Weekly Cloud Info #W40 - 2025

Author

Walid LARABI
October 03, 2025

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📰 Top picks of the week

AWS Launches Managed Instances for Amazon ECS to Simplify Compute Management

AWS has launched Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) Managed Instances, a fully managed compute option that simplifies infrastructure management while leveraging Amazon EC2 capabilities. Users can define task requirements, and ECS automatically provisions optimal EC2 instances, dynamically scales them based on workload, and applies security patches every 14 days. ECS Managed Instances are available in six regions, and users can manage them via the AWS Console or infrastructure-as-code tools, with costs in addition to standard EC2 charges.

AWS CDK Introduces Refactor Feature for Safe Infrastructure Changes

AWS has introduced a new feature in the Cloud Development Kit (CDK) called CDK Refactor, which allows developers to safely rename constructs, move resources between stacks, and reorganize applications without risking resource replacement. This feature leverages AWS CloudFormation's refactor capabilities, enabling developers to focus on code changes while automatically managing resource mappings. Developers must re-bootstrap their CDK environment to access these new capabilities.

AWS Launches Knowledge MCP Server for Enhanced AI Context Access

AWS has announced the general availability of the AWS Knowledge Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server, which provides AI agents and MCP clients with access to authoritative AWS knowledge in an LLM-compatible format. This server includes information on AWS API and CloudFormation resource availability, enabling more accurate responses and reduced manual context management for users. The server is publicly accessible at no cost, with usage subject to rate limits, and is available globally.

Amazon CloudWatch Enhances APM with Automatic Service Discovery and Visualization

Amazon CloudWatch now offers enhanced application performance monitoring (APM) capabilities by automatically discovering and organizing services into logical groups based on their configurations and relationships. This feature helps SREs and DevOps teams visualize dependencies, accelerate root cause analysis, and reduce mean-time-to-resolution (MTTR) through an always-on application map, contextual troubleshooting drawer, and tailored dashboards. The updates are available at no additional cost across all AWS commercial regions where Application Signals have launched.

Amazon EBS Increases gp3 Volume Limits to Enhance Performance and Capacity

Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) has increased the limits for General Purpose (gp3) volumes, allowing them to scale up to 64 TiB in size, 80,000 IOPS, and 2,000 MiB/s throughput. This enhancement simplifies storage management for intensive workloads by enabling larger capacity and higher performance in a single volume. The pricing model remains unchanged, and the new limits are available in all AWS Commercial and GovCloud (US) Regions.

Enhanced MSSQL Extension for VS Code Integrates Seamlessly with Microsoft Fabric

The MSSQL extension for Visual Studio Code now integrates SQL database functionality with Microsoft Fabric, allowing users to sign in with Microsoft Entra ID, browse workspaces, and connect to databases without managing connection strings. Users can also provision new SQL databases directly from VS Code, streamlining the development process and reducing onboarding friction for modern app development.

AKS Simplifies Migration from Availability Sets to Virtual Machines Node Pool

Azure will deprecate Availability Sets and the basic load balancer on September 30, 2025. Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) now offers a simple Azure CLI command that allows users to migrate their AKS clusters from Availability Sets to a new Virtual Machines node pool and upgrade their load balancer SKU from basic to standard in a single operation.

Azure Traffic Manager Enhances Health Check Infrastructure for Better Resiliency and Scalability

Azure Traffic Manager has launched a new health check infrastructure that enhances the service's resiliency and scalability. Customers are being transitioned to this updated system, which features improved horizontal scalability and reliability. To accommodate the new health probes, users are advised to configure firewall rules using the AzureTrafficManager Service Tag or manually update their firewall settings to allow the latest IP addresses.

Google Cloud Launches Claude Sonnet 4.5 on Vertex AI for Enhanced AI Capabilities

Google Cloud has announced the general availability of Claude Sonnet 4.5 on Vertex AI, Anthropic’s latest model designed for complex tasks in coding, finance, research, and cybersecurity. The update includes enhancements for longer development tasks through Claude Code, which now features a VS Code extension and an upgraded terminal interface. Leading organizations are already leveraging this model to improve productivity and accelerate application development.

Streamlined Migration to Gen4 Machine Series with GKE Compute Classes and Flex CUDs

Google Cloud introduces new Gen4 machine series for Google Compute Engine and Google Kubernetes Engine, including N4, C4, C4A, and C4D, which enhance performance and cost-efficiency. To facilitate migration, GKE compute classes allow users to prioritize machine families for autoscaling, while Compute Flexible Committed Use Discounts provide financial flexibility. This combination enables organizations to adopt new hardware with reduced operational risks and downtime.

❤️ You might also like

  • CoreWeave signs $14B AI infrastructure deal with Meta to power future AI workloads LINK

  • AWS partners with NBA to launch “NBA Inside the Game” using AI and cloud analytics LINK

  • Jeff Bezos suggests building data centers in space for better energy efficiency and cooling LINK

  • Citi forecasts AI infra spending to reach $490B by 2026 LINK

  • IBC2025 explores FinOps, pragmatic cloud adoption, and media transformation strategies LINK

  • Google Cloud expands sovereign cloud support in India to meet strict data residency needs LINK

🎁 This week hidden gem

  • DataCamp Unlimited learning for $1, cancel anytime LINK

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