to collaborate in teams by using guest accounts.
Only users in the compliance department of Litware must be able to create teams.
Planned Network Tasks -
Litware identifies the following network validation tasks:
An administrator named Admin5 must be able to review the required bandwidth to support audio conferencing, video conferencing, and screen sharing in
Microsoft Teams.
An administrator named Admin6 must be able to review network issues that cause poor call quality reported by users.
Data Retention Requirements -
Litware identifies the following data retention requirements:
Requirement1: All messages in team collaborations must be deleted after seven years.
Requirement2: all files used in team collaborations must be retained for five years.
Requirement3: All files used in personal chats must be retained for five years.
Device Requirements -
You provide Microsoft Teams-certified IP phones to users in the IT and R&D departments. Each device must meet the following requirements:
The time zone on the phones used by the R&D department must be set to UTC-8.
The time zone on the phones used by the IT department must be set to UTC-5.
All phones must lock automatically after 60 seconds of inactivity.
Voice Pilot Requirements -
Litware wants to pilot Phone System as a calling solution for 20 IT department users. The pilot project will receive phone numbers from Microsoft.
Collaboration and Meeting Requirements
Litware identifies the following collaboration and meeting requirements:
Cloud recording must be disabled for all Microsoft Teams meetings organized by users in the HR departments only.
Meeting email invitations must be customized to include the Logo URL, Legal URL, and Help URL of Litware.
Question You need to configure Microsoft Teams to meet the collaboration and meeting requirements.
Which two actions should you perform from the Microsoft Teams admin center? Each correct answer presents part of the solution.
NOTE: Each correct selection is worth one point.
A. Modify the Meeting settings.
B. Create a teams policy.
C. Create a meeting policy.
D. Create a live events policy.
E. Modify the Teams settings. Answer: AC Question: 1 Section 9
Introductory Info Case study -
This is a case study. Case studies are not timed separately. You can use as much test time as you would like to complete each case. However, there may be additional case studies and sections
on this exam. You must manage your time to ensure that you are able to complete all questions included on this test in the time provided.
To answer the questions included in a case study, you will need to reference information that is provided in the case study. Case studies might contain exhibits and other resources that provide
more information about the scenario that is described in the case study. Each question is independent of the other questions in this case study.
At the end of this case study, a review screen will appear. This screen allows you to review your answers and to make changes before you move to the next section of the exam. After you begin
a new section, you cannot return to this section.
To start the case study -
To display the first question in this case study, click the Next button. Use the buttons in the left pane to explore the content of the case study before you answer the questions. Clicking these
buttons displays information such as business requirements, existing environment, and problem statements. If the case study has an All Information tab, note that the information displayed is
identical to the information displayed on the subsequent tabs. When you are ready to answer a question, click the Question button to return to the question.
Overview -
Contoso, Ltd. is a pharmaceutical company that has 3,000 users in offices across North America.
Existing Environment -
Active Directory -
The network contains an on-premises Active Directory domain. All user accounts are in departmental organizational units (OUs).
Microsoft Office 365 -
All users are assigned a Microsoft Office 365 E5 license and are enabled for the following services:
Microsoft Yammer
Microsoft Exchange Online
Microsoft SharePoint Online
Microsoft OneDrive for Business
Azure Active Directory (Azure AD)
Azure AD dynamic group membership
Microsoft Skype for Business -
Contoso has an on-premises deployment of Microsoft Skype for Business Server 2015. All the latest cumulative updates are installed on all the servers. The following services are used in Skype
for Business Server 2015:
Meetings
PSTN calling
Instant messaging (IM)
Federation to external companies
Departments -
Contoso has the following departments:
IT
Sales
Human resources (HR)
Research and development (R&D)
All groups are created by using dynamic group membership that use the department attribute.
Requirements -
Business Goals -
Contoso identifies the following business goals:
Migrate the maximum number of users to Microsoft Teams.
Minimize administrative effort.
Device Requirements -
Contoso identifies the following device requirements:
Replace Skype for Business IP phones with Microsoft Teams phones.
All Microsoft Teams phones must be set to lock automatically after 60 seconds.
Meeting and Live Event Requirements
Contoso identifies the following meeting and live event requirements:
Requirement1: Guest users must be able to join live events.
Requirement2: Guest users must always wait in a meeting lobby.
Requirement3: Contoso users must always bypass the meeting lobby when they join meetings by using the Microsoft Teams client.
Requirement4: After the upgrade to Microsoft Teams, all meetings must be scheduled by using Microsoft Teams.
Calling Requirements -
Contoso identifies the following calling requirements:
Migrate all existing auto attendants and response groups to Office 365.
Minimize the on-premises PSTN infrastructure.
Technical Requirements -
Guest users must be prevented from making private calls.
Security Requirements -
Contoso has the following security requirements for the Microsoft Teams deployment:
The number of ports allowed on the companys firewall must be limited.
Team names must be prevented from containing the name of any products produced by Contoso.
Users in the R&D group must be prevented from sending chat messages to users in other departments.
To meet the companys compliance policy, users in the sales department must continue to use on-premises Skype for Business for IM and calling only.
Pilot Project -
Contoso begins a pilot project for the upgrade to Microsoft Teams.
You identify the following issues during the pilot project:
Microsoft Teams users report that they often receive continuous notifications from the Microsoft Teams client for 20 minutes.
Two pilot users in the HR department report that they are not members of the HR team. Question You need to resolve the membership issues for the two pilot users.
What should you do?
A. Modify the department attribute of both users.
B. Invite both users to the HR team.
C. Add both users to the HR group.
D. Modify the privacy level of the HR team. Answer: A
For More exams visit https://killexams.com/vendors-exam-list
Kill your test at First Attempt....Guaranteed!
Microsoft Microsoft history - BingNews
https://killexams.com/pass4sure/exam-detail/MS-700
Search resultsMicrosoft Microsoft history - BingNews
https://killexams.com/pass4sure/exam-detail/MS-700
https://killexams.com/exam_list/MicrosoftMicrosoft poised to overtake Apple as most valuable company
Credit: Microsoft
As Microsoft stock rises and Apple's falls over analysts expectation of slowing iPhone demand, the two firms are once more within $100 billion of each other — the smallest gap in over two years.
Apple and Microsoft have a long history of competing for the title of the world's most valuable company, although originally that was specifically in the technology category. In 2010, Apple dethroned Microsoft when it hit a market capitalization of $222 billion, and then in 2018 Microsoft briefly regained that top position.
Now those sums seem quaintly low, and the two companies have instead been vying for the title of most valuable company globally, in any category. In August 2020, Apple became the first publicly-traded US company to reach a $2 trillion market cap, and Microsoft became the second one in June 2021.
Later in October 2021, Microsoft took over the top spot, and for a time was move valuable than Apple by $100 billion.
While the values of the two firms have continually changed, Microsoft is now worth just $100 billion less than Apple, according toMarketWatch. Microsoft is valued at $2.73 trillion, while Apple — fallen from its exact $3 trillion high — is currently at $2.83 trillion.
MarketWatch notes that Microsoft's stock rose 57% in 2023, compared to Apple's which rose 48%. Microsoft shares have also reportedly seen what are described as slimmer losses at the start of 2024.
Apple, on the other hand, has seen its shares take a considerable drop in exact days. The first hit was taken following a claim by Barclays that iPhone demand is weakening and that the iPhone 16 range will not offer any compelling new features to tempt upgraders.
The analyst view that Apple is dependent on iPhone sales is part of why Microsoft is doing better. Analysts see Microsoft has being less attached to any hardware, and more attached to subscription software such as Office 365, and so therefore less attached to any falling demand for phones or computers.
And, Microsoft has launched an AI tool in Copilot, while Apple has not unveiled any similar ChatGPT-style app or service. Analysts appear to be ignoring that Apple has been using AI for many years, under the name Machine Learning, though, and also that it is never first to a market, even ones that it later comes to dominate.
Thu, 04 Jan 2024 22:49:00 -0600entext/htmlhttps://appleinsider.com/articles/24/01/05/microsoft-poised-to-overtake-apple-as-most-valuable-company10 Of The Biggest Mistakes Microsoft Has Ever Made
Internet Explorer has become one of the most maligned pieces of software in Microsoft's history. For a good portion of the time, it had a massive monopoly over the browser market due to the company's anticompetitive practices. It was written into Windows in such a way that removing it would handicap the OS, according to those familiar with the situation who spoke with The Ringer.
Not only was Internet Explorer a bloated application, but it was also riddled with security vulnerabilities that gave a direct path of attack for the endless malware Windows was once known for attracting, with one security researcher calling it "a ripe attack surface for initial entry into Windows machines" even after Microsoft retired the browser in 2022.
Today, the most popular browser by a long shot is Google Chrome, which first surpassed Internet Explorer in market share back in 2012. As anecdotal proof that hatred of Internet Explorer had become widespread, remember that to install Chrome, most users had to first open Internet Explorer to get it.
To recap, Microsoft was so zealous about winning the browser wars that it incurred a historic antitrust suit over Internet Explorer. And yet, a little over a decade later, consumer opinion had soured on Microsoft's browser to such an extent that Google was able to swallow it whole. As a cherry on top, the default browser on Windows, Microsoft Edge, now runs on Chromium.
Wed, 27 Dec 2023 06:31:00 -0600en-UStext/htmlhttps://www.slashgear.com/1478736/biggest-mistakes-microsoft-has-made/Microsoft in 2024: The year custom silicon transforms Azure
The history of modern software development has been a dance between what hardware can give and what software demands. Over the decades, the steps in this dance have moved us from the original Intel 8086, which we now consider very basic functionality, to today’s multi-faceted processors, which provide virtualization support, end-to-end access to encrypted memory and data, and extended instruction sets that power the most demanding application stacks.
This dance swings from side to side. Sometimes our software has to stretch to meet the capabilities of a new generation of silicon, and sometimes it has to squeeze out every last ounce of available performance. Now, we’re finally seeing the arrival of a new generation of hardware that mixes familiar CPUs with new system-level accelerators that provide the ability to run complex AI models on both client hardware and servers, both on premises and in the public cloud.
You’ll find AI accelerators not only in the familiar Intel and AMD processors but also in Arm’s latest generation of Neoverse server-grade designs, which mix those features with low power demands (as do Qualcomm’s mobile and laptop offerings). It’s an attractive combination of features for hyperscale clouds like Azure, where low power and high density can help keep costs down while allowing growth to continue.
At the same time, system-level accelerators promise an interesting future for Windows, allowing us to use on-board AI assistants as an alternative to the cloud as Microsoft continues to Improve the performance of its Phi series of small language models.
Azure Boost: Silicon for virtualization offload
Ignite 2023 saw Microsoft announce its own custom silicon for Azure, hardware that should start rolling out to customers in 2024. Microsoft has been using custom silicon and FPGAs in its own services for some time now. The use of Zipline hardware compression and Project Brainwave FPGA-based AI accelerators are good examples. The most exact arrival is Azure Boost, which offloads virtualization processes from the hypervisor and host OS to accelerate storage and networking for Azure VMs. Azure Boost also includes the Cerberus on-board supply chain security chipset.
Azure Boost is intended to give your virtual machine workloads access to as much of the available CPU as possible. Instead of using CPU to compress data or manage security, dedicated hardware takes over, allowing Azure to run more customer workloads on the same hardware. Running systems at high utilization is key to the economics of the public cloud, and any investment in hardware will quickly be paid off.
Maia 100: Silicon for large language models
Large language models (and generative AI generally) show the importance of dense compute, with OpenAI using Microsoft’s GPU-based supercomputer to train its GPT models. Even on a system like Microsoft’s, big foundation models like GPT-4 require months of training, with more than a trillion parameters. The next generation of LLMs will need even more compute, both for training and for operation. If we’re building grounded applications around those LLMs, using Retrieval Augmented Generation, we’ll need additional capacity to create embeddings for our source content and to provide the underlying vector-based search.
GPU-based supercomputers are a significant investment, even when Microsoft can recoup some of the capital costs from subscribers. Operational costs are also large, with hefty cooling requirements on top of power, bandwidth, and storage. So, we might expect those resources to be limited to very few data centers, where there’s sufficient space, power, and cooling.
But if large-scale AI is to be a successful differentiator for Azure, versus competitors such as AWS and Google Cloud, it will need to be available everywhere and it will need to be affordable. That will require new silicon (for both training and inferencing) that can be run at higher densities and at lower power than today’s GPUs.
Looking back at Azure’s Project Brainwave FPGAs, these used programmable silicon to implement key algorithms. While they worked well, they were single-purpose devices that acted as accelerators for specific machine learning models. You could develop a variant that supported the complex neural networks of a LLM, but it would need to implement a massive array of simple processors to support the multi-dimensional vector arithmetic that drives these semantic models. That’s beyond the capabilities of most FPGA technologies.
Vector processing is something that modern GPUs are very good at (not surprisingly, as many of the original architects began their careers developing vector processing hardware for early supercomputers). A GPU is basically an array of simple processors that work with matrices and vectors, using technologies like Nvidia’s CUDA to provide access to linear algebra functions that aren’t commonly part of a CPU’s instruction set. The resulting acceleration lets us build and use modern AI models like LLMs.
Microsoft’s new custom AI accelerator chip, Maia 100, is designed for both training and inference. Building on lessons learned running OpenAI workloads, Maia is intended to fit alongside existing Azure infrastructure, as part of a new accelerator rack unit that sits alongside existing compute racks. With over 100 billion transistors delivered by a five-nanometer process, the Maia 100 is certainly a very large and very dense chip, with much more compute capability than a GPU.
The development of the Maia was refined alongside OpenAI’s models, and uses a new rack design that includes custom liquid-based cooling elements. That last part is key to delivering AI workloads to more than the largest Azure data centers. Adding liquid cooling infrastructure is expensive, so putting it in the Maia 100 racks ensures that it can be dropped into any data center, anywhere in the world.
Installing Maia 100 racks does require readjusting rack spacing, as the cooling system makes them larger than Azure’s typical 21-inch racks, which are sized for Open Compute Project servers. In addition to the liquid cooling hardware, the extra space is used for 4.8 Tb high-bandwidth interconnects, essential for pushing large amounts of data between CPUs and accelerators.
There are still questions about how applications will get to use the new chips. Absent additional details, it’s likely that they’ll run Microsoft-provided AI models, like OpenAI’s and Hugging Face’s, as well as their own Cognitive Services and the Phi small language models. If they become available to train your own models, expect to see a new class of virtual machines alongside the current range of GPU options in Azure AI Studio.
Cobalt 100: Azure’s own Arm processor
Alongside the unveiling of Maia, Microsoft announced its own Arm server processor, the Cobalt 100. This is a 128-core 64-bit processor, designed to support high-density, low-power applications, based on Arm’s Neoverse reference design. Azure is already using Arm processors for some of its platform services, and Cobalt 100 is likely to support these and more services, rather than being used for infrastructure as a service.
There’s no need to know if your Azure App Service code is running on Intel, AMD, or Arm, as long as it performs well and your users get the results they expect. We can expect to see Cobalt processors running internet-facing services, where density and power efficiency are important requirements, as well as hosting elements of Azure’s content delivery network outside of its main data centers.
Microsoft describes its silicon engineering as a way of delivering a “systems approach” to its Azure data centers, with end-to-end support from its initial storage and networking offerings to its own compute services. And it’s not only Azure. Better silicon is coming to Windows too, as NPU-enabled processors from Intel and Qualcomm start to arrive in 2024’s desktops and laptops. After many years of software leading hardware, it will be interesting to see how we can push these new platforms to their limits with code.
Wed, 03 Jan 2024 20:00:00 -0600entext/htmlhttps://www.infoworld.com/article/3711901/what-microsofts-custom-silicon-means-for-azure.htmlThe Microsoft Store in Windows 11 and Windows 10 really needs version history for apps0 0
That said, like every piece of software out there, it's still not perfect, and that's something I have mentioned in my previous writings too. The quality of the storefront and the apps available on it is another story altogether, but today, I want to talk about one missing capability on the UI front that I hope Microsoft adds soon.
The missing feature I'm talking about is the lack of app version history. If you're unaware what this means, let me explain a bit with comparison to the other two major storefronts. Starting off with Apple's App Store - which I think has the best implementation out of the three -, we get a whole list fo previous versions and their respective change logs. You can check out the screenshot above to see the latest version of Spotify available in the App Store in the window on the left (highlighted) as well as change logs, version numbers, and update dates for previous versions in the window on the right.
While the Google Play Store doesn't provide this level of detail, at least it tells you the last updated date for the app. It also has a label for current version, but in most cases, it says "varies with device" if you check from a desktop browser. However, if you check on a mobile device, you do get to see additional information such as the exact version number for your device as well as the initial release date.
On the other end of the spectrum, I think that the Microsoft Store is the most disappointing in this regard. If you don't have an app installed (for example, Facebook) and you visit its store listing, you can only see the initial release date for the app. I personally think that this is the most useless piece of information without additional context. See the screenshot of Facebook's store listing above. You know that it was released in 2013 (highlighted), but has it actually been updated since then? Good luck figuring that out.
The Microsoft Store does attempt to provide you some more information if you have the app installed. For example, I have installed Spotify on my machine and now the store listing for the app shows me the installed version (highlighted). However, once again, without additional context, this information is useless to me as well. Sure, I know the installed version, but do I know if this app has now been abandoned by the developer? Your guess is as good as mine.
To be fair, Microsoft does try to answer this question but it's not really an elegant solution. If you visit your app library in the Microsoft Store, you can see when an app was last updated (highlighted). But the problem is that it shows you the last updated date for your device. Maybe the update came out two years ago, and you had auto-updates turned off so you only got it when you manually triggered the update process. All in all, even this information is pointless without extra context.
I understand that the lack of a version history may or may not bother certain people depending upon how frequently they use the Microsoft Store. But as someone who has invested time and money in Microsoft's storefronts since the Windows Phone days and knows how developers used to suddenly abandon development of apps because of a low customer base, version history is information that is vital to me before I decide to give the app a go.
Let's take Spotify as a hypothetical example. If the company decides to abandon support for the Microsoft Store but doesn't decide to pull the app completely, the storefront itself would provide no information to give me this indication unless Spotify explicitly highlights it in the change log. Due to the lack of version history, I might install the app, spend lots of time migrating my library and curating my playlists, and then find out next month that Spotify is pulling its app after all, because hey, it's already been in an "unsupported" state for some time.
While this is a hypothetical example that probably won't come to pass in the case of Spotify, people who have been customers of Microsoft's storefronts understand quite well that this is always a possibility given the dwindling user base of the store in general. You could blame the developer for not giving clear guidance in their app's description about lack of support, but at the same time, I think that Microsoft needs to proactively tackle the issue of low transparency in abandonware too.
When developers submit apps and updates to the Microsoft Store, a version number, and a change log is clearly defined. The last updated date is obviously stored on the developer portal for tracking purposes too. What's stopping Microsoft from sharing this information with consumers as well? I honestly don't know.
That said, with the development of the Microsoft Store now being helmed by star developer Rudy Huyn, I do hope that the company invests more time and thought in improving the user experience for its storefront. The Microsoft Store is in a much better place than it was a year ago, but there is clearly room for improvement.
Do you use the Microsoft Store frequently? Do you think that the Microsoft Store would benefit from an app version history? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
Sun, 20 Mar 2022 05:16:00 -0500entext/htmlhttps://www.neowin.net/editorials/the-microsoft-store-in-windows-11-and-windows-10-really-needs-version-history-for-apps/It's official: 2023 was the year of Microsoft's glow-up
Microsoft has a storied history, but in exact years it's faced a struggle to remain relevant.
That changed in 2023 as the company completed an epic turnaround.
Its big bet on AI appeared to pay off and blockbuster deals got greenlit.
A decade ago Microsoft was a company on its knees.
Steve Ballmer, anointed Bill Gates' successor in 2000, was heading out the door after a failed tenure as CEO. It marked a period where Microsoft had been falling to Earth while rivals Apple and Google came to defy gravity.
For a tech firm that once reigned as the world's most valuable company, the period was an embarrassment — and not just because of the bizarre antics it was forced to put up with from its departing leader.
Microsoft had become a company whose attraction depended heavily on its storied past; success in the future was not a given.
All those worries seem to be behind the company. In 2023, Microsoft bet big on AI, strategic decisions by leadership boosted its position, and the company landed blockbuster deals.
This is how Microsoft completed its glow-up.
Since replacing Ballmer in 2014, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has carefully helped the company rebuild itself to deliver a series of knockout blows to the competition.
For one, Microsoft is arguably the most influential power broker in AI.
In January 2023, it emerged that Microsoft was placing a huge multibillion-dollar bet on ChatGPT developer OpenAI, giving it a stake in the company that stoked fresh euphoria about AI.
That bet seems to be paying off on several fronts.
OpenAI has become something of a cash cow, with the Silicon Valley company generating revenue at a rate of around $1.3 billion per year, its CEO Sam Altman told staff, as reported by The Information in October.
OpenAI's revenue was just $28 million last year, making the introduction of a subscription tier for its Microsoft-cloud-driven chatbot a decisively lucrative move.
The shift in focus to AI has also helped Microsoft revamp its own suite of products.
The company introduced Copilot, a new vision of its tools described as "an everyday AI companion," which stays with a Microsoft user across multiple devices. Nadella describes it as a "single unified experience centered around you."
The company has recently proven to be deft at dealmaking again, too.
It received approval from the UK's antitrust regulator to complete the $69 billion acquisition of video game company Activision Blizzard, giving it a clear path to complete the biggest deal in its history.
Microsoft faced difficulties in completing the deal, including being forced to offer concessions that lessened it. Despite the headaches, the company restructured the deal to keep all parties happy.
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority described the resubmitted deal as a "gamechanger," while Microsoft gained oversight of franchises such as "Call of Duty," which generate billions of dollars in sales.
Though Microsoft's market capitalization hit almost $2.6 trillion in 2023, the company does, of course, face challenges.
In a blog addressing the issue at the time, Microsoft said it had changed its corporate structure and practices since the years covered by the IRS audit. As such, it believed the case was no longer relevant to its present practices and planned to appeal against the findings.
Meanwhile, when it comes to AI-related challenges, Nadella said during his testimony in the US Justice Department's antitrust case against Google that even AI wasn't enough to help Microsoft's search engine Bing compete meaningfully against Google Search.
Putting everything into AI could also be a risky strategy if users begin to treat tools like ChatGPT as something to tread cautiously around. This is particularly notable, given chatbots' habits of generating inaccuracies and made-up information.
These are thorny challenges that are not to be underestimated. But by and large, 2023 was a remarkable year for Microsoft.
Sun, 31 Dec 2023 20:39:00 -0600en-UStext/htmlhttps://www.yahoo.com/tech/official-2023-microsofts-glow-080002195.htmlBetter Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock: AMD vs. MicrosoftNo result found, try new keyword!The AI market is booming, and these companies are excellent ways to profit from the industry over the long term.Tue, 02 Jan 2024 23:02:00 -0600en-ustext/htmlhttps://www.msn.com/Was there a secret Microsoft Copilot release? Bing AI plus Microsoft 365
There are rumors that Microsoft secretly released a version of Microsoft 365 copilot, an AI-powered assistant that promises to reintroduce how documents are created….
Thu, 04 Jan 2024 23:10:00 -0600Marcus Gopolang Molokoen-ZAtext/htmlhttps://memeburn.com/2024/01/was-there-a-secret-microsoft-copilot-release-bing-ai-plus-microsoft-365/Microsoft to Introduce AI-Driven 'Copilot' Key on Windows 11 Keyboards, Revolutionizing PC InteractionsNo result found, try new keyword!In a bold leap forward for personal computing, Microsoft has announced the introduction of an artificial intelligence (AI) key on keyboards, designed to be a gateway to AI capabilities directly on new ...Thu, 04 Jan 2024 17:50:39 -0600en-ustext/htmlhttps://www.msn.com/Tech Moves: Amazon sports VP departing; AI product leader leaving Microsoft; and moreNo result found, try new keyword!Marie Donoghue, a vice president at Amazon who helped lead its sports streaming and video production arm, is leaving ...Thu, 04 Jan 2024 07:25:00 -0600en-ustext/htmlhttps://www.msn.com/Microsoft Stock (NASDAQ:MSFT) Dividends: History, Yield and Dates
The dividend schedule below includes dividend amounts, payment dates and ex-dividend dates for Microsoft. Microsoft issues dividends to shareholders from excess cash the company generates. Most companies pay dividends on a quarterly basis, but dividends may also be paid monthly, annually or at irregular intervals. The 5-year average annualized dividend growth rate of Microsoft is 10.27%. The largest dividend yield was 3.40% on Nov 19, 2013. Based on the trailing twelve months, the year-over-year dividend growth rate is 10.00%.
Mon, 27 Feb 2023 01:50:00 -0600entext/htmlhttps://www.benzinga.com/quote/MSFT/dividend