Weekly Cloud Info #W38 - 2025

Author

Walid LARABI
September 19, 2025

Hi!

Discover AWS's new MCP server, Google Cloud's Data Transfer Essentials, and Azure's AKS Automatic. Enhance your cloud strategy with the latest updates.

Have a great read. ☕

📰 Top picks of the week

AWS Launches Model Context Protocol Server for Enhanced CloudTrail Security Analysis

AWS has introduced a new Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for AWS CloudTrail, available in the AWS Labs MCP open-source repository. This server allows AI agents to use natural language to analyze API calls, track user activities, and conduct advanced security analyses across AWS environments. It provides access to 90-day management event histories and enables Trino SQL queries on CloudTrail Lake data for up to 10 years, streamlining security investigations and compliance workflows.

Amazon RDS Proxy Introduces End-to-End IAM Authentication for Aurora and RDS

Amazon RDS Proxy now supports end-to-end IAM authentication for connections to Amazon Aurora and RDS database instances, allowing applications to connect without storing credentials in Secrets Manager. This feature enhances credential management and leverages IAM's authentication capabilities. RDS Proxy also improves database efficiency by pooling connections, which is beneficial for applications with high connection demands. End-to-end IAM authentication is available for MySQL and PostgreSQL in all supported AWS Regions.

AWS CloudWatch Launches Cross-Account and Cross-Region Log Centralization

Amazon CloudWatch has introduced cross-account and cross-region log centralization, allowing users to aggregate log data from multiple AWS accounts and regions into a single destination account. This feature integrates with AWS Organizations and includes enhancements such as enriched log events for source context, selective log group copying, and automatic merging of log groups. Centralization is available in multiple regions, with the first copy of logs being free and additional copies charged at $0.05/GB.

Amazon S3 Introduces Conditional Deletes to Prevent Accidental Deletions

Amazon S3 now allows conditional deletes in general purpose buckets, enabling users to verify that an object is unchanged before deletion. This feature uses the HTTP if-match header with an ETag value and can be enforced through S3 bucket policies. Conditional deletes are available at no extra cost across all AWS Regions and can be executed using the Amazon S3 API, SDKs, and CLI.

Azure Kubernetes Service Launches AKS Automatic for Simplified Cluster Management

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) has launched AKS Automatic, now generally available as of September 2025. This feature simplifies Kubernetes cluster management by providing production-ready clusters preconfigured with best practices for security, reliability, and scaling. Azure manages node operations, networking, upgrades, and autoscaling, allowing users to focus on application development while reducing operational complexity.

Azure Kubernetes Fleet Manager Introduces Approval Gates for Update Control

Azure Kubernetes Fleet Manager has been updated to support approval gates, which can be placed before and after update groups and stages. These gates enhance control over update runs by allowing for manual approvals or integration with external systems like ticketing or health monitoring services for automated approvals.

Azure Application Gateway V2 Introduces Dedicated Connections to Backend Servers

Azure Application Gateway V2 now allows users to enable dedicated connections to backend servers. This feature ensures that each incoming client connection corresponds to a unique backend connection, promoting one-to-one communication, as opposed to the default setting that reuses idle backend connections for resource optimization.

Cloud Trace Enhances Telemetry with OpenTelemetry Protocol Support

Google Cloud's Cloud Trace now supports the OpenTelemetry Protocol (OTLP) for sending trace data via telemetry.googleapis.com, enhancing vendor-agnostic telemetry pipelines and ensuring data integrity. This update allows for higher storage limits, including larger attribute sizes and increased span details, improving the user experience in the Trace explorer and Observability Analytics.

Google Cloud Introduces Free Data Transfer Essentials for EU and UK Customers

Google Cloud has launched Data Transfer Essentials, a new service for customers in the EU and UK that facilitates data transfers between Google Cloud and other cloud providers at no cost. This service supports multicloud strategies by allowing organizations to process workloads in parallel across different clouds without incurring outbound data transfer fees. Customers can configure their multicloud traffic to benefit from this offering, which aligns with the EU Data Act's principles of interoperability and choice.

Vertex AI Agent Builder Enhances AI Agent Development and Deployment Capabilities

Google Cloud's Vertex AI Agent Builder now offers a unified platform for developing and deploying AI agents with enterprise-grade confidence. Key features include support for various agent frameworks, access to a wide range of models including the Gemini 2.5 family, real-time data grounding with Google Maps, and scalable deployment through the Vertex AI Agent Engine. New customers can start building with $300 in free credits and access to free monthly usage of over 20 products.

❤️ You might also like

  • Huawei AI “SuperPods” (Atlas 950/960) with domestic chips to bypass export restrictions LINK

  • Meta in talks with Axel Springer, Fox, News Corp to license news content for AI models LINK

  • Oracle forecasts 77% growth in OCI cloud/AI business, challenging AWS, Azure, and Google LINK

  • CoreWeave signs $6.3B deal with Nvidia, securing guaranteed cloud capacity through 2032 LINK

  • Nvidia invests £500M in UK cloud-AI firm NScale, calling UK a future “AI superpower” LINK

  • Tencent pivots to Chinese AI chips, reducing reliance on Nvidia GPUs LINK

  • OpenAI predicts millions of AI agents will run in the cloud under human supervision LINK

  • CrowdStrike launches unified Falcon Data Protection to secure devices, cloud, SaaS, and GenAI LINK

  • CrowdStrike acquires Pangea for $260M to enhance AI detection and enterprise security LINK

  • Intel & Nvidia announce partnership on custom datacenter and client CPUs with NVLink integration LINK

🎁 This week hidden gem

- AWS Skill Builder Promo — 50% off up to 3 months with code SKILLS50 (valid until Sept 30, 2025) LINK

- Linux Foundation “Back to School” Sale — 40% off courses & certifications with code SEPT25 (valid until Sept 23, 2025) LINK

- Coursera Plus Deal — 30% off first year subscription (valid until Sept 22, 2025) LINK

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