Azure Cloud Storage

Azure Cloud

Azure Storage Overview

Azure Storage is a highly scalable, durable cloud solution, supporting different data types and use cases, such as analytics, data lakes, and static web content hosting.

Azure Storage Services

1. Blob Storage

Stores unstructured data like images, videos, and backups.

  • Blob Types:
    • Block Blobs: Stores large binary data.
    • Append Blobs: Optimized for appending data, ideal for logging.
    • Page Blobs: Primarily used for Azure VM storage disks.
  • Access Tiers:
    • Hot: Frequently accessed data.
    • Cool: Infrequently accessed data, stored at a lower cost.
    • Archive: Rarely accessed data stored at the lowest cost for long-term storage.

2. Azure Files

Managed file shares that can be accessed via SMB or NFS protocols.

  • Features:
    • Mountable on both Windows and Linux systems.
    • Supports hybrid access by mounting shares on-premises.
    • Integrates with Azure AD for advanced access control.

3. Queue Storage

Provides message queuing for reliable communication between application components.

  • Features:
    • Decouples distributed applications.
    • Offers ordered message processing and retries for durability.

4. Table Storage

A NoSQL key-value store optimized for large volumes of structured data.

  • Features:
    • Highly scalable and designed for rapid access.
    • Suitable for non-relational data storage in various applications.

5. Disk Storage

Persistent storage for Azure Virtual Machines, available as Standard HDD, Standard SSD, and Premium SSD.

  • Managed Disks: Automatically manages storage account allocation and is highly resilient to hardware failures.

Redundancy Options

Azure Storage offers multiple redundancy levels to protect data against failures:

  • LRS (Locally Redundant Storage):

    • Stores three copies of data within a single data center.
    • Low-cost option, but data is not replicated outside the local region.

  • ZRS (Zone-Redundant Storage):

    • Replicates data across multiple availability zones within the same region.
    • Provides higher availability by protecting against data center failures.

  • GRS (Geo-Redundant Storage):

    • Stores three copies of data in the primary region and three more in a secondary region.
    • Ensures data is available even in the event of a regional outage, but the secondary region is read-only until failover.

  • RA-GRS (Read-Access Geo-Redundant Storage):

    • Similar to GRS but allows read access to data in the secondary region.
    • Useful for applications that require high availability during regional outages.

Security and Access Control

  • Shared Access Signatures (SAS): Temporarily grant permissions to resources without sharing account keys.
  • Azure Active Directory (AD): Enables identity-based access controls for enhanced security.
  • Encryption: Data is encrypted at rest by default and can be encrypted during transit.

Pricing

Pricing depends on factors like storage capacity, redundancy options (LRS, ZRS, GRS, RA-GRS), access tiers (Hot, Cool, Archive), and data transfer volumes.

For more details, refer to the Azure Storage Documentation.