Azure Storage

Question 1

Some Benefits of Azure Storage are…

Answer 1

Benefits of Azure Storage

Azure Storage services offer the following benefits for application developers and IT professionals:

• Durable and highly available. Redundancy ensures that your data is safe in the event of transient hardware failures. You can also opt to replicate data across data centers or geographical regions for additional protection from local catastrophe or natural disaster. Data replicated in this way remains highly available in the event of an unexpected outage.
• Secure. All data written to an Azure storage account is encrypted by the service. Azure Storage provides you with fine-grained control over who has access to your data.
• Scalable. Azure Storage is designed to be massively scalable to meet the data storage and performance needs of today’s applications.
• Managed. Azure handles hardware maintenance, updates, and critical issues for you.
• Accessible. Data in Azure Storage is accessible from anywhere in the world over HTTP or HTTPS. Microsoft provides client libraries for Azure Storage in a variety of languages, including .NET, Java, Node.js, Python, PHP, Ruby, Go, and others, as well as a mature REST API. Azure Storage supports scripting in Azure PowerShell or Azure CLI. And the Azure portal and Azure Storage Explorer offer easy visual solutions for working with your data.

Question 2

What are the Azure Storage data services?

Answer 2

Azure Storage data services

The Azure Storage platform includes the following data services:

• Azure Blobs: A massively scalable object store for text and binary data. Also includes support for big data analytics through Data Lake Storage Gen2.
• Azure Files: Managed file shares for cloud or on-premises deployments.
• Azure Queues: A messaging store for reliable messaging between application components.
• Azure Tables: A NoSQL store for schemaless storage of structured data.
• Azure Disks: Block-level storage volumes for Azure VMs.

Question 3

Define Azure Blobs

Answer 3

Azure Blobs: A massively scalable object store for text and binary data. Also includes support for big data analytics through Data Lake Storage Gen2.

Question 4

Define Azure Files

Answer 4

Azure Files: Managed file shares for cloud or on-premises deployments.

Question 5

Define Azure Queues

Answer 5

Azure Queues: A messaging store for reliable messaging between application components.

Question 6

Define Azure Tables

Answer 6

Azure Tables: A NoSQL store for schemaless storage of structured data

Question 7

Define Azure Disks

Answer 7

Azure Disks: Block-level storage volumes for Azure VMs.

Question 8

Name sample scenarios for Azure Files

Answer 8

Sample scenarios for Azure Storage services

The following table compares Files, Blobs, Disks, Queues, and Tables, and shows example scenarios for each.

FeatureDescriptionWhen to useAzure FilesOffers fully managed cloud file shares that you can access from anywhere via the industry standard Server Message Block (SMB) protocol.

You can mount Azure file shares from cloud or on-premises deployments of Windows, Linux, and macOS.You want to “lift and shift” an application to the cloud that already uses the native file system APIs to share data between it and other applications running in Azure.

You want to replace or supplement on-premises file servers or NAS devices.

You want to store development and debugging tools that need to be accessed from many virtual machines.

Question 9

Name sample scenarios for Azure Blobs

Answer 9

FeatureDescriptionWhen to use Azure BlobsAllows unstructured data to be stored and accessed at a massive scale in block blobs.

Also supports Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 for enterprise big data analytics solutions.You want your application to support streaming and random access scenarios.

You want to be able to access application data from anywhere.

You want to build an enterprise data lake on Azure and perform big data analytics.

Question 10

Name sample scenarios for Azure Disks

Answer 10

Azure DisksAllows data to be persistently stored and accessed from an attached virtual hard disk.You want to “lift and shift” applications that use native file system APIs to read and write data to persistent disks.

You want to store data that is not required to be accessed from outside the virtual machine to which the disk is attached.

Question 11

Name Sample scenarios for Azure Queues

Answer 11

Azure QueuesAllows for asynchronous message queueing between application components.You want to decouple application components and use asynchronous messaging to communicate between them.

For guidance around when to use Queue storage versus Service Bus queues, see Storage queues and Service Bus queues - compared and contrasted.

Question 12

Name Sample Scenarios for Azure Tables

Answer 12

Azure TablesAllow you to store structured NoSQL data in the cloud, providing a key/attribute store with a schemaless design.You want to store flexible datasets like user data for web applications, address books, device information, or other types of metadata your service requires.

For guidance around when to use Table storage versus the Azure Cosmos DB Table API, see Developing with Azure Cosmos DB Table API and Azure Table storage.

Question 13

Describe Blob Storage and name what’s ideal for

Answer 13

Blob storage

Azure Blob storage is Microsoft’s object storage solution for the cloud. Blob storage is optimized for storing massive amounts of unstructured data, such as text or binary data.

Blob storage is ideal for:

• Serving images or documents directly to a browser.
• Storing files for distributed access.
• Streaming video and audio.
• Storing data for backup and restore, disaster recovery, and archiving.
• Storing data for analysis by an on-premises or Azure-hosted service.

Question 14

How can we access Blob Storage? What are the programming API Languages?

Answer 14

Objects in Blob storage can be accessed from anywhere in the world via HTTP or HTTPS. Users or client applications can access blobs via URLs, the Azure Storage REST API, Azure PowerShell, Azure CLI, or an Azure Storage client library. The storage client libraries are available for multiple languages, including .NET, Java, Node.js, Python, PHP, and Ruby

Question 15

Describe Azure Files and name some common scenarios

Answer 15

Azure Files

Azure Files enables you to set up highly available network file shares that can be accessed by using the standard Server Message Block (SMB) protocol. That means that multiple VMs can share the same files with both read and write access. You can also read the files using the REST interface or the storage client libraries.

One thing that distinguishes Azure Files from files on a corporate file share is that you can access the files from anywhere in the world using a URL that points to the file and includes a shared access signature (SAS) token. You can generate SAS tokens; they allow specific access to a private asset for a specific amount of time.

File shares can be used for many common scenarios:

Many on-premises applications use file shares. This feature makes it easier to migrate those applications that share data to Azure. If you mount the file share to the same drive letter that the on-premises application uses, the part of your application that accesses the file share should work with minimal, if any, changes.

Configuration files can be stored on a file share and accessed from multiple VMs. Tools and utilities used by multiple developers in a group can be stored on a file share, ensuring that everybody can find them, and that they use the same version.

Resource logs, metrics, and crash dumps are just three examples of data that can be written to a file share and processed or analyzed later.

Question 16

Describe Azure Queue Storage

Answer 16

Queue storage

The Azure Queue service is used to store and retrieve messages. Queue messages can be up to 64 KB in size, and a queue can contain millions of messages. Queues are generally used to store lists of messages to be processed asynchronously.

For example, say you want your customers to be able to upload pictures, and you want to create thumbnails for each picture. You could have your customer wait for you to create the thumbnails while uploading the pictures. An alternative would be to use a queue. When the customer finishes their upload, write a message to the queue. Then have an Azure Function retrieve the message from the queue and create the thumbnails. Each of the parts of this processing can be scaled separately, giving you more control when tuning it for your usage.

Question 17

Describe Table Storage

Answer 17

Azure Table storage is now part of Azure Cosmos DB. To see Azure Table storage documentation, see the Azure Table Storage Overview. In addition to the existing Azure Table storage service, there is a new Azure Cosmos DB Table API offering that provides throughput-optimized tables, global distribution, and automatic secondary indexes. To learn more and try out the new premium experience, see Azure Cosmos DB Table API.

Question 18

Describe Disk Storage

Answer 18

Disk storage

An Azure managed disk is a virtual hard disk (VHD). You can think of it like a physical disk in an on-premises server but, virtualized. Azure-managed disks are stored as page blobs, which are a random IO storage object in Azure. We call a managed disk ‘managed’ because it is an abstraction over page blobs, blob containers, and Azure storage accounts. With managed disks, all you have to do is provision the disk, and Azure takes care of the rest.

Question 19

What are the Types of Storage Accounts?

Answer 19

Types of storage accounts

Azure Storage offers several types of storage accounts. Each type supports different features and has its own pricing model.

The following table describes the types of storage accounts recommended by Microsoft for most scenarios. All of these use the Azure Resource Manager deployment model.

Type of storage accountSupported storage servicesRedundancy optionsUsageStandard general-purpose v2Blob Storage (including Data Lake Storage¹), Queue Storage, Table Storage, and Azure FilesLocally redundant storage (LRS) / geo-redundant storage (GRS) / read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS)

Zone-redundant storage (ZRS) / geo-zone-redundant storage (GZRS) / read-access geo-zone-redundant storage (RA-GZRS)²Standard storage account type for blobs, file shares, queues, and tables. Recommended for most scenarios using Azure Storage. If you want support for network file system (NFS) in Azure Files, use the premium file shares account type.Premium block blobs³Blob Storage (including Data Lake Storage¹)LRS

ZRS²Premium storage account type for block blobs and append blobs. Recommended for scenarios with high transaction rates or that use smaller objects or require consistently low storage latency. Learn more about example workloads.Premium file shares³Azure FilesLRS

ZRS²Premium storage account type for file shares only. Recommended for enterprise or high-performance scale applications. Use this account type if you want a storage account that supports both Server Message Block (SMB) and NFS file shares.Premium page blobs³Page blobs onlyLRSPremium storage account type for page blobs only. Learn more about page blobs and sample use cases.

¹ Data Lake Storage is a set of capabilities dedicated to big data analytics, built on Azure Blob Storage. For more information, see Introduction to Data Lake Storage Gen2 and Create a storage account to use with Data Lake Storage Gen2.

² ZRS, GZRS, and RA-GZRS are available only for standard general-purpose v2, premium block blobs, and premium file shares accounts in certain regions. For more information, see Azure Storage redundancy.

³ Premium performance storage accounts use solid-state drives (SSDs) for low latency and high throughput.

Question 20

What are Storage Account endpoints? Name the 2 types

Answer 20

Storage account endpoints

A storage account provides a unique namespace in Azure for your data. Every object that you store in Azure Storage has a URL address that includes your unique account name. The combination of the account name and the service endpoint forms the endpoints for your storage account.

There are two types of service endpoints available for a storage account:

• Standard endpoints (recommended). You can create up to 250 storage accounts per region with standard endpoints in a given subscription.
• Azure DNS zone endpoints (preview). You can create up to 5000 storage accounts per region with Azure DNS zone endpoints in a given subscription.

Within a single subscription, you can create accounts with either standard or Azure DNS Zone endpoints, for a maximum of 5250 accounts per subscription.

Question 21

Describe the endpoints for each type of Azure Storage

Answer 21

Standard endpoints

A standard service endpoint in Azure Storage includes the protocol (HTTPS is recommended), the storage account name as the subdomain, and a fixed domain that includes the name of the service.

The following table lists the format for the standard endpoints for each of the Azure Storage services.

Storage serviceEndpointBlob Storagehttps://.blob.core.windows.netStatic website (Blob Storage)https://.web.core.windows.netData Lake Storage Gen2https://.dfs.core.windows.netAzure Fileshttps://.file.core.windows.netQueue Storagehttps://.queue.core.windows.netTable Storagehttps://.table.core.windows.net

When your account is created with standard endpoints, you can easily construct the URL for an object in Azure Storage by appending the object’s location in the storage account to the endpoint. For example, the URL for a blob will be similar to:

https://*mystorageaccount*.blob.core.windows.net/*mycontainer*/*myblob*

Question 22

Name a few Storage Account migration options

Answer 22

Migrate a storage account

The following table summarizes and points to guidance on how to move, upgrade, or migrate a storage account:

Migration scenarioDetailsMove a storage account to a different subscriptionAzure Resource Manager provides options for moving a resource to a different subscription. For more information, see Move resources to a new resource group or subscription.Move a storage account to a different resource groupAzure Resource Manager provides options for moving a resource to a different resource group. For more information, see Move resources to a new resource group or subscription.Move a storage account to a different regionTo move a storage account, create a copy of your storage account in another region. Then, move your data to that account by using AzCopy, or another tool of your choice. For more information, see Move an Azure Storage account to another region.Upgrade to a general-purpose v2 storage accountYou can upgrade a general-purpose v1 storage account or Blob Storage account to a general-purpose v2 account. Note that this action can’t be undone. For more information, see Upgrade to a general-purpose v2 storage account.Migrate a classic storage account to Azure Resource ManagerThe Azure Resource Manager deployment model is superior to the classic deployment model in terms of functionality, scalability, and security. For more information about migrating a classic storage account to Azure Resource Manager, see the “Migration of storage accounts” section of Platform-supported migration of IaaS resources from classic to Azure Resource Manager.

Question 23

What is Azure Resource Manager?

Answer 23

Azure Resource Manager(ARM) is the deployment and management service for Azure. It provides a management layer that enables you to create, update, and delete resources in your Azure account. You use management features, like access control, locks, and tags, to secure and organize your resources after deployment.

Question 24

Explain 3 options for Data Migration with Azure Storage

Answer 24

Choose an Azure solution for data transfer

This article provides an overview of some of the common Azure data transfer solutions. The article also links out to recommended options depending on the network bandwidth in your environment and the size of the data you intend to transfer.

Types of data movement

Data transfer can be offline or over the network connection. Choose your solution depending on your:

• Data size - Size of the data intended for transfer,
• Transfer frequency - One-time or periodic data ingestion, and
• Network – Bandwidth available for data transfer in your environment.

The data movement can be of the following types:

Offline transfer using shippable devices - Use physical shippable devices when you want to do offline one-time bulk data transfer. Microsoft sends you a disk, or a secure specialized device. Alternatively, you can purchase and ship your own disks. You copy data to the device and then ship it to Azure where the data is uploaded. The available options for this case are Data Box Disk, Data Box, Data Box Heavy, and Import/Export (use your own disks).

Network Transfer - You transfer your data to Azure over your network connection. This can be done in many ways.

• Graphical interface - If you occasionally transfer just a few files and do not need to automate the data transfer, you can choose a graphical interface tool such as Azure Storage Explorer or a web-based exploration tool in Azure portal.
• Scripted or programmatic transfer - You can use optimized software tools that we provide or call our REST APIs/SDKs directly. The available scriptable tools are AzCopy, Azure PowerShell, and Azure CLI. For programmatic interface, use one of the SDKs for .NET, Java, Python, Node/JS, C++, Go, PHP or Ruby.
• On-premises devices - We supply you a physical or virtual device that resides in your datacenter and optimizes data transfer over the network. These devices also provide a local cache of frequently used files. The physical device is the Azure Stack Edge and the virtual device is the Data Box Gateway. Both run permanently in your premises and connect to Azure over the network.
• Managed data pipeline - You can set up a cloud pipeline to regularly transfer files between several Azure services, on-premises or a combination of two. Use Azure Data Factory to set up and manage data pipelines, and move and transform data for analysis.

The following visual illustrates the guidelines to choose the various Azure data transfer tools depending upon the network bandwidth available for transfer, data size intended for transfer, and frequency of the transfer.

*The upper limits of the offline transfer devices - Data Box Disk, Data Box, and Data Box Heavy can be extended by placing multiple orders of a device type.

Selecting a data transfer solution

Answer the following questions to help select a data transfer solution:

Is your available network bandwidth limited or non-existent, and you want to transfer large datasets?

If yes, see: Scenario 1: Transfer large datasets with no or low network bandwidth.

Do you want to transfer large datasets over network and you have a moderate to high network bandwidth?

If yes, see: Scenario 2: Transfer large datasets with moderate to high network bandwidth.

Do you want to occasionally transfer just a few files over the network?

If yes, see Scenario 3: Transfer small datasets with limited to moderate network bandwidth.

Are you looking for point-in-time data transfer at regular intervals?

If yes, use the scripted/programmatic options outlined in Scenario 4: Periodic data transfers.

Are you looking for on-going, continuous data transfer?

If yes, use the options in Scenario 4: Periodic data transfers.

Data transfer feature in Azure portal

You can also go to your Azure Storage account in Azure portal and select the Data transfer feature. Provide the network bandwidth in your environment, the size of the data you want to transfer, and the frequency of data transfer. You will see the optimum data transfer solutions corresponding to the information that you have provided.