Azure Storage (Blob, File, Queue, Table)

Azure Storage provides massively scalable, durable, and highly available cloud storage. A single storage account gives you access to four distinct storage services, each designed for a different use case.

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Storage Account

A storage account is the top-level resource for Azure Storage. It provides a unique namespace for your data, accessible from anywhere via HTTP or HTTPS.

Creating a Storage Account

az storage account create \
  --name mystorageaccount \
  --resource-group rg-demo \
  --location uksouth \
  --sku Standard_LRS

Account Types

Type	Services	Use Case
Standard general-purpose v2	Blob, File, Queue, Table	Most workloads (recommended default)
Premium block blobs	Blob (block blobs only)	High-transaction-rate workloads
Premium file shares	File (Azure Files only)	Enterprise file shares requiring high IOPS
Premium page blobs	Blob (page blobs only)	Unmanaged VM disks (legacy)

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Blob Storage

Blob (Binary Large Object) storage is optimised for storing massive amounts of unstructured data — images, videos, documents, backups, logs.

Blob Types

Type	Description
Block blobs	Store text and binary data. Best for files uploaded in blocks (images, documents). Up to 190.7 TiB.
Append blobs	Optimised for append operations. Ideal for logging.
Page blobs	Random read/write operations. Used for VHD files (VM disks). Up to 8 TiB.

Containers

Blobs are organised into containers (similar to folders). A storage account can have unlimited containers, and each container can hold unlimited blobs.

Storage Account: mystorageaccount
  |
  |-- Container: images
  |     |-- photo1.jpg
  |     |-- photo2.png
  |
  |-- Container: logs
        |-- app-2024-01-01.log

Access Tiers

Tier	Access Cost	Storage Cost	Best For
Hot	Lowest	Highest	Frequently accessed data
Cool	Moderate	Lower	Infrequently accessed (min 30-day retention)
Cold	Higher	Even lower	Rarely accessed (min 90-day retention)
Archive	Highest (requires rehydration)	Lowest	Long-term archival (min 180-day retention)

You can set lifecycle management policies to automatically move blobs between tiers based on age or last access time.

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Azure Files

Azure Files provides fully managed file shares accessible via the SMB (Server Message Block) and NFS (Network File System) protocols.

Key Features

• Mount as a network drive on Windows, Linux, and macOS
• Azure File Sync — cache Azure file shares on Windows Servers for fast local access
• Snapshots — point-in-time read-only copies of file shares
• Identity-based access — integrate with Entra ID or on-premises AD

Use Cases

• Replacing or extending on-premises file servers
• Shared configuration files across multiple VMs
• Lift-and-shift of applications that rely on SMB file shares

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Queue Storage