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Hey there,

As cloud professionals, we are always looking for ways to improve our skills and build solutions that are scalable, secure, and efficient. While regular news and updates keep us informed, sometimes it's good to take a deep dive into topics that matter.

That’s why we’re bringing you this special issue of CloudPro, where we explore two carefully selected books that provide practical, hands-on learning experiences.

The first book, Platform Engineering for Architects, takes a deep dive into building and maintaining internal developer platforms. We’ll explore a hands-on section on Building a Self-Service Internal Developer Platform with Terraform, helping you understand Infrastructure as Code (IaC) in action.

The second book, Windows Server 2025 Administration Fundamentals, goes beyond basic administration to teach PowerShell automation techniques for managing Windows Server environments. We've included a technical excerpt on Automating Active Directory User Management, a crucial skill for IT administrators.

The third book, Cloud Observability with Azure Monitor, provides in-depth guidance on monitoring cloud infrastructure. We’ve included a highly practical excerpt on Configuring Azure Monitor for Real-Time Log Analysis, showing how to use KQL queries to detect performance issues before they impact users.

If you’re serious about learning by doing, this issue is for you. Dive in and explore!

Platform Engineering for Architects

Building a Self-Service Internal Developer Platform (IDP)

One of the primary objectives of platform engineering is to provide an internal developer platform (IDP) that automates infrastructure provisioning. Below is a Terraform snippet to provision a Kubernetes cluster using Infrastructure as Code (IaC):

provider "aws" {
region = "us-east-1"
}

resource "aws_eks_cluster" "example" {
name = "example-cluster"
role_arn = aws_iam_role.example.arn

vpc_config {
subnet_ids = [aws_subnet.example1.id, aws_subnet.example2.id]
}
}

After applying this configuration, developers can interact with the cluster using kubectl with minimal setup.

Why This Matters:
Automating platform setup reduces cognitive load on developers, improves consistency, and ensures security best practices are followed.

Windows Server 2025 Administration Fundamentals

Automating Windows Server Management with PowerShell

PowerShell scripting is crucial for automating administrative tasks in Windows Server. Below is a script to create, configure, and secure a new Active Directory user automatically:

# Define user parameters
$UserName = "jdoe"
$Password = ConvertTo-SecureString "SecureP@ssw0rd" -AsPlainText -Force

# Create the user in Active Directory
New-ADUser -Name "John Doe" -SamAccountName $UserName -UserPrincipalName "$UserName@example.com" -Path "OU=Users,DC=example,DC=com" -AccountPassword $Password -Enabled $true

# Add user to a security group
Add-ADGroupMember -Identity "Developers" -Members $UserName

Why This Matters:
Manually managing user accounts is inefficient and error-prone. Automating it ensures compliance and operational efficiency.

Cloud Observability with Azure Monitor

Configuring Azure Monitor for Real-Time Log Analysis

Azure Monitor helps track and analyze cloud infrastructure performance. The following Kusto Query Language (KQL) query identifies virtual machines experiencing high CPU usage:

Perf
| where ObjectName == "Processor" and CounterName == "% Processor Time"
| summarize AvgCPU = avg(CounterValue) by Computer, bin(TimeGenerated, 5m)
| where AvgCPU > 80
| order by AvgCPU desc

To run this query in Azure Log Analytics, follow these steps:

=> Navigate to Azure Monitor > Logs.

=> Select your Log Analytics Workspace.

=> Paste the KQL query and click Run.

Why This Matters:

Proactive monitoring ensures infrastructure stability. Automating performance alerts reduces downtime and enhances reliability.

📢 If your company is interested in reaching an audience of developers and, technical professionals, and decision makers, you may want toadvertise with us.

If you have any comments or feedback, just reply back to this email.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!