Azure Storage is Microsoft's cloud storage solution that provides scalable and reliable storage for modern applications. It contains four main services - Blob storage for unstructured object data, Table storage for structured datasets, Queue storage for reliable messaging, and File storage for shared storage. Data stored in Azure Storage can be replicated across multiple locations for durability and high availability depending on the replication option selected - locally redundant, zone redundant, geo-redundant or read-access geo-redundant storage.

1. AZURE STORAGE BASICS
By Sai Kishore

2. WHAT IS AZURE STORAGE ?
Azure Storage is the cloud storage solution for modern applications.
Durability, Availability, and Scalability to meet the needs of their
customers.
WhatAzure Storage is, and how you can take advantage of it in your cloud?
Azure Storage is massively scalable, so you can store and process
hundreds of terabytes of data to support the big data scenarios required
by scientific, financial analysis, and media applications.
What kinds of data you can store with the Azure Storage services.
Azure storage provides the following four services: Blob storage,
Table storage, Queue storage, and File storage.

3. WHAT IS BLOB,TABLE, QUEUE & FILE
STORAGE ?
 Blob Storage stores unstructured object
data. A blob can be any type of text or binary
data, such as a document, media file, or
application installer. Blob storage is also
referred to as Object storage.
 Table Storage stores structured datasets.
Table storage is a NoSQL key-attribute data
store, which allows for rapid development and
fast access to large quantities of data.
 Queue Storage provides reliable messaging
for workflow processing and for
communication between components of
cloud services.
 File Storage offers shared storage for legacy
applications using the standard SMB protocol.
Azure virtual machines and cloud services can
share file data across application components
via mounted shares, and on-premises
applications can access file data in a share via
the File service REST API

4. LETS UNDERSTAND WHAT AZURE
STORAGE CONTAINS ?
When you create a storage account, you can select one
of the following replication options:
Locally redundant storage (LRS)
Zone-redundant storage (ZRS)
Geo-redundant storage (GRS)
Read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS)
Replication protects your data and preserves your
application up-time in the event of hardware failures. If
your data is replicated to a second data center, that also
protects your data against any disaster in the primary
location.

5. USEFUL LINKS -
 https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/documentation/articles/storage-
introduction/
 https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/documentation/articles/storage-
redundancy/
 https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/documentation/articles/storage-use-
azcopy/
 http://storageexplorer.com/
 Pricing –
 https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/storage/blobs/