Azure Storage overview
As mentioned earlier, Azure Storage is Microsoft's data storage solution in the cloud. The solution consists of core services that can be used to store different datasets for modern data storage scenarios, as follows (Figure 10.1):
- Blob Service, which is object-based storage for text and binary data. Data stored in this service is primarily accessed using a REST API.
- Files Service, which offers fully managed file shares in the cloud that can be accessed using standard Server Message Block (SMB), Network File System (NFS), or REST APIs. File shares created in this service can be mounted on cloud or on-premises systems as we would mount a typical SMB share.
- Table Service, which offers a NoSQL data store for storing semi-structured application datasets accessed over a REST API or OData.
- Queue Service, which offers a messaging store for reliable communication between decoupled application components: