Azure Storage is a set of cloud-based services that enable users to store and manage their data on the Azure platform. In this section, we will discuss the various Azure Storage services in detail.
Azure Blob Storage
Azure Blob Storage is designed to store and manage unstructured data such as images, videos, documents, and other large data files. It offers hot, cool, and archive tiers that allow users to store data based on its access frequency and the desired cost. Hot tier provides low latency and high throughput access to frequently accessed data. Cool tier provides lower cost access to less frequently accessed data, while Archive tier provides the lowest cost storage for rarely accessed data.
Azure Blob Storage offers a variety of features such as automatic tiering, geo-redundancy, and data encryption at rest and in transit. It also supports Azure Data Lake Storage, which enables users to store and manage big data workloads.
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Azure Files
Azure Files provides fully managed file share services that enable users to store and manage data in the cloud, which can be accessed by multiple virtual machines or servers. It provides support for SMB and NFS protocols, making it easy to migrate applications that rely on file shares to the cloud.
Azure Files offers features such as built-in backup and restore, data encryption, and data protection. It also supports Azure Active Directory, which enables users to authenticate and authorize access to their data.
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Azure Queue Storage
Azure Queue Storage is a message queuing service designed to provide reliable messaging between different components of an application. It enables users to create and manage queues of messages and retrieve them in a distributed and asynchronous manner.
Azure Queue Storage offers features such as automatic scaling, at-least-once message delivery, and time-based retention of messages. It also supports message batching and message poison handling, which enable users to process messages in a distributed and fault-tolerant manner.
Azure Table Storage
Azure Table Storage is a NoSQL key-value store that enables users to store and manage structured data in the cloud. It provides support for schemaless design, making it easy to store and manage data of any structure.
Azure Table Storage offers features such as automatic indexing, flexible querying, and data replication across regions. It also supports data partitioning, which enables users to distribute data across multiple partitions for high scalability and performance.
Azure Disk Storage
Azure Disk Storage is a fully managed block storage service that enables users to store and manage data on virtual hard disks (VHDs) in the cloud. It provides support for both managed and unmanaged disks, making it easy to deploy and manage virtual machines on the Azure platform.
Azure Disk Storage offers features such as automatic snapshotting, data encryption at rest, and data replication across regions. It also supports various disk types such as Standard HDD, Standard SSD, Premium SSD, and Ultra Disk, which enable users to choose the best disk type for their workloads.
Azure Archive Storage
Azure Archive Storage is a fully managed storage service designed to store rarely accessed data at a lower cost. It provides support for tiered storage, enabling users to store and manage data based on its access frequency and desired cost.
Azure Archive Storage offers features such as data encryption at rest and in transit, automatic tiering, and policy-based data retention. It also supports retrieval options such as standard and expedited retrieval, which enable users to access their data based on their desired retrieval time and cost.
Summary
Azure Storage provides users with a variety of options for storing and managing their data on the Azure platform. Azure Blob Storage is a fully managed object storage service, while Azure Files is a fully managed file share service. Azure Queue Storage is a fully managed message queue service, and Azure Table Storage is a fully managed NoSQL key-value store. Azure Disk Storage is a fully managed block storage service that enables users to store and manage data on virtual hard disks in the cloud, while Azure Archive Storage is a fully managed storage service that enables users to store rarely accessed data at a lower cost.