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Azure Storage

Updated Nov 16, 2020 ·
NOTES

This is not an exhaustive documentation of all the existing Azure Services. These are summarized notes for the Azure Certifications.

To see the complete documentation, please go to: Azure documentation

Benefits of Azure Storage​

  • Durability and Availability

    • Built-in redundancy ensures data safety during hardware failures.
    • Cross-data center and cross-region replication protect against disasters or local failures.

  • Security and Access Control

    • Automatic encryption for all stored data ensures inherent security.
    • Fine-grained control over data access is maintained.

  • Scalability and Accessibility

    • Designed to be massively scalable to meet diverse data storage requirements.
    • Access data globally over HTTP or HTTPS with support for various client libraries and languages.
    • Multiple access methods include .NET, Java, Python, PHP, PowerShell, Azure CLI, Azure portal, and Azure Storage Explorer.

Core Azure Storage Services​

  • Azure Blobs

    • Provides object storage for unstructured data (e.g., text, binary data).

  • Azure Managed Disks

    • Block-level storage volumes managed by Azure for virtual machines.
    • Types include ultra disks, premium SSD disks, standard SSD disks, and standard HDD disks.

  • Azure Files

    • Fully managed file share system accessible via the SMB protocol.
    • Supports mounting from Windows, Linux, and MacOS machines, on-prem and in the cloud.

  • Azure Queue Storage

    • Designed for storing and managing large numbers of messages in distributed applications.

  • Azure Table Storage

    • Ideal for structured NoSQL data with a key/attribute store and a schema-less design.

Storage Account types​

  • General-Purpose V2 Account

    • Basic storage account suitable for hosting blobs, files, queues, and tables.
    • Recommended for most scenarios requiring Azure storage.

  • General-Purpose V1 Account

    • Legacy account hosting blobs, files, queues, and tables.
    • Similar functionality to V2 accounts, but Microsoft recommends using V2 for future-proofing.

  • Block Blob Storage Account

    • Offers premium performance for block blobs and append blobs.
    • Ideal for high transaction rates and scenarios requiring low storage latency.

  • File Storage Account

    • Exclusive files-only storage account.
    • Recommended for enterprise and high-performing applications.

  • Blob Storage Account

    • Legacy account used for blob-only storage.
    • Microsoft recommends using general-purpose V2 accounts instead.

Key Features​

  • All storage account types are encrypted using Storage Service Encryption (SSE) for data at rest.
  • Archive storage and blob-level tiering support only block blobs.
  • Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS) and Geo Zone-Redundant Storage (GZRS) are available for standard general-purpose V2 accounts, block blob accounts, and file storage accounts in certain regions.
  • Premium performance for general-purpose V2 and general-purpose V1 accounts is available for disk storage and page blobs. For block blobs and append blobs, it's exclusive to block blob accounts. Files-only storage accounts support premium performance for files.

Important Points​

  • Archive storage and blob-level tiering support only block blobs.
  • ZRS and GZRS are available only for standard general-purpose V2 accounts, block blob accounts, and file storage accounts in certain regions.
  • Premium performance for general-purpose V2 and general-purpose V1 accounts is only for disk storage and page blobs. Block blob accounts support premium performance for block blobs and append blobs, and files-only storage accounts support premium performance for files.

Detailed information on the different storage accounts available at: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/common/storage-account-overview.

Performance Levels​

Aside from the redundancy level and the default access tier, there’s yet another option you need to set when you create a storage account: the performance level.

  • Standard (Default)

    • Account Type: General-purpose v2 account.
    • Recommendation: Suitable for most cases.

  • Premium

    • Account Type: Higher-performance option.
    • Consideration: More expensive and limits redundancy options.
    • Usage: Recommended only if significantly faster performance is necessary.

Data Transfer into Azure Storage​

  • Azure Portal

    • Use: For uploading a small number of files from the desktop.
    • Capability: Allows file upload and download directly through the portal.

  • AzCopy (Command-Line Utility)

    • Use: For faster upload/download, especially for a large number of files.
    • Capability: Supports file and folder copying, including cross-cloud transfers.

  • Azure Storage Explorer (Graphical User Interface)

    • Use: For managing files, changing access tiers, and copying files using a graphical interface.
    • Capability: Provides file management features beyond simple copying.

  • Azure File Sync

    • Use: Specialized use case for creating a local cache of Azure Files on Windows servers.
    • Capability: Enhances access speed to an Azure file share in an on-premises environment.

Migration Tools​

  • Azure Migrate

    • Use: Comprehensive tool for discovering, assessing, and migrating on-premises servers, web apps, and databases to Azure.
    • Process: Discovers on-premises resources, assesses size and cost of equivalent Azure services, facilitates migration.

  • Azure Data Box

    • Use: For sending a large amount of data during migration.

    • Process: Microsoft ships a Data Box storage device, data is copied to the device, shipped back to Microsoft, and data is transferred to the Azure storage account.

    • Consideration: Typically used for data transfers exceeding 40 terabytes due to time and expense involved.

Resources​


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