Azure Storage Services - The Mental Model

Source: Azure Master Class v3 - Part 5 - Storage by John Savill
Covers: 35:00 - 1:15:00

The Big Picture

Think of a Storage Account as a building with four departments, each specialized for a different job:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     🏢 STORAGE ACCOUNT                              │
│                    (Your Storage Building)                          │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                     │
│   ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌───────────┐ │
│   │   📦 BLOB   │  │  📁 FILES   │  │  📬 QUEUE   │  │ 📊 TABLE  │ │
│   │             │  │             │  │             │  │           │ │
│   │  Any file   │  │ File shares │  │  Messages   │  │ Key-Value │ │
│   │  you want   │  │  (SMB/NFS)  │  │   passing   │  │   data    │ │
│   └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘  └───────────┘ │
│        ⭐              ⭐                 ⚠️             ⚠️         │
│     Primary         Primary           Legacy          Legacy       │
│                                                                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

The 80/20 Rule

Blob and Files are what you'll use 99% of the time. Queue and Table exist but Microsoft recommends Service Bus and Cosmos DB instead.

Part 1: Blob Storage - The Foundation

Blob = Binary Large OBject. It stores ANY file - images, videos, backups, logs, anything.

The Container Model

Storage Account
    └── Container (like a folder)
            └── Blobs (your files)
            └── Blobs
            └── Blobs
    └── Container
            └── Blobs

Mental Model: Container = Bucket. You create buckets to organize your blobs.

🖥️ Portal Deep Dive: Create Storage Account Options

When you create a storage account in Azure Portal, you'll see several dropdowns that determine what kind of storage you get. Understanding these options is critical!

The Portal Creation Flow

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   CREATE STORAGE ACCOUNT                            │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                     │
│  Storage account name *    [sajttdevuksouth01          ]            │
│                                                                     │
│  Region *                  [(UK) UK South              ▼]           │
│                            Deploy to an Azure Extended Zone          │
│                                                                     │
│  Preferred storage type    [Azure Blob Storage or...   ▼]           │
│                            ℹ️ This helps us provide relevant         │
│                               guidance. It doesn't restrict         │
│                               your storage to this resource type.   │
│                                                                     │
│  Primary workload          [Other                      ▼]           │
│                                                                     │
│  Performance *             [Standard / Premium         ]            │
│                                                                     │
│  Premium account type *    [Block blobs / Page blobs / ▼]           │
│                            File shares                              │
│                                                                     │
│  Redundancy *              [LRS / ZRS / GRS / GZRS     ▼]           │
│                                                                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

This dropdown has two options:

Option	What it means
Azure Blob Storage or Azure Data Lake Storage Gen 2	You primarily want to store blobs (files, images, backups, data lake)
Azure Files	You primarily want SMB/NFS file shares

This is GUIDANCE only!

Notice the info text: "This helps us provide relevant guidance. It doesn't restrict your storage to this resource type."

Even if you select "Blob Storage", you can still create File Shares later! This just customizes the Portal experience.

What happens when you select each:

Preferred Storage Type: Azure Blob Storage
    └── Portal shows blob-focused options
    └── Suggests blob-related configurations
    └── You can STILL create file shares!

Preferred Storage Type: Azure Files
    └── Portal shows file share-focused options
    └── Suggests file-related configurations  
    └── You can STILL create blob containers!

When you select Premium performance, this dropdown appears with three options:

Option	Description	Use Case
Block blobs	"Best for high transaction rates or low storage latency"	AI/ML datasets, interactive apps, IoT data ingestion, media streaming
File shares	"Best for enterprise or high-performance applications that need to scale"	High-perf file shares, databases on file shares, NFS for Linux
Page blobs	"Best for random read and write operations"	Unmanaged VM disks (legacy), SAP HANA, random I/O workloads

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              PRIMARY WORKLOAD DECISION TREE                         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                     │
│  What are you storing?                                              │
│         │                                                           │
│         ├── Files accessed via URL/API?                             │
│         │         │                                                 │
│         │         └── Need low latency? ──▶ BLOCK BLOBS (Premium)   │
│         │                                                           │
│         ├── SMB/NFS file shares?                                    │
│         │         │                                                 │
│         │         └── Need high IOPS? ──▶ FILE SHARES (Premium)     │
│         │                                                           │
│         └── VM disks (unmanaged)?                                   │
│                   │                                                 │
│                   └── Random I/O? ──▶ PAGE BLOBS (Premium)          │
│                                                                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Page Blobs are LEGACY

Microsoft recommends Managed Disks for VM disks now. Premium Page Blobs are mainly for:

Legacy workloads that can't migrate
Specialized scenarios like SAP HANA
Custom VHD management

3️⃣ Performance (Radio Buttons)

Performance	What You Get	Billing Model	Best For
Standard	HDD-backed, higher latency, all features	Consumption (pay for what you use)	99% of workloads, cost-sensitive, backups
Premium	SSD-backed, consistent low latency, limited features	Provisioned (pay for reserved capacity)	Performance-critical, low latency needs

STANDARD                              PREMIUM
┌────────────────────────┐           ┌────────────────────────┐
│  ✅ All redundancy     │           │  ❌ LRS/ZRS only       │
│     (LRS/ZRS/GRS/GZRS) │           │                        │
│                        │           │                        │
│  ✅ All access tiers   │           │  ❌ No tiers           │
│     (Hot/Cool/Cold/    │           │     (always "hot")     │
│      Archive)          │           │                        │
│                        │           │                        │
│  ✅ Lifecycle mgmt     │           │  ⚠️ Delete only        │
│     (auto-tiering)     │           │     (no tier changes)  │
│                        │           │                        │
│  💰 Pay for USED       │           │  💰 Pay for PROVISIONED│
│     capacity           │           │     capacity           │
│                        │           │                        │
│  📊 Variable latency   │           │  📊 Consistent latency │
│     (depends on load)  │           │     (SSD-backed)       │
└────────────────────────┘           └────────────────────────┘

When Performance = Premium, you MUST select the account type:

Premium Type	Creates	Storage Service	Max Size	Key Feature
Block blobs	BlockBlobStorage account	Blob only	190.7 TiB per blob	High transaction rates
Page blobs	Storage account (Premium)	Page blobs only	8 TiB per blob	Random I/O
File shares	FileStorage account	Files only	100 TiB per share	NFS 4.1 support

You CANNOT Change This Later!

Once you create a Premium storage account, you're locked into that type:

Premium Block Blob account → Can only store block blobs
Premium Page Blob account → Can only store page blobs
Premium File Shares account → Can only have file shares

Standard accounts can do everything! (Blobs + Files + Queues + Tables)

Options depend on Performance tier:

Redundancy	Standard	Premium	Copies	Regions
LRS (Locally Redundant)	✅	✅	3 copies	1 datacenter
ZRS (Zone Redundant)	✅	✅	3 copies	3 zones in 1 region
GRS (Geo Redundant)	✅	❌	6 copies	2 regions
GZRS (Geo-Zone Redundant)	✅	❌	6 copies	3 zones + secondary region

Complete Decision Matrix

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                 WHICH OPTIONS SHOULD I PICK?                        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                     │
│  SCENARIO                          RECOMMENDED SETTINGS             │
│  ────────────────────────────────  ─────────────────────────────    │
│                                                                     │
│  General file storage              Standard + Blob + LRS/ZRS        │
│  (images, docs, backups)                                            │
│                                                                     │
│  Data Lake / Analytics             Standard + Blob + LRS            │
│                                    (+ enable HNS at creation!)      │
│                                                                     │
│  File server replacement           Standard + Files + ZRS           │
│  (SMB shares)                                                       │
│                                                                     │
│  High-perf application data        Premium + Block blobs + ZRS      │
│  (low latency needed)                                               │
│                                                                     │
│  Linux NFS file shares             Premium + File shares + LRS      │
│  (NFS 4.1 protocol)                                                 │
│                                                                     │
│  VM disks (unmanaged)              Premium + Page blobs + LRS       │
│  ⚠️ Use Managed Disks instead!                                      │
│                                                                     │
│  Disaster recovery needed          Standard + GRS/GZRS              │
│  (cross-region protection)         ❌ Premium doesn't support!      │
│                                                                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Visual: What Each Selection Creates

When you select Azure Files as preferred type:

Setting	What Portal Shows
Preferred storage type	Azure Files
Performance: Standard	Creates StorageV2 account, SMB shares available
Performance: Premium	Shows "File shares" as Premium account type

Premium File Shares Billing (Provisioned V1):

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│           PREMIUM FILES BILLING MODEL (Provisioned)                 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                     │
│  You PROVISION a size:        100 GiB  ──▶  Pay for 100 GiB         │
│                               500 GiB  ──▶  Pay for 500 GiB         │
│                               1 TiB    ──▶  Pay for 1 TiB           │
│                                                                     │
│  But wait! Performance scales with size:                            │
│                                                                     │
│  ┌──────────────┬────────────┬──────────────┐                       │
│  │ Provisioned  │   IOPS     │  Throughput  │                       │
│  ├──────────────┼────────────┼──────────────┤                       │
│  │ 100 GiB      │   500      │   70 MiB/s   │                       │
│  │ 500 GiB      │   2,500    │   125 MiB/s  │                       │
│  │ 1 TiB        │   5,000    │   250 MiB/s  │                       │
│  │ 10 TiB       │   50,000   │   1,000 MiB/s│                       │
│  └──────────────┴────────────┴──────────────┘                       │
│                                                                     │
│  ⚠️ Need more IOPS? You must provision MORE CAPACITY!               │
│                                                                     │
│  Real example:                                                      │
│  - You store only 50 GiB of data                                    │
│  - But you need 5,000 IOPS                                          │
│  - You must provision 1 TiB and PAY for 1 TiB!                      │
│                                                                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

New Option: Provisioned V2

There's now a Provisioned V2 model where you can set capacity, IOPS, and throughput independently (three separate dials). This avoids over-provisioning capacity just for IOPS!

Three Types of Blobs

Type	Think of it as...	What it does	Use when
Block Blob	A normal file	Stores files in chunks (blocks)	99% of cases - images, videos, documents, backups
Page Blob	A hard drive	Random read/write at 512-byte pages	VHDs for VMs (but use Managed Disks now!)
Append Blob	A log file	Only add to the end, never modify	Logs, audit trails, streaming data

BLOCK BLOB                    PAGE BLOB                    APPEND BLOB
┌─────────────┐              ┌─────────────┐              ┌─────────────┐
│  Block 1    │              │ Page Page   │              │  Entry 1    │
│  Block 2    │              │ Page Page   │              │  Entry 2    │
│  Block 3    │              │ Page Page   │              │  Entry 3    │
│  Block 4    │              │ (random I/O)│              │  + new      │ ← Only here
└─────────────┘              └─────────────┘              └─────────────┘
  Upload in parts              Read/write anywhere          Append only

The Namespace Problem (CRITICAL!)

This is the most important concept to understand about blob storage.

Flat Namespace (Default)

What you SEE:                    What ACTUALLY exists:
                                 
folder/                          ❌ "folder" doesn't exist!
  └── subfolder/                 
        └── file.txt             The blob's NAME is literally:
                                 "folder/subfolder/file.txt"

The "/" is part of the blob's name! There are no real folders.

Why this matters:

Rename folder? = Rename EVERY blob inside (copy + delete each one) = SLOW
Move folder? = Copy ALL blobs to new "path", delete originals = SLOW
Delete folder? = Delete EVERY blob individually = SLOW

Hierarchical Namespace (Data Lake)

What you SEE:                    What ACTUALLY exists:
                                 
folder/                          ✅ "folder" is a REAL directory object
  └── subfolder/                 ✅ "subfolder" is a REAL directory object
        └── file.txt             ✅ "file.txt" is inside it

Why this matters:

Rename folder? = Change one metadata entry = INSTANT
Move folder? = Change one pointer = INSTANT
Delete folder? = Remove directory = FAST

Part 2: Azure Files - Network Shares

Azure Files = File shares in the cloud, accessible via SMB or NFS.

Mental Model

On-Premises                              Azure Files
┌─────────────────┐                     ┌─────────────────┐
│  File Server    │        →            │  Storage Account│
│  \\server\share │      Migrate        │  \\account.file.│
│                 │                     │  core.windows.  │
│  SMB shares     │                     │  net\share      │
└─────────────────┘                     └─────────────────┘
     Same experience, no server to manage!

Two Protocols

Protocol	OS Support	Tier Required	Encryption in Transit	Access From
SMB	Windows, Linux, macOS	Standard or Premium	✅ Yes (SMB 3.x)	Anywhere (internet!)
NFS 4.1	Linux only	Premium only	❌ No	VNet only (trusted)

Authentication Methods (SMB only)

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     Who can access my share?                        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                     │
│  1. STORAGE KEY        Shared password (avoid in production!)       │
│     ⚠️ Risky                                                        │
│                                                                     │
│  2. AD DS              Your on-prem Active Directory                │
│     ✅ Enterprise      (Kerberos via domain controller)             │
│                                                                     │
│  3. ENTRA ID           Cloud identity, hybrid joined devices        │
│     ✅ Modern          (Kerberos via Entra)                         │
│                                                                     │
│  4. ENTRA DS           Managed AD in Azure                          │
│     ✅ Cloud-only      (When you have no on-prem AD)                │
│                                                                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Part 3: Queue & Table (Legacy Services)

De-emphasized Services

Microsoft is not investing in these. They work, but use modern alternatives for new projects.

Service	What it does	Modern Alternative
Queue	Pass messages between apps	Azure Service Bus
Table	Simple NoSQL key-value store	Cosmos DB Table API

Part 4: Access Tiers - The Cost Optimization Layer

The Fundamental Trade-off

                    STORAGE COST                ACCESS COST
                    (per GB/month)              (per operation)
                         │                           │
    HOT         ████████████████████      ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
                High storage cost          Low access cost
                         │                           │
    COOL        ████████████████          ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
                Medium                     Medium
                         │                           │
    COLD        ████████████              ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
                Lower                      Higher
                         │                           │
    ARCHIVE     ████                      ████████████████████████ + TIME!
                Cheapest storage           Expensive + wait hours

The Tier Decision Tree

How often do you access this data?
          │
          ▼
    ┌─────────────┐     Yes    ┌─────────┐
    │ Frequently? │───────────▶│   HOT   │
    └─────────────┘            └─────────┘
          │ No
          ▼
    ┌─────────────┐     Yes    ┌─────────┐
    │ Monthly?    │───────────▶│  COOL   │ (30 day minimum)
    └─────────────┘            └─────────┘
          │ No
          ▼
    ┌─────────────┐     Yes    ┌─────────┐
    │ Quarterly?  │───────────▶│  COLD   │ (90 day minimum)
    └─────────────┘            └─────────┘
          │ No
          ▼
    ┌─────────────┐     Yes    ┌─────────────┐
    │ Yearly/     │───────────▶│   ARCHIVE   │ (180 day minimum)
    │ Compliance? │            │   OFFLINE!  │
    └─────────────┘            └─────────────┘

Critical Archive Behavior

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    ⚠️ ARCHIVE IS OFFLINE ⚠️                         │
│                                                                     │
│   You CANNOT read archived data directly!                           │
│                                                                     │
│   To read: Archive ──▶ Rehydrate to Hot/Cool/Cold ──▶ Read         │
│                              │                                      │
│                              ▼                                      │
│                    Standard: up to 15 hours                         │
│                    High Priority: ~1 hour                           │
│                                                                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

BLOB TIERS                           FILE SHARE TIERS
(Set per individual blob)            (Set per entire share)

Container                            Share: Transaction Optimized
├── photo1.jpg [HOT]                 ├── file1.docx
├── photo2.jpg [COOL]                ├── file2.xlsx     All files in
├── backup.zip [COLD]                └── file3.pptx     share = same tier
└── archive.bak [ARCHIVE]            
                                     (Cannot set per-file!)
Each blob = different tier!

Part 5: Data Lake Storage Gen2

Data Lake = Blob Storage + Hierarchical Namespace for big data analytics.

Why Data Lake?

Traditional Approach:                Data Lake Approach:
                                     
┌─────────┐   Transform    Store     ┌─────────┐   Store    Transform
│ Raw Data│──────────────▶ ❌        │ Raw Data│──────────▶──────────▶
└─────────┘   THEN store             └─────────┘   first!   when needed
              (lose original)                     (keep everything)
              
"I need that field I threw away!"    "Storage is cheap. Transform later."

The Data Lake Pattern

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        DATA LAKE                                    │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                     │
│  📥 INGEST          📦 RAW ZONE         ✨ CURATED        🎯 SERVE  │
│                                                                     │
│  CRM ────────┐      ┌──────────┐       ┌──────────┐    ┌─────────┐ │
│              │      │          │       │          │    │ Power   │ │
│  IoT ────────┼─────▶│ Store    │──────▶│ Clean    │───▶│ BI      │ │
│              │      │ as-is    │       │ Transform│    │ ML      │ │
│  Logs ───────┘      │          │       │          │    │ Reports │ │
│                     └──────────┘       └──────────┘    └─────────┘ │
│                      Keep forever       Process when                │
│                      (cheap!)           needed                      │
│                                                                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Part 6: Static Website Hosting

Host HTML/CSS/JS directly from blob storage - no web server needed!

How It Works

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        STORAGE ACCOUNT                              │
│                                                                     │
│   1. Enable "Static website"                                        │
│   2. Creates special container: $web                                │
│   3. Upload your HTML/CSS/JS                                        │
│   4. Get public URL                                                 │
│                                                                     │
│   $web/                                                             │
│   ├── index.html      ← Default page                               │
│   ├── 404.html        ← Error page                                 │
│   ├── styles.css                                                    │
│   └── script.js                                                     │
│                                                                     │
│   URL: https://accountname.z13.web.core.windows.net                │
│                                                                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

📋 CRITICAL: Feature Compatibility Matrix

What You CANNOT Do Together

These features conflict - choosing one disables others. Know this for exams!

Hierarchical Namespace (HNS) Compatibility

When you enable Hierarchical Namespace (Data Lake Gen2), these features are affected:

Feature	Without HNS	With HNS (Data Lake)
Blob Versioning	✅ Available	❌ NOT Available
Blob Snapshots	✅ Full support	⚠️ Limited
Blob Index Tags	✅ Available	❌ NOT Available
Change Feed	✅ Available	✅ Available
Point-in-time Restore	✅ Available	❌ NOT Available
Object Replication	✅ Available	❌ NOT Available
Soft Delete (Blob)	✅ Available	✅ Available
Soft Delete (Container)	✅ Available	✅ Available
NFS 3.0 Protocol	❌ Not Available	✅ Available
SFTP Protocol	❌ Not Available	✅ Available
POSIX ACLs	❌ Not Available	✅ Available
True Directories	❌ Virtual only	✅ Real directories

Premium Performance Compatibility

Feature	Standard	Premium Block Blob	Premium Page Blob	Premium Files
Access Tiers	✅ Hot/Cool/Cold/Archive	❌ No tiers	❌ No tiers	❌ No tiers
Lifecycle Management (Tiering)	✅ Yes	❌ Delete only	❌ Delete only	❌ Not available
GRS/GZRS Redundancy	✅ Yes	❌ LRS/ZRS only	❌ LRS/ZRS only	❌ LRS/ZRS only
Blob Versioning	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No	N/A
NFS 4.1 (Files)	❌ No	N/A	N/A	✅ Yes

Blob Type Compatibility

Feature	Block Blob	Page Blob	Append Blob
Access Tiers	✅ Hot/Cool/Cold/Archive	❌ No tiers	❌ No tiers
Versioning	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No
Snapshots	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No
Lifecycle Tiering	✅ Yes	❌ Delete only	❌ Delete only
Max Size	190.7 TiB	8 TiB	195 GiB

Soft Delete & Versioning Interaction

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   PROTECTION OPTIONS                                │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                     │
│   SOFT DELETE              VERSIONING              POINT-IN-TIME    │
│   (Recovers deleted)       (Keeps all versions)   (Full restore)   │
│                                                                     │
│   Delete blob ──▶          Edit blob ──▶          Restore entire   │
│   Still there for          Old version kept       container to     │
│   X days                   automatically          specific time    │
│                                                                     │
│   ✅ Works with HNS        ❌ NOT with HNS        ❌ NOT with HNS   │
│                                                                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

🔧 Portal vs API: What You Can Do

Storage Account Creation

Setting	Portal	CLI/PowerShell	REST API	ARM/Bicep
Enable HNS	✅ Checkbox at creation	✅ `--enable-hierarchical-namespace`	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Change HNS later	❌ Cannot change	❌ Cannot change	❌ Cannot change	❌ Cannot change
Performance tier	✅ Radio button	✅ `--sku Premium_LRS`	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Change performance later	❌ Cannot change	❌ Cannot change	❌ Cannot change	❌ Cannot change
Redundancy	✅ Dropdown	✅ `--sku Standard_GRS`	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Change redundancy later	⚠️ Limited options	⚠️ Limited options	⚠️ Limited options	⚠️ Limited options

Blob Operations

Operation	Portal	CLI	REST API	SDK
Upload blob	✅ Drag & drop	✅ `az storage blob upload`	✅ PUT Blob	✅ Yes
Set tier on upload	✅ Dropdown	✅ `--tier Cool`	✅ `x-ms-access-tier` header	✅ Yes
Change tier later	✅ Right-click > Change tier	✅ `az storage blob set-tier`	✅ Set Blob Tier	✅ Yes
Batch tier change	❌ One at a time	✅ Loop/batch	✅ Batch API	✅ Yes
Copy blob cross-account	⚠️ Download/Upload	✅ `az storage blob copy`	✅ Copy Blob	✅ Yes
Copy blob cross-region	⚠️ Manual	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Move blob (same account)	❌ Copy + Delete	❌ Copy + Delete	❌ Copy + Delete	❌ Copy + Delete
Move blob (HNS enabled)	✅ True move	✅ `az storage fs file move`	✅ DFS API	✅ Yes
Rename blob	❌ Copy + Delete	❌ Copy + Delete	❌ Copy + Delete	❌ Copy + Delete
Rename blob (HNS)	✅ Instant	✅ Instant	✅ Instant	✅ Instant

Container Operations

Operation	Portal	CLI	REST API
Create container	✅ + Container button	✅ `az storage container create`	✅ PUT Container
Delete container	✅ Delete button	✅ `az storage container delete`	✅ DELETE Container
Set access level	✅ Change access level	✅ `--public-access blob/container`	✅ Set Container ACL
List blobs	✅ Browse in portal	✅ `az storage blob list`	✅ List Blobs
Move container	❌ NOT POSSIBLE	❌ NOT POSSIBLE	❌ NOT POSSIBLE
Rename container	❌ NOT POSSIBLE	❌ NOT POSSIBLE	❌ NOT POSSIBLE
Copy container	❌ Copy blobs individually	✅ Script with azcopy	✅ Copy each blob

You Cannot Move or Rename Containers!

There is no move or rename operation for containers. You must:

Create new container with desired name
Copy all blobs to new container
Delete old container

Tier Change Operations

From → To	Time	Method	Cost Impact
Hot → Cool	Instant	Portal/CLI/API	Write charge to Cool
Hot → Cold	Instant	Portal/CLI/API	Write charge to Cold
Hot → Archive	Instant	Portal/CLI/API	Write charge to Archive
Cool → Hot	Instant	Portal/CLI/API	Read charge from Cool
Cool → Archive	Instant	Portal/CLI/API	Write charge to Archive
Archive → Hot	Up to 15 hours	Rehydrate	High priority extra cost
Archive → Cool	Up to 15 hours	Rehydrate	High priority extra cost
Archive → Cold	Up to 15 hours	Rehydrate	High priority extra cost

What API Can Do That Portal Cannot

Capability	Portal	API/CLI
Bulk operations (thousands of blobs)	❌ One by one	✅ Batch API, azcopy
Conditional operations (ETags)	❌ No	✅ If-Match headers
Lease blobs (lock for exclusive access)	❌ Limited	✅ Full control
Append to append blob	❌ No	✅ Append Block
Stage blocks before commit	❌ No	✅ Put Block + Put Block List
Set blob metadata in bulk	❌ No	✅ Yes
Automate with triggers	❌ No	✅ Event Grid, Functions

Quick Reference Summary

Service Selection

What are you storing?
        │
        ├── Files to access via URL → BLOB
        │
        ├── File share for apps/users → FILES
        │
        ├── Messages between apps → SERVICE BUS (not Queue)
        │
        └── Key-value data → COSMOS DB (not Table)

Tier Selection

Access frequency?
        │
        ├── Daily/Hourly → HOT
        ├── Monthly → COOL (30 days min)
        ├── Quarterly → COLD (90 days min)
        └── Yearly/Compliance → ARCHIVE (180 days, OFFLINE!)

Namespace Decision

Need true directories, NFS, SFTP, or big data analytics?
        │
        ├── Yes → Hierarchical Namespace (Data Lake Gen2)
        │         ⚠️ But you LOSE: Versioning, Index Tags, Point-in-time
        │
        └── No → Flat Namespace (Standard)
                 ✅ All blob features available
        
⚠️ DECIDE AT CREATION - CANNOT CHANGE LATER!

🧪 Labs

See labs.md for hands-on exercises using Azure Portal!

Next Section

Continue to: 04-security-and-access-control.md (coming next)

Labs

Extras

Azure Storage Services - The Mental Model ​

The Big Picture ​

Part 1: Blob Storage - The Foundation ​

The Container Model ​

🖥️ Portal Deep Dive: Create Storage Account Options ​

The Portal Creation Flow ​

1️⃣ Preferred Storage Type (Dropdown) ​

2️⃣ Primary Workload (Dropdown) - Only for PREMIUM ​

3️⃣ Performance (Radio Buttons) ​

4️⃣ Premium Account Type (Dropdown) - Only for PREMIUM ​

5️⃣ Redundancy (Dropdown) ​

Complete Decision Matrix ​

Visual: What Each Selection Creates ​

Three Types of Blobs ​

The Namespace Problem (CRITICAL!) ​

Flat Namespace (Default) ​

Hierarchical Namespace (Data Lake) ​

Part 2: Azure Files - Network Shares ​

Mental Model ​

Two Protocols ​

Authentication Methods (SMB only) ​

Part 3: Queue & Table (Legacy Services) ​

Part 4: Access Tiers - The Cost Optimization Layer ​

The Fundamental Trade-off ​

The Tier Decision Tree ​

Critical Archive Behavior ​

Blob Tiers vs File Share Tiers ​

Part 5: Data Lake Storage Gen2 ​

Why Data Lake? ​

The Data Lake Pattern ​

Part 6: Static Website Hosting ​

How It Works ​

📋 CRITICAL: Feature Compatibility Matrix ​

Hierarchical Namespace (HNS) Compatibility ​

Premium Performance Compatibility ​

Blob Type Compatibility ​

Soft Delete & Versioning Interaction ​

🔧 Portal vs API: What You Can Do ​

Storage Account Creation ​

Blob Operations ​

Container Operations ​

Tier Change Operations ​

What API Can Do That Portal Cannot ​

Quick Reference Summary ​

Service Selection ​

Tier Selection ​

Namespace Decision ​

🧪 Labs ​

Next Section ​