Microsoft Azure Blobs and Blob Storage

In our previous article, we have seen about the storage solutions that are offered by Microsoft Azure. But, in this article, we will look into one of the storage solutions which is mainly used in the industries. So, in today’s article, we will learn about the Azure Blob storage solution in a detailed manner. So, let us begin.

What is Azure Blob Storage?

Azure Blob storage is one of the core storage solutions which is offered by Microsoft Azure. It permits the users to store a massive amount of unstructured data such as audio, photos etc in Microsoft’s data storage location because they do not follow any particular standard or model Blob stands for Binary Large Object.

Azure Data Storage is mainly connected with data lakes and analytics tasks. The blob storage is used for regular storage tasks. If we discuss personal use there are objects which can be used for storing the data. Simultaneously, at the enterprise level, the objects include log files, backups.

About Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2

Azure’s Blob Storage supports Azure’s Data Lake Storage Gen2 and Microsoft’s enterprise big data analytics solution for the cloud. Generally, Azure Data Lake Storage Gen 2 has a hierarchical file system structure and some benefits of blob storage. They are as follows:

• Low-cost, tiered storage
• High availability
• Strong consistency
• Disaster recovery capabilities

Azure Blob Storage Resources

Azure Blob storage offers three types of resources to its users. They are as follows:

• Storage account
• Container in the storage account
• Blob in a container

Below, we have added a simple diagram that shows the relationship between the above-mentioned resources. They are as follows:

Storage Accounts

In Azure, the storage accounts offer a unique namespace for the user’s data. Every object which they store in Azure will have an address that includes their unique account name.
This unique combination of account name and the Azure Storage blob endpoint will develop the base address for the objects in the storage account.

Moving Data to Blob Storage

1. AzCopy

AzCopy is a simple command-line tool for the user’s running system with Windows and Linux Operating systems. It will simply copy the data to and from the Blob storage across the Azure containers or the storage accounts.

2. Azure Storage Data Movement Library

Azure’s Storage Data Movement Library is a .NET library that is used by the developers for transferring the data between the Azure Storage services. Here, the AzCopy utility is built with the Data Movement library.

3. Azure Data Factory

Azure’s Data Factory is supporting the users to copy the data to and from the Blob storage service with the help of the following:

• Account keys
• Shared Access Signature
• Service Principal
• Managed Identities for Azure Resources

4. Blobfuse

Azure’s Blobfuse is a renowned virtual file system driver which is used by the developers for Azure Blob Storage.
Here, the developer can use the blobfuse for accessing their existing block blob data inside their storage account with the help of the Linux file system.

5. Azure Data Fox

Azure’s Daya Box service is available for the developer to transfer their on-premises data to the blob storage. Depending on the user’s data size they can request for Azure Data Box Disk, Azure Data Box or Azure Data Box Heavy devices from Microsoft.

After that, the developer can copy their data on those devices and then transfer them back to Microsoft for uploading into Blob Storage.

6. Azure Import or Export Service

Azure’s Import or Export Service offers a unique method to import or export massive data sets to and from their storage account with the help of hard drives which they provide.

Creating Azure Blob Container

In Azure, all the blobs should be kept inside a blob container. If we talk about blob containers it is a logical group of blobs. A single account can have an infinite number of containers and every container can store an infinite number of blobs.

Below we have mentioned the steps about how the user can create a blob container in simple steps in the storage explorer.

1: The first step for the user is to open the storage explorer

2: Go to the left pane and then expand the storage account in which the user wants to create a blob container.

3: Now, right-click on the Blob containers and then click on Create Blob Container option.

4: On the screen, a text box will be displayed which can be found below the Blob Containers folder. Then enter the name for the Blob container.

5: Once it is done hit the Enter button and the blob container is created, or if they want to cancel it then hit the Esc button.

Once the user creates a Blob container then it will be shown inside the Blob Containers folder of the selected storage account.

Uploading Azure Block Blob

Block Blobs have the data blocks that are assembled to make a blob. Block blobs are the best solutions for storing binary data. Below, we have mentioned the steps to upload a block blob. They are as follows:

1: The first step is to log in to the Azure portal and then search for the container that was created earlier.

2: The second step is to select the container to view the blobs list.

3: Click on the Upload button and then upload the files.

 4: Lastly, choose the data and click on the Upload button

Observing the Contents of Blob Container

Inside the Blob Container the user stores blobs and folders and below we have mentioned the steps to view its contents inside the Storage Explorer. They are as follows:

1: The first step is to open the Storage Explorer

2: On the left side of the screen expand the storage account which has the blob container

3: Now, expand the Blob container in the storage account

4: Lastly, right-click on the blob container and then Open the Blob Container Editor. The user can double click on the Blob Container to view.

The main page will appear on the screen and it will display the contents inside the Blob containers.

How to Copy Blob Container

In Azure the Storage Explorer allows the users to copy a blob container and paste it inside another storage account. Below, we have mentioned the steps that will help the user to copy a blob container from one storage account to another.

1: The first step is to open the Storage Explorer

2: Expand the Storage Account with the container which is found inside the left pane.

3: Now, expand the Blob Containers located inside the storage account.

4: Then, right-click on the blob container from the context menu and choose Copy Blob Container.

5: Again, right-click on the desired “target” which means the storage account in which the user wants to move. Now, click on the Paste Blob Container option from the context menu.

How to Delete Blob Container

As seen above it is easy to create a Blob Container. Once the Blob Container is created it can be deleted easily. So, in the following section, we will look at the steps to delete a Blob Container. They are as follows:

1: The first step is to open the Storage Explorer window

2: The second step is to expand the storage account in which the Blob Container is located.

3: Now, expand the Blob Containers found inside the Storage Account.

4: Lastly the user has to right-click on the Blob container they wish to delete and then click on the Delete button at the context menu.

How to Upload Blob using PowerShell

Follow below steps to upload Blob using PowerShell:

1: Firstly, the developer should navigate towards the “Windows PowerShell” in the taskbar and right-click on it. Then, select the “Run ISE as Administrator” option.

2: In the second step, the administrator must enter the following command which will allow them to access the accounts.

$context = New-AzureStorageContext -StorageAccountName abc StorageAccountKey

3: In the next step the administrator should run the following command and they will get the details of their Azure account. This will ensure that their subscription is set.

Get-AzureSubscription

4: Now, the administrator must run the following command to upload the file.

Set-AzureStorageBlobContent -Blob Montiorlog.png -Container images -File
"C:\MyDocuments\Microsoftlogo.png" -Context $context -Force

5: Now, run the following to check whether the file is appropriately uploaded or not.

Get-AzureStorageBlob -Container $ContainerName -Context $ctx | Select Name

How to Download Azure Blob?

Follow below steps to download Azure Blob:

1: For downloading the blob, firstly the administrator should set the directory where they want to download the file

$localTargetDirectory = "C:\Users\System\Downloads"

2: Now, in the second step, the administrator should download it.

$BlobName = "MicrosoftLogo.png" Get-AzureStorageBlobContent -Blob $BlobName
Container $ContainerName -Destination $localTargetDirectory -Context $ctx

Note:

• In the commands, the users should edit the highlighted fields.
• Secondly, remember that all the commands and file names are case sensitive.
• Also, the entered commands should be in one line or it should be in a continuous manner in the next line by appending.

Managing the Blobs using Azure Storage Explorer

In Azure, the management of Blobs is an easy task for the administrator. They have to simply use the “Azure Storage Explorer” interface which is similar to windows files and folder explorer. The administrator is authorized to create a new container, upload blobs, view them in a listed format and also they can download them. Along with that, they are allowed to copy them to a secondary location easily.

Built-in Security Features

• Microsoft especially invests more than USD 1 billion yearly in cybersecurity research and development.
• Secondly, Microsoft hires more than 3,500 security experts specialized in the field of data security and privacy.
• Lastly, Azure provides more certification than any other cloud provider in the industry.

How to Research Blob Storage?

In the next section of the article, we will suggest some tips for the users who are planning to conduct research on Azure’s Blob Storage.

Firstly, we highly suggest you discuss with a well-experienced user who has hands-on experience in Blob Storage. In this way, you can get a good idea about how things work in Azure.

Secondly, you can take the help of social media platforms where you can freely ask your questions and clear your doubts. Also, you can get opinions that will help in your research work.

Lastly, remember you have to read a lot and it is the most important factor while doing the research.

One can get great knowledge by reading journals, articles, blogs, white papers, technical documents and many more.

Examples of Azure Blobs

Below we have mentioned some of the examples of the Blobs which one can consider while studying Azure Blob storage.

According to the technical team of Microsoft Azure’s Blobs service can be categorized into three sections. They are as follows:

• Block Blobs
• Append Blobs
• Page Blobs

In Azure, the Block Blobs are the ones that can easily support up to fifty thousand blocks which comprises four megabytes and with up to one hundred and ninety-five gigabytes completely.

Basically, they are intended for the textual purpose and other binary files. Secondly, there are Append Blobs which will take the responsibility to append the operations which are specially designed for log files.

And, lastly, the Page Blob which is specially designed for daily tasks for performing regular reading and writing operations. These blobs are made and then accessed by using NET code.

The user should be clear with his/her concept while using the Azure Blob Storage because it is very crucial. Below we have mentioned an example scenario.

Consider if you have a photo album but unfortunately, you are completely clueless about how and where to save the album.

As, it could be stored inside the database with the help of a particular blob data type for images, audios and videos but these blobs size is more than the data types.

The amount of data that can be stored by the blobs is completely dependent upon the database types but few databases permit the blob sizes that can move to several gigabytes.

Features of Azure Blobs

1. Scalable, Durable and Available

In Azure, sixteen nines are specially designed for durability with geo-replication and flexibility for scaling according to the requirement.

2. Secured

Administrators can authenticate the users with the help of Azure Active Directory and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) along with encryption at rest and advanced threat protection.

3. Optimized for Data Lakes

Azure offers File namespace and multi-protocol access support which authorizes the analytics workloads for data insights.

4. Comprehensive Data Management

In Azure, Blobs provide End-to-end lifecycle management, policy-based access control and immutable (WORM) storage

Conclusion

Thus, we are in the last section of the article and today we have seen about the Blob storage solution. You can read and follow the above-mentioned steps and perform the tasks completely. We hope you enjoyed today’s article.