Describe Azure storage services Flashcards
Azure Blob Storage
-BLOB – binary large object – file
-Designed for storage of files of any kind
-Blobs are stored in “Containers”
Azure File Storage
-Fully managed serverless file shares
-Storage for files accessed via shared drive protocols (SMB/NFS)
-Designed to extend on-premise file shares or implement lift-and-shift scenarios
-Files are stored in “Shares”
-Azure Files shares can be mounted concurrently by cloud or on-premises deployments of Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Azure Disk Storage
-Designed to be used with Azure Virtual Machines
-Offers high-performance, durable block storage for your mission- and business-critical applications.
-Persistent storage
Different sizes:
-Types (SSD, HDD)
-Performance tiers
-Disk can be unmanaged (each disk is stored as a file on a blob storage - customers are responsable for managing those blobs) or managed (Microsoft manages all the files and services)
Azure Queue Storage
-Simple, cost-effective, durable message queueing for large workloads
-Storage for small pieces of data (messages)
-Designed for scalable asynchronous processing
-Build flexible applications and separate functions for better durability across large workloads.
Azure Table Storage
-Store semi-structured data that’s highly available (NoSQL)
-No need for foreign joins, foreign keys, relationships or strict schema
-Create apps that require a flexible data schema
-Designed for fast access
-Create massively-scalable apps
-Many programming interfaces and SDKs
Storage Tiers
Storage tiers:
-Hot tier - storing data that is accessed or modified frequently. The hot tier has the highest storage costs, but the lowest access costs.
-Cool tier - storing data that is infrequently accessed or modified. Data in the cool tier should be stored for a minimum of 30 days. The cool tier has lower storage costs and higher access costs compared to the hot tier.
-Cold tier - storing data that is infrequently accessed or modified. Data in the cold tier should be stored for a minimum of 90 days. The cold tier has lower storage costs and higher access costs compared to the cool tier.
-Archive tier - An offline tier optimized for storing data that is rarely accessed, and that has flexible latency requirements, on the order of hours. Data in the archive tier should be stored for a minimum of 180 days.
Redundancy Options
Locally Redundant Storage (LRS): [(3)]
-LRS replicates data within the same datacenter to protect against local hardware failures. It creates three copies of your data and stores them in separate storage scale units within the same Azure region.
-While LRS provides basic data redundancy, it may not protect against regional failures, and it is typically the most cost-effective option.
Geo-Redundant Storage (GRS): [(3)] [(3)]
-GRS builds on LRS by replicating data to a secondary Azure region, typically hundreds of miles away from the primary region. This secondary region serves as a backup in case of a regional disaster.
-GRS maintains the three copies in the primary region and creates an additional three copies in the secondary region. This option offers higher data durability and availability.
Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS): [(1) (1) (1)]
-ZRS replicates data across multiple availability zones within a single Azure region. Availability zones are isolated datacenter locations with their own power, cooling, and networking.
-ZRS provides redundancy within the same region and is designed to withstand datacenter failures or localized outages.
Geo-Zone-Redundant Storage (GZRS): [(1) (1) (1)] [(3)]
-GZRS combines the benefits of ZRS and GRS. It replicates data across multiple availability zones in the primary region and also to a secondary region for disaster recovery.
-GZRS offers the highest level of redundancy, ensuring data availability in the primary region and providing a strong backup in a secondary region.
Read-Access Geo-Redundant Storage (RA-GRS):
-RA-GRS extends GRS by allowing read-only access to the secondary region in case of a regional outage in the primary region. This enables you to retrieve data from the secondary region even while it is being replicated.
Storage Account
Group of services which include: blob storage, queue storage, table storage, and file storage.
Used to store: files, messages, and semi-structured data.
-Highly scalable (up to petabytes of data)
-Highly durable (99.999999999% - 11 nines, up to 16 nines)
-Cheapest per GB storage
Azure AzCopy
Is a command-line utility that you can use to copy blobs or files to or from your storage account. With AzCopy, you can upload files, download files, copy files between storage accounts, and even synchronize files. AzCopy can even be configured to work with other cloud providers to help move files back and forth between clouds.
Azure Storage Explorer
Is a standalone app that provides a graphical interface to manage files and blobs in your Azure Storage Account. It works on Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems and uses AzCopy on the backend to perform all of the file and blob management tasks. With Storage Explorer, you can upload to Azure, download from Azure, or move between storage accounts.
Azure File Sync
Is a tool that lets you centralize your file shares in Azure Files and keep the flexibility, performance, and compatibility of a Windows file server. Maintains a bidirectional synchronization of files between your on-premises and cloud Windows servers.
Azure Migrate
Azure Migrate
Is a service that helps you migrate from an on-premises environment to the cloud. Azure Migrate functions as a hub to help you manage the assessment and migration of your on-premises datacenter to Azure. It provides the following:
-Unified migration platform: A single portal to start, run, and track your migration to Azure.
-Range of tools: A range of tools for assessment and migration. Azure Migrate tools include Azure
-Migrate: Discovery and assessment and Azure Migrate: Server Migration. Azure Migrate also integrates with other Azure services and tools, and with independent software vendor (ISV) offerings.
-Assessment and migration: In the Azure Migrate hub, you can assess and migrate your on-premises infrastructure to Azure
Azure Migrate - Integrated Tools
-Azure Migrate: Discovery and assessment. Discover and assess on-premises servers running on VMware, Hyper-V, and physical servers in preparation for migration to Azure.
-Azure Migrate: Server Migration. Migrate VMware VMs, Hyper-V VMs, physical servers, other virtualized servers, and public cloud VMs to Azure.
-Data Migration Assistant. Data Migration Assistant is a stand-alone tool to assess SQL Servers. It helps pinpoint potential problems blocking migration. It identifies unsupported features, new features that can benefit you after migration, and the right path for database migration.
-Azure Database Migration Service. Migrate on-premises databases to Azure VMs running SQL Server, -Azure SQL Database, or SQL Managed Instances.
-Azure App Service migration assistant. Azure App Service migration assistant is a standalone tool to assess on-premises websites for migration to Azure App Service. Use Migration Assistant to migrate .NET and PHP web apps to Azure.
-Azure Data Box. Is a physical migration service that helps transfer large amounts of data in a quick, inexpensive, and reliable way. The secure data transfer is accelerated by shipping you a proprietary Data Box storage device that has a maximum usable storage capacity of 80 terabytes. (offline data)
