Azure Archive Storage is a cloud-based storage service offered by Microsoft Azure. It provides an extremely cost-effective and scalable solution for storing data that is rarely accessed, such as backups, archives, and infrequently accessed data.
What is Azure Archive Storage?
Azure Archive Storage is a low-cost storage solution that is optimized for storing data that is rarely accessed, but still needs to be retained for long periods of time. It is designed to help organizations manage their growing volumes of data by providing a highly scalable, secure, and durable storage option that can handle large amounts of infrequently accessed data.
Azure Archive Storage is part of the Azure Storage service family and is built on top of the Azure Blob Storage service. It provides the same features and functionality as Azure Blob Storage, but with lower storage costs and higher data retrieval times.
Key Features of Azure Archive Storage
The following are some of the key features of Azure Archive Storage:
- Cost-Effective: Azure Archive Storage offers lower storage costs than other storage options, making it an ideal choice for storing infrequently accessed data.
- High Durability: Azure Archive Storage provides high durability by storing multiple copies of data across different data centers in the same region.
- Secure: Azure Archive Storage provides secure data storage with access control mechanisms, encryption at rest, and data protection features such as redundancy and backup.
- Scalable: Azure Archive Storage provides scalable storage options that can be increased or decreased based on your storage needs.
- Compliant: Azure Archive Storage is compliant with several industry and regulatory standards, including HIPAA, ISO, and GDPR.
Use Cases for Azure Archive Storage
Azure Archive Storage is an ideal choice for organizations looking to store infrequently accessed data in a cost-effective and secure way. Some of the common use cases for Azure Archive Storage include:
- Backup and Archiving: Azure Archive Storage can be used to store backups and archives of data that are infrequently accessed but still need to be retained for long periods of time.
- Compliance: Azure Archive Storage can be used to store data that needs to be retained for compliance reasons, such as financial or medical records.
- Historical Data: Azure Archive Storage can be used to store historical data that is no longer needed for operational use but needs to be retained for reporting or analytical purposes.
- Cold Data Storage: Azure Archive Storage can be used to store data that is no longer needed for day-to-day operations but needs to be retained for future use.
Getting Started with Azure Archive Storage
To get started with Azure Archive Storage, follow these steps:
Step 1: Create an Azure Storage account
The first step to get started with Azure Archive Storage is to create an Azure Storage account. To create an Azure Storage account, follow these steps:
- Log in to the Azure portal: Go to the Azure portal (https://portal.azure.com) and log in using your Microsoft Azure account credentials.
- Create a new Storage account: Click on the “Create a resource” button and search for “Storage account” in the search bar. Then click on the “Storage account – blob, file, table, queue” option and click the “Create” button.
- Provide basic information: In the “Basics” tab, provide a unique name for your storage account, choose the subscription, resource group, and location.
- Choose performance and redundancy options: In the “Performance” tab, choose the performance and redundancy options that best suit your requirements.
- Configure advanced options: In the “Advanced” tab, configure the advanced options if required, such as data protection, networking, and tags.
- Review and create: Review the settings and click the “Create” button to create your Azure Storage account.
Step 2: Create an Azure Archive Storage container
Once you have created an Azure Storage account, you can create an Azure Archive Storage container to store your infrequently accessed data. To create an Azure Archive Storage container, follow these steps:
- Navigate to the Storage account: Click on the “Storage accounts” button in the Azure portal menu and select your Storage account from the list.
- Create a new container: Click on the “Containers” option in the menu and click the “Add” button to create a new container.
- Choose the Archive Storage tier: Choose the “Archive” storage tier for your container to enable Archive Storage for the container.
- Provide a name for the container: Provide a unique name for your container and click the “Create” button to create your container.
Step 3: Upload data to Azure Archive Storage
Once you have created an Azure Archive Storage container, you can start uploading data to it. To upload data to Azure Archive Storage, follow these steps:
- Navigate to the container: Click on the “Containers” option in the Storage account menu and select your Archive Storage container.
- Upload data: Click the “Upload” button to upload your data to the container. You can upload data using the Azure portal, Azure CLI, or Azure SDK.
- Set access tier to Archive: Set the access tier of your uploaded data to Archive to move it to Azure Archive Storage.
Step 4: Retrieve data from Azure Archive Storage
To retrieve data from Azure Archive Storage, you need to restore it to a more accessible storage tier, such as hot or cool storage. To retrieve data from Azure Archive Storage, follow these steps:
- Navigate to the container: Click on the “Containers” option in the Storage account menu and select your Archive Storage container.
- Restore data: Select the data that you want to restore and click the “Restore” button. You can choose to restore the data to hot or cool storage.
- Wait for data to become available: Depending on the size of your data and the current network traffic, it may take some time for your data to become available in the restored storage tier.
Conclusion
Azure Archive Storage is a highly scalable, cost-effective, and secure storage solution that can help organizations store infrequently accessed data in a secure and compliant way. With its high durability, scalability, and security features, Azure Archive Storage is an ideal choice for organizations looking to manage