When navigating the world of cloud computing platforms, Microsoft Azure is an industry frontrunner. The Azure platform is filled with numerous storage services, so it’s important to understand and compare these to select one that fits your demands. To assist in this process, especially if you’re preparing for the AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals exam, we’re comparing four essential Azure storage services: Azure Blob Storage, Azure File Storage, Azure Queue Storage, and Azure Table Storage.
Azure Blob Storage
Blob storage is ideal for unstructured data such as images, videos, log files, backup data, and many others. Blob storage offers three types of blobs: Block blobs, Page blobs, and Append blobs. Block blobs are ideal for handling large data, such as images or pdf files. Page blobs are for random read/write operations, most suitable for virtual hard disk files. Append blobs, as the name suggests, are optimal for append operations such as logging.
Here’s an example of how to create a Blob storage using the Azure portal:
- Navigate to the Azure portal.
- On your Azure dashboard, select ‘Create a resource’.
- In the ‘New’ window, select ‘Storage’ > ‘Storage account’.
- Fill out the storage account form with all the details and click ‘Review + Create’.
Azure File Storage
Azure File Storage is a service that offers managed file shares in the cloud accessible via the SMB protocol. It seamlessly replaces traditional file servers or NAS devices. Applications running on Azure virtual machines can access these file shares, enabling shared storage scenarios much like on-premises solutions.
For instance, creating an Azure File Storage share via the Azure portal involves these steps:
- In the left menu of the Azure portal, select ‘Storage accounts’.
- Pick your subscription and pick the storage account you want to use.
- In the section of the storage account, select ‘File shares’.
- Choose ‘+ File share’ to create a new share, providing name and quota.
- Pick ‘Create’ to make your file share.
Azure Queue Storage
Azure Queue Storage is a service for storing large numbers of messages that can be accessed from anywhere in the world. It’s perfect for creating a backlog of work and passing messages between different Azure services. Each message can be up to 64 KB in size, and a queue can contain millions of messages.
Here’s how to create an Azure Queue Storage via the Azure portal:
- Select ‘Create a resource’ on your Azure dashboard.
- Select ‘Storage’ > ‘Storage account’.
- Complete the form with all required details and select ‘Review + Create’.
Azure Table Storage
Table Storage is a NoSQL datastore that provides a key/attribute store with a schemaless design. Because Table Storage is schemaless, it’s easy to adapt your data as the needs of your application evolve. Azure Table Storage is useful for applications that need storage but don’t need a complex relational database.
To create an Azure Table Storage via the Azure portal, follow these steps:
- Select ‘Create a resource’ on the Azure dashboard.
- Select ‘Storage’ > ‘Storage account’.
- Complete the form with details and select ‘Review + Create’.
Comparison
Here’s a simplified comparison:
| Azure Blob Storage | Azure File Storage | Azure Queue Storage | Azure Table Storage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Use Cases | Unstructured data: videos, log files etc. | Replacing traditional file shares | Storing large numbers of messages | Storing key/attribute data |
| Data model | Object based | File-based | Message-based | Key-Value pairs |
| Access type | HTTP/HTTPS | SMB/Rest APIs | HTTP/HTTPS | HTTP/HTTPS |
Each storage service provided by Azure holds unique benefits and use cases. Understanding this is crucial for the AZ-900 examination and leveraging Azure’s capabilities optimally. Thus, besides the technical knowledge, practical experience with the Azure environment and its storage services is very beneficial.
Practice Test
True or False: Azure Blob storage is optimized for data that is read and written frequently.
- Answer: False
Explanation: Azure Blob storage is optimized for storing massive amounts of unstructured data, like text or binary data, which can be accessed from anywhere in the world.
Which of these is not in the category of Azure storage services?
- A) Table storage
- B) Queue storage
- C) Machine learning
- D) File storage
Answer: C) Machine learning
Explanation: Machine learning is not a type of Azure storage service. Azure storage services include Blob storage, Table storage, Queue storage, and File storage.
Which Azure storage is designed to handle structured NoSQL data?
- A) Blob Storage
- B) Queue Storage
- C) Table Storage
- D) Disk Storage
Answer: C) Table storage
Explanation: Table storage is designed to handle structured NoSQL data, providing a key-attribute store with a schema-less design.
True or False: Azure Queue storage is used to send and store messages between application components.
- Answer: True
Explanation: Azure Queue storage helps to build flexible applications and separate functions for better durability, all by passing asynchronous messages.
Azure Disk Storage is primarily used for ______________.
- A) High performance and durable block storage
- B) Storing unstructured data
- C) Storing structured data
- D) Simple, reliable data transfer
Answer: A) High performance and durable block storage
Explanation: Azure Disk Storage is primarily used for high performance and durable block storage, often for IaaS virtual machines.
Which Azure storage service provides message queueing for communication between application components?
- A) Blob Storage
- B) Queue Storage
- C) Table Storage
- D) Disk Storage
Answer: B) Queue Storage
Explanation: Queue Storage provides cloud messaging between application components, making sure that if one component must be scaled, it doesn’t negatively affect others.
True or False: Azure Table storage supports complex queries and relational database features.
- Answer: False
Explanation: Azure Table storage is a NoSQL key value store and does not support complex queries and relational database features like SQL Database.
Which Azure storage service offers fully managed file shares in the cloud?
- A) Blob Storage
- B) File Storage
- C) Table Storage
- D) Queue Storage
Answer: B) File Storage
Explanation: Azure File Storage offers fully managed file shares in the cloud that are accessible via the industry-standard SMB protocol.
Azure Blob storage service is most suitable for ____________.
- A) Storing binary and text data
- B) Running applications in VM
- C) Relational databases
- D) Real-time analytics
Answer: A) Storing binary and text data
Explanation: Azure Blob storage is optimized for storing large amounts of unstructured data, such as text or binary data.
True or False: Azure storage services are globally redundant by default.
- Answer: False
Explanation: Azure storage redundancy can be configured per the requirement. It might be locally redundant, globally redundant or zone redundant based on the requirement.
Interview Questions
What Azure storage services can be used to store unstructured data and provide highly available access to data from anywhere in the world?
Azure Blob Storage is designed to handle unstructured data and provides highly available access to data from anywhere.
How is Azure File Storage different from Azure Blob Storage?
Azure File Storage offers shared storage for applications using the standard SMB (Server Message Block). This is different from Blob Storage which is optimized for storing massive amounts of unstructured data.
Can Azure Queue Storage be used to store data for longer periods?
Yes, Azure Queue Storage can keep messages for up to seven days, making it suitable for storing data for longer periods.
Which Azure storage service provides a NoSQL database?
Azure Cosmos DB provides a NoSQL database service.
Can Azure Table Storage handle transactions across multiple tables?
No, Azure Table Storage supports transactions on a per-partition basis only.
Which Azure storage service would you use to improve the speed of access to commonly used data?
Azure Disk Storage is typically used to improve the speed of access to commonly used data.
What is the maximum size of a singe blob in Azure Blob Storage?
A single blob in Azure Blob Storage can be up to 4.77 TB in size.
Which Azure storage service is suitable for developing applications requiring scalable, durable, and highly available secure disk storage for Azure Virtual Machines?
Azure Disk Storage is designed to provide scalable, durable, and highly available secure disk storage for Azure Virtual Machines.
Can Azure Blob Storage handle both structured and unstructured data?
Azure Blob Storage is primarily designed for unstructured data, like images and logs, rather than structured data.
Is Azure Disk Storage designed for structured or unstructured data?
Azure Disk Storage is a block-level storage service and is generally used for structured data.
How does Azure File Storage facilitate data sharing?
Azure File Storage supports the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol which allows applications on multiple machines to share files and folders.
What is Azure Cosmos DB and what does it offer?
Azure Cosmos DB is a globally distributed, multi-model database service. It offers turnkey global distribution, transparent multi-master replication, and guarantees single-digit millisecond latency at the 99th percentile.
How long can Azure Storage Queue keep a message before it gets deleted?
Azure Storage Queue can keep a message for up to 7 days before it gets automatically deleted if not explicitly deleted by the application.
How does Azure Archive Storage differ from other Azure storage services?
Azure Archive Storage is a cost-effective solution for long term storage of data that is not accessed frequently and can tolerate several hours of retrieval latency.
What kind of data does Azure Table Storage typically handle?
Azure Table Storage typically handles structured NoSQL data, providing key-attribute store with a schemaless design.
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