Azure Table Storage

Azure Table Storage is a NoSQL key-value store offered by Microsoft Azure that provides a highly scalable and flexible solution for storing structured data. In this article, we will discuss the basics of Azure Table Storage and how to get started with it.

What is Azure Table Storage?

Azure Table Storage is a highly scalable and flexible NoSQL key-value store that allows you to store structured data in the cloud. It is designed to handle large amounts of structured data and can scale to handle billions of entities.

Azure Table Storage uses a partition key and row key to uniquely identify each entity in a table. The partition key is used to partition data across multiple servers for scalability, while the row key is used to uniquely identify each entity within a partition. In addition to the partition key and row key, each entity can have multiple properties, which are name-value pairs that store data.

Getting Started with Azure Table Storage

To get started with Azure Table Storage, follow these steps:

Step 1: Create an Azure Storage account

The first step in using Azure Table Storage is to create an Azure Storage account. To create an Azure Storage account, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the Azure portal: Go to the Azure portal (https://portal.azure.com) and log in using your Microsoft Azure account credentials.
2. Create a new Storage account: Click on the “Create a resource” button and search for “Storage account” in the search bar. Then click on the “Storage account – blob, file, table, queue” option and click the “Create” button.
3. Provide basic information: In the “Basics” tab, provide a unique name for your storage account, choose the subscription, resource group, and location.
4. Choose performance and redundancy options: In the “Performance” tab, choose the performance and redundancy options that best suit your requirements.
5. Configure advanced options: In the “Advanced” tab, configure the advanced options if required, such as data protection, networking, and tags.
6. Review and create: Review the settings and click the “Create” button to create your Azure Storage account.

Step 2: Create an Azure Table Storage table

Once you have created an Azure Storage account, you can create an Azure Table Storage table to store your structured data. To create an Azure Table Storage table, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the Storage account: Click on the “Storage accounts” button in the Azure portal menu and select your Storage account from the list.
2. Create a new table: Click on the “Tables” option in the menu and click the “Add” button to create a new table.
3. Provide a name for the table: Provide a unique name for your table and click the “Create” button to create your table.

Step 3: Add data to Azure Table Storage

Once you have created an Azure Table Storage table, you can start adding data to it. To add data to Azure Table Storage, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the table: Click on the “Tables” option in the Storage account menu and select your table.
2. Add data: Click the “Add entity” button to add a new entity to your table. You can add entities using the Azure portal, Azure CLI, or Azure SDK.
3. Define entity properties: Define the properties for your entity, including the partition key, row key, and any other properties you want to store.

Step 4: Query data from Azure Table Storage

To query data from Azure Table Storage, you can use the Azure Storage Explorer or write a custom query using the Azure SDK. To query data using the Azure Storage Explorer, follow these steps:

1. Open the Azure Storage Explorer: Open the Azure Storage Explorer and connect to your Azure Storage account.

2. Navigate to the table: Navigate to the Azure Table Storage table you want to query.
3. Select the entities: Select the entities you want to query using the query editor in the Azure Storage Explorer. You can use the query editor to build a custom query or use the predefined queries.
4. Run the query: Once you have selected the entities, run the query to retrieve the data from the Azure Table Storage table.

Step 5: Manage Azure Table Storage using Azure SDK

Azure Table Storage provides a rich set of APIs and SDKs that allow you to manage your Azure Table Storage tables and entities programmatically. The Azure SDKs are available for a variety of programming languages, including .NET, Java, Python, and Node.js.

To manage Azure Table Storage using Azure SDK, follow these steps:

1. Install the Azure SDK: Install the Azure SDK for your preferred programming language.
2. Create a connection string: Create a connection string to connect to your Azure Storage account.
3. Create a TableServiceClient: Create a TableServiceClient object to connect to your Azure Table Storage tables.
4. Create a TableClient: Create a TableClient object to interact with your Azure Table Storage tables.
5. Create an entity: Create an entity object and define the properties for the entity.
6. Add the entity: Add the entity to your Azure Table Storage table using the TableClient.
7. Query entities: Use the TableClient to query entities from your Azure Table Storage tables.

Conclusion

Azure Table Storage is a powerful and flexible NoSQL key-value store that allows you to store structured data in the cloud. With its scalability, flexibility, and rich set of APIs and SDKs, Azure Table Storage is an ideal solution for storing large amounts of structured data. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can get started with Azure Table Storage and begin storing and querying your structured data in the cloud.