Patrick Domingues

In this tutorial you will learn how create a Storage Account in your Azure Lab. I will guide you through setting up a Storage Account and deploying a Storage Container and uploading an object and deploying a File Share and uploading files. 

Microsoft Azure Storage is the solution for all your storage problems. It gives you the flexibility to pay only for what you use, and it has no limits on capacity. The service supports many different clients, including .NET, Ruby, Java, and more. This gives developers a range of options with which to work.

 

Task Details

1. Understand Storage data services
2. Understand the performance, redundancy and access tiers
3. Sign into Azure portal
4. Create a Storage Account
5. Create a Container and Upload a Container object
6. Create a File Share and Upload a File

 

Task 1: Understand 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 schemeless storage of structured data.
• Azure Disks: Block-level storage volumes for Azure VMs.

 

Task 2: Understand the performance, redundancy and access tiers

Before you create a storage account, think about how you want to use it. The type of account you choose depends on your goals. If you want to manage a lot of data cheaply and quickly, you might choose Azure Blob Storage. If you have sensitive data that requires advanced security features, you might choose Azure File Storage. If your company has a lot of data that needs real-time access, you might choose Azure Data Lake Storage.

Type of storage account	Supported storage services	Redundancy options	Usage
Standard general-purpose v2	Blob Storage (including Data Lake Storage1), Queue Storage, Table Storage, and Azure Files	Locally 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)2	Standard 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 blobs3	Blob Storage (including Data Lake Storage1)	LRS ZRS2	Premium 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 shares3	Azure Files	LRS ZRS2	Premium 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 blobs3	Page blobs only	LRS	Premium storage account type for page blobs only. Learn more about page blobs and sample use cases.

Reference – Microsoft Docs

 

Azure Storage Redundancy

Data in an Azure Storage account is always replicated three times in the primary region. Azure Storage offers two options for how your data is replicated in the primary region:

• Locally redundant storage (LRS) copies your data synchronously three times within a single physical location in the primary region. LRS is the least expensive replication option, but is not recommended for applications requiring high availability or durability.
• Zone-redundant storage (ZRS) copies your data synchronously across three Azure availability zones in the primary region. For applications requiring high availability, Microsoft recommends using ZRS in the primary region, and also replicating to a secondary region.
• Geo-redundant storage (GRS) copies your data synchronously three times within a single physical location in the primary region using LRS. It then copies your data asynchronously to a single physical location in the secondary region. Within the secondary region, your data is copied synchronously three times using LRS.
• Geo-zone-redundant storage (GZRS) copies your data synchronously across three Azure availability zones in the primary region using ZRS. It then copies your data asynchronously to a single physical location in the secondary region. Within the secondary region, your data is copied synchronously three times using LRS.

Reference – Microsoft Docs

 

Azure Storage Access Tiers

The cloud is growing faster than ever. To save money, you must organize your data based on how frequently it is accessed and how long it is retained. Azure Storage offers different tiers of access to help you store your data in the most efficient manner. You can save costs by storing less frequently used data in the cloud, and more important data on your own servers.

• Hot tier – An online tier optimized for storing data that is accessed or modified frequently. The Hot tier has the highest storage costs, but the lowest access costs.
• Cool tier – An online tier optimized for 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.
• 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.

Reference – Microsoft Docs

 

 

Task 3: Log into Azure Portal

1. Open a browser tab and go to the Azure portal using URL https://portal.azure.com.
2. Sign in with your username and password on azure portal.

 

Task 4: Create a Storage Account

1. Locate and click on Create a resource.

2. Search for Storage Account within the Marketplace services

3. You will be shown a few different products however you will want to click on Storage Account.

4. Click the Create button.

5. Now in the Basics tab we will fill out some details.

• Subscription: Leave default subscription
• Resource Group: Create New, AzureLab. If you already have it keep the same one selected.
• Storage Account Name: Give it a unique identifier. 
• Region: Select your location where you want the storage to be hosted.
• Performance: Select Standard.
• Redundancy: Select LRS.

6. Once the validation has passed, click on the Create button.

 

7. You should now see that your deployment is in progress.

8. Wait a few moments and your deployment is complete. Click on Go to resources button.

Task 5: Create a Container and Upload a Container Object

1. Click on Containers on the left-hand side.

2. Click on +Container 

• Give your new container a unique name.
• Click Create button.

 

3. Once the container is created clicked into it.

4. Now you can upload a file in the container storage.

 

Task 6: Create a File Share and Upload a File

1. Go back your storage account overview. 

2. Click on File Shares.

3. Now let’s create a File Share. Click File share.

• Name: Give it a unique name.
• Tier: From the dropdown select Hot. 
• Click the Create button.

4. Click into your newly created File Shares folder.

5. Click on the Upload button and you can now upload files. There is also an option to Connect this storage to Windows computers using PowerShell.

 

You have successfully completed this lab. Don’t forget to go through and delete all you have created when you are done.

I hope this article was helpful, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. If you would like to be notified of when I create a new post, you can subscribe to my blog alert.