Learn about the capabilities and use cases of Azure Blob Storage, a cloud-based object storage solution provided by Microsoft Azure, and follow step-by-step instructions on how to create a new storage account. Learn how Azure Blob Storage can be used for backup and disaster recovery, media storage, archiving, data analysis, and more.
Azure Blob Storage is a cloud-based object storage solution offered by Microsoft Azure that allows users to store and manage large amounts of unstructured data in the cloud. With Azure Blob Storage, you can easily store and retrieve text and binary data such as images, videos, and documents, while taking advantage of features such as scalability, security, and cost-effectiveness.
In this blog, we will explore Azure Blob Storage in detail, which covers:
- Azure Blob Storage
- Methods of accessing data in blob storage
- Blob Storage Features
- Components of Azure Blob Storage
- Types of Blob Storage
- Types of Blob Storage Access Tiers
- Why Choose Azure Blob Storage?
- Steps To Create Azure Blob Storage
- Conclusion
- Faq’s
Azure Blob Storage
Azure Blob Storage is a Microsoft Azure cloud-based object storage solution that allows customers to store and manage huge volumes of unstructured data in the cloud.
- Images, films, papers, and log files are examples of text and binary data. Azure Blob Storage is a scalable and cost-effective cloud storage solution that allows you to store data of any size and scale up or down based on your needs.
- It also provides numerous layers of security to protect your data, such as encryption at rest and in transit, role-based access control, and shared access signatures.
- Azure Blob Storage interfaces with other Azure services and third-party applications, making it a versatile solution for a wide range of use cases such as backup and disaster recovery, media storage, archiving, and data analysis.
- Azure Blob Storage allows you to pay only for the storage you need, making it a cost-effective solution for managing and storing massive amounts of data. Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, Azure Blob Storage offers a versatile and scalable solution for your cloud storage needs.
Types of Blob Storage
There are three types of Blob Storage, as explained below:
- Block Blob: The default and most frequent type of Blob Storage is Block Blob. It is intended for the storage of vast amounts of unstructured data, such as text and binary data. Block Blob allows users to upload data in blocks and supports up to 4.75 TB of data per blob, allowing for efficient and reliable uploading and downloading of huge files.
- Page Blob: Page Blob is intended to hold random access files, such as VHD pictures used by virtual machines. It can store up to 8 TB of data per blob and allows users to read and write data in arbitrary chunks or pages. This makes it appropriate for cases requiring frequent updates and random data access, such as OS drives or database storage.
- Append Blob: Append Blob is intended for instances in which data must be added to an existing blob, such as logging and auditing. It allows users to append data to the end of the blob without changing the existing data and supports up to 195 GB of data per blob. This allows for the quick and dependable writing of data streams such as log files.
Methods of accessing data in blob storage:
- The Azure Portal can be used to upload, download, and manage data in Blob Storage via the Azure Storage Explorer.
- Azure Storage REST APIs: You can use Azure Storage REST APIs to access Blob Storage data programmatically from your application or service.
- Azure PowerShell and CLI: You can access Blob Storage data and perform standard storage management tasks using Azure PowerShell and CLI.
- Azure SDKs: You can access Blob Storage data and integrate it with your application or service using Azure SDKs for .NET, Java, Python, and other programming languages.
- Azure Data Factory: Azure Data Factory can be used to transport and transform data between Blob Storage and other data sources like SQL Server or Hadoop.
- Azure Functions: Azure Functions can be used to develop serverless functions that process and alter data stored in Blob Storage.
- Third-party tools: You can view and manage Blob Storage data from your desktop or mobile device using third-party programs such as CloudBerry Explorer, Cyberduck, or Storage Made Easy.
Blob Storage Features
The vital features of Blob Storage are as follows:
- Scalability: Blob Storage can accommodate data of any size, making enormous amounts of unstructured data in the cloud simple to store and manage.
- Durability: Blob Storage provides exceptional durability for your data, with multiple copies kept across various data centers to assure data availability and recovery.
- Security: Blob Storage protects your data with numerous layers of protection, including encryption at rest and in transit, role-based access control, and shared access signatures.
- Cost-effectiveness: Blob Storage offers pay-as-you-go pricing, allowing you to pay only for the storage you need, with no upfront expenditures or termination fees.
- Integration: Blob Storage interfaces with other Azure services such as Azure Data Factory, Azure Functions, and Azure Stream Analytics, as well as third-party tools, making it a versatile option for a wide range of use cases.
- Object-level Tiering: Blob Storage has hot, cold, and archive tiers that allow users to store and manage data based on its frequency of use and temporal sensitivity.
- Advanced Data Management features: Blob Storage enables advanced data management features like as object versioning, deletion policies, lifecycle management, and event-driven workflows.
Components of Azure Blob Storage
- Storage Account – In Storage Account, you specify the namespace for the data. Objects stored in Azure Storage will have unique addresses linked to the individual account.
- Container – It acts as a directory that helps establish and manage the blobs. The storage account can contain numerous containers, which can hold blobs of various ranges. Container names are always specified in lowercase.
- Blob – Blobs are objects in the form of unstructured data, including images, audio, video, and files. The different solutions for migrating the data into the Azure Blob Storage include Azure Data Factory, AzCopy, BlobFuse, Azure Service, Azure Data Box, etc.
Types of Blob Storage Access Tiers
- Hot Access: Designed for data that is often accessed and requires low-latency access periods. When compared to the Cool and Archive tiers, it has higher storage costs but lower access costs.
- Cool Access: Designed for data that is not regularly accessed and can withstand slightly longer access times. When compared to the Hot tier, it has lower storage costs but higher access costs.
- Archive Access: Designed for long-term data retention where the material is rarely accessed. It has the lowest storage costs but the highest access fees when compared to the Hot and Cool tiers. Data retrieval times may also be lengthier because data is frequently deemed to be in offline mode.
Why Choose Azure Blob Storage?
Microsoft provides so many storage options, like File, Disk, Archive, etc. Hence it is necessary to understand when one should opt for Blob Storage. Here are the following instances:
- Azure Blob Storage is created for storing unstructured data. One can opt for Blob Storage for streaming audio and video files.
- Likewise, Blob storage is also used for storing data during backup, archiving, restoring, and recovering. Extensive volume data used for analysis by Azure services are also stored here.
- Similarly, one can go for Blob Storage when uploading large files. Azure Blob storage breaks the large files into smaller chunks, and these chunks get uploaded individually. After uploading these chunks, they get merged into a single initial file.
- Blob storage is also used to serve images directly to gateways.
- Azure Blob storage also allows the storage of files and documents for providing distributed access.
- In addition to it, it can also be used for off-loading excess content from the servers to minimize the load.
- It is also used for Big Data analysis by Azure Data Lake, an extension of Azure Blob Storage.
Steps To Create Azure Blob Storage
STEP 1) Log in to Azure Portal (Please make sure you have a subscription before doing all this. If you created a free account for the first time, you’ll already have a FREE TRIAL subscription for 1 month).
Note: If you don’t know how to get a free Azure account then click on Azure Free Trial Account to know more
STEP 2) The first and foremost step in creating Blob Storage is setting up the ‘Storage Account’. To create one, log in to the Azure portal, then click on ‘Storage Accounts‘.
STEP 3) After clicking on Storge Account, the following screen will appear and then click on ‘+ New‘ to proceed further.
STEP 4) After clicking on New, it will take you to the next page and asks you to fill in the following details:
- Subscription – It tells you about the billing, invoice details, and the current subscription.
- Resource Group – If you are creating a new resource group, it will show (New) before the name.
- Storage Account name – Specify the name of the account.
- Region – Specify your region or location.
- Performance – It offers two types of performance options. Standard (uses HDD Hard Disk Drives to store data) Premium ( uses SSD Solid-State Drives to store data)
- Redundancy – Through Redundancy, Azure ensures that data is protected at times of failure.
Click on ‘Create‘, after filling in all the details.
STEP 5) Azure Storage Account provides four types of Redundancy Storage as shown in the below sample. We will go with Geo-redundant Storage (GRS) for the demo purpose.
STEP 6) When you click on the ‘Create’ button, it takes you to the next screen that shows the deployment status. After deployment gets completed, click on ‘Go to resource‘.
STEP 7) The following screen will appear, showing an ‘Overview’ of the created Storage Account. The next step is to click on ‘Containers‘ to select Blob Storage. We have chosen the ‘Hot Access‘ tier for a demo purpose. One can choose according to their requirements.
STEP 8)Now, we have to create a new Container for that click on ‘+ Container‘.
STEP 9) After clicking on + Container, it will ask to fill in the container’s name (it should be unique) and select access level. For the demo purpose, we have selected Blob Public Level access. Click ‘Create‘ to proceed further.
STEP 10)Hence we have successfully created the blob storage as we can see container k21 appears under the storage.
STEP 11)Next, select the Storage Account and click on the ‘ Access keys‘ to find the connection string. The website’s code gets authenticated to interact with created Storage Account through these Connection Strings. All you need to do here is copy the connection string and paste it into the website’s code, and you are good to go.
Conclusion
Azure Blob Storage is a robust and adaptable cloud storage solution that provides numerous advantages for managing and storing unstructured data. It offers a scalable and long-lasting storage solution with numerous storage tiers to meet the performance and cost demands of various applications. Azure Blob Storage also has built-in security protections, connection with other Azure services, and access via a range of tools and APIs. With these advantages, Azure Blob Storage is a dependable and cost-effective option for businesses wishing to store and manage unstructured data in the cloud.
Faq’s
What is Azure Blob Storage and what are its key features?
Azure Blob Storage is a Microsoft Azure cloud-based storage solution for storing and managing unstructured data. Support for large scalability, durability, numerous access tiers, interaction with other Azure services, and built-in security measures like encryption at rest and in transit, as well as role-based access control, are among its important features.
What are some common use cases for Azure Blob Storage?
Azure Blob Storage is commonly used for the following purposes:
1. Unstructured data such as photos, videos, audio files, and papers must be stored and managed.
2. Assisting with backup and disaster recovery for critical data.
3. Static webpages and online apps are hosted.
4. Data storage and processing in preparation for big data analytics and machine learning.
5. Assisting with data archival and retention regulations.
6. Providing a centralized repository for data exchange between apps and services.
7. Serving as a content delivery network (CDN) for huge files and streaming media.
8. Assisting in data movement to and from the cloud.
How can I secure my data stored in Azure Blob Storage?
You can safeguard your data saved in Azure Blob Storage in a variety of methods, including:
1. Encrypting data at rest and in transit with Azure-provided encryption.
2. Implementing role-based access control (RBAC) to manage data access.
3. Using Azure Active Directory to authenticate and approve data access.
4. Enabling network security via configuring firewalls and virtual networks.
5. Implementing security policies such as access monitoring, threat detection, and response.
How does Azure Blob Storage ensure data redundancy and reliability?
Azure Blob Storage maintains data redundancy and reliability using a variety of approaches, including:
1. Data replication: Azure Blob Storage automatically duplicates data across many storage nodes within a region to ensure high availability and data durability.
2. Geo-replication: To improve data durability, Azure Blob Storage can replicate data to a secondary data center in a different location, offering protection against natural catastrophes and other forms of disturbances.
3. Versioning: You may enable versioning for your data in Azure Blob Storage, which keeps track of all versions of a blob. This helps to protect against unintentional data deletion or change.
4. Redundant copies: Azure Blob Storage produces many redundant copies of each blob, which helps ensure that data is available even if one or more storage nodes fail.
How do I move data to and from Azure Blob Storage?
There are several techniques for moving data to and from Azure Blob Storage, including:
1. AzCopy: Microsoft's command-line tool for copying data to and from Azure Blob Storage.
2. Azure Data Factory is a cloud-based data integration solution that lets you move and alter data between sources and destinations.
3. Azure Storage Explorer is a graphical user interface (GUI) tool that can be used to manage Azure Blob Storage and other Azure storage services.
4. Azure PowerShell: A command-line utility for managing Azure Blob Storage with PowerShell instructions.
5. Azure CLI (Command-Line Interface): A command-line interface (CLI) for controlling Azure resources, including Azure Blob Storage.
6. REST API: Azure Blob Storage includes a REST-based API that allows you to access and manage Blob Storage resources programmatically.
How do I manage access to my Azure Blob Storage account and containers?
Access to the Azure Blob Storage account and containers can be managed in several ways, including:
1. Shared Access Signatures (SAS): SAS tokens can be produced to give temporary access to blobs or containers.
2. Azure Active Directory (Azure AD): RBAC can be used to regulate access at the storage account, container, and blob levels via Azure AD.
3. Access keys can be generated to provide secure access to the storage account.
4. Firewall rules can be configured to restrict the IP addresses that can access the storage account or containers.
5. Virtual Networks: Access to Azure Blob Storage can be restricted to various virtual networks.
Related/References
- [AZ-104] Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification Exam: Everything You Need To Know
- Azure Web APP: Working, Features, And Steps to Create
- Virtual Networks In Microsoft Azure: VNet Peering, ExpressRoute, VPN Gateway
- Azure ExpressRoute Vs Azure VPN Gateway
- Microsoft Azure VNet Peering (Microsoft Official)
- [AZ-104] Roles And Responsibilities Of A Microsoft Azure Administrator
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