Use this comparison chart to determine which Azure storage service to use for different scenarios
To help you choose the right Azure storage service for your needs, we’ve created this comparison chart.
Storage Account: The storage account is where data is stored. It could be a table, blob or file in one of the following regions:
East US (Virginia)
West US (Oregon)
South Central US (Texas)
Table Storage: Tables are used to store structured data such as customer information or product catalogs. They can also be used to store unstructured content such as images and videos that don’t fit into blobs or files but still need some kind of structure to organize it all neatly into meaningful pieces.
Blob Storage: A blob is similar to a spreadsheet in Excel format where columns are separated by tabs rather than lines; however unlike spreadsheets which only allow text entry fields at top level (without any other formatting options), blobs allow users full control over their properties like name/value pairs with multiple fields per row/column combination
Storage account
Storage accounts are the top-level container for all your Azure resources, including Blob storage and files in your VMs. Each region has a single default storage account that you can use to manage all of your resources (this includes virtual machines, websites and databases). The default storage account name must be globally unique.
Table storage
Table storage is a NoSQL data store that stores JSON documents. It’s a good option for storing and querying JSON documents. Table storage can be used to store data for web applications, mobile apps, IoT devices and batch processing jobs.
Table storage works by storing your data in tables (also called partitions) on an Azure table service database server instance (or cluster). Each partition contains its own index and can contain rows of different properties within each partition. Each row has an ID value which corresponds to its position in the table; this allows you to access specific rows by their ID values without having to specify which column they’re located in or how many columns there are before them
Blob storage
Blob storage is a service for storing large amounts of unstructured data, such as text or binary data, that can be accessed from anywhere in the world via HTTP or HTTPS. Blob storage is optimized for streaming and serving media content over the internet.
Blobs are stored in containers (blob containers) and they are created by uploading files to Azure Storage using one of our upload options: HTTP/HTTPS or HTTPS endpoints; GCS buckets; CSV files; or through drag-and-drop operations with our Object Explorer tool.
File storage
File storage is the most flexible option for storing files that are accessed infrequently, such as media content and documents. By comparison, it’s not ideal for storing files that are accessed frequently, such as backups, IaaS VMs or staging disks.
File Storage offers the following features:
Read-only access to your data from anywhere in Azure – You can access your data from any device that has internet connectivity
Access tier
The Access tier is designed to store data that is accessed frequently. It’s optimized for storing data that’s accessed frequently, such as VHDs for IaaS VMs or on-premises backups. You can also use this tier to save the VHDs from your Azure VM instances or other resources that you want to keep in the cloud and access from anywhere in the world with any device.
The Cool tier is ideal for storing files with long lifespans—whether it’s a video file or an image file—that will be accessed infrequently but need to remain available forever (like copies of your original wedding photos).
Premium SSD
Premium SSD offers the fastest access tier, which is ideal for storing data that’s accessed frequently. You can use it to store VHDs for IaaS VM backups and on-premises backups, as well as staging disks for cloud services.
Standard HDD, Standard SSD, and Premium SSD Managed disks support two different access tiers. Select the appropriate access tier based on the frequency in which your data will be accessed. The access tier cannot be changed after creation. – Hot – Optimized for storing data that is accessed frequently. Example usage scenarios include VHDs for IaaS VMs, on-premises backups, and staging disks for cloud services. – Cool – Optimized for storing data that is infrequently accessed and stored for at least 30 days. Example usage scenarios include media content, documents, and analytical data.
Access tier is a way to optimize storage performance by controlling which data is stored on your Azure storage account. You can choose between hot and cool access tiers, which are optimized for frequently accessed data or infrequently accessed data respectively. The following image shows the difference between them:
Hot access allows you to create VHDs, VM images and backups with differential spuriously encrypted volumes (DVSS) in order to store your most critical workloads at a lower cost while retaining their security benefits. Cool access allows you to store these same types of files in the same capacity as they would be if they were stored in standard HDD/SSD drives without having any significant impact on performance or throughput characteristics compared to other options available within Azure Data Lake Store service offerings
Use this chart to choose a storage option
Here’s a quick guide to help you choose the right Azure Storage service for your needs.
Storage account: A storage account stores all of your data, including blobs and tables in it. You can have multiple storage accounts if you need more than one location to store things like different types of files or databases with different access tiers (Premium SSD vs Standard HDD). You’ll also need an active subscription with an Azure credit card on file (preferred) before creating a new plan or moving existing data into another plan after signing up for any new subscription levels; otherwise, this step won’t work because it involves updating some settings on each instance separately instead of working through them together as one unified process from start-to-finish once logged into the portal again!
Conclusion
It’s important to know that Azure offers multiple storage options, each with their own pros and cons. You should use this chart as a starting point for your decision making process. If you need more information on any of these services, feel free to contact the team at Azure Support or check out the documentation for more details!
If this material is helpful, please leave a comment and support us to continue.