Cloud computing is a transformative technology that delivers computing resources such as servers, storage, databases, networking, and software over the internet, often referred to as “the cloud.”
fast-paced development world, businesses demand platforms that allow rapid application deployment, built-in scaling, secure hosting, and deep integration with developer tools. Microsoft Azure offers a solution tailored for exactly this need: Azure App Service.
Azure Storage By Pooja | 15th July 2025 Introduction In the era of cloud computing, data is a critical asset, and managing it efficiently is essential. Microsoft Azure offers a robust set of storage solutions to cater to various data storage and management needs. These services provide scalable, durable, and secure storage for different kinds of data—from unstructured data to structured NoSQL tables, from queues for messaging to file shares for legacy applications. Azure Storage is a core service of Microsoft Azure, providing cloud-based storage for modern applications. Whether you’re building a data lake, streaming real-time telemetry, or maintaining enterprise-grade files, Azure Storage has a solution for you. Types of Azure Storage Services Azure Storage is divided into several categories, each tailored to specific data types and workloads: Azure File Storage – For traditional file shares Azure Table Storage – For NoSQL key-value data Azure Queue Storage – For message queueing Azure Blob Storage – For unstructured data like text and binary files Each storage type is highly available, secure, and accessible via REST APIs or SDKs in various programming languages. Azure File Storage Overview Azure File Storage offers fully managed file shares in the cloud that use the standard SMB (Server Message Block) protocol. This allows multiple virtual machines (VMs) to share the same files with both read and write access. Use Cases Lift-and-shift of legacy applications to the cloud File sharing between distributed applications Hosting configuration files or logs Centralized storage for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) or Azure App Service How It Works Azure File Storage creates shares within a storage account. These shares can be mounted simultaneously by Azure VMs, on-premises machines via VPN or ExpressRoute, or accessed using REST APIs. Key features: Supports SMB 3.0 and NFS 4.1 Can be mounted on Windows, macOS, and Linux Offers integration with Azure Backup and Azure File Sync Azure Table Storage Overview Azure Table Storage is a NoSQL key-value store that allows applications to store structured data without a fixed schema. It’s ideal for storing large volumes of lightweight data. Use Cases Storing metadata or user data for applications Storing IoT telemetry data Backend for web apps, e-commerce platforms Audit logs and activity tracking How It Works Data in Table Storage is organized into tables, but unlike SQL, these tables don’t enforce a schema. Each table contains entities, and each entity is a set of key-value pairs. Entities are uniquely identified by a PartitionKey and a RowKey, allowing for quick lookups and efficient data organization. Key features: Schema-less design for flexible data modeling Optimized for large datasets Inexpensive and scalable Accessible through Azure SDKs and OData protocol Azure Queue Storage Overview Azure Queue Storage provides a message queueing service for communicating between application components. It’s essential for decoupled architectures and helps ensure resilient, scalable applications. Use Cases Task scheduling and background processing Asynchronous job queuing Decoupling microservices Messaging in IoT systems How It Works Messages are stored in queues, each of which resides in a storage account. Each message can be up to 64 KB in size, and the queue can hold millions of messages. Key features: REST-based interface FIFO delivery Message retention (up to 7 days) Integration with Azure Functions and Logic Apps for event-driven architectures Azure Blob Storage Overview Azure Blob Storage is Microsoft’s object storage solution for the cloud. It is designed for storing large volumes of unstructured data such as images, videos, documents, backups, and logs. Containers in Blob Storage Blobs are stored in containers, which act like folders. A container provides a security boundary and namespace for blobs. Blobs can be: Block blobs (for most files) Append blobs (for logs) Page blobs (for VHD files) Use Cases Media storage (audio/video files) Data lakes for analytics workloads Backup and disaster recovery Storing documents and static website content Machine learning data and models How It Works You create a storage account, and within it, containers. Each container holds blobs, which can be accessed via URLs. Access control is managed through shared access signatures (SAS), Azure Active Directory (AAD), or public access settings. Blob Storage tiers: Hot – Frequent access Cool – Infrequent access Archive – Rare access, lowest cost Security and Access in Azure Storage Azure Storage supports several security features: Encryption at rest and in transit Azure Active Directory (AAD) integration Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) Shared Access Signatures (SAS) for granular, time-bound access Firewall rules and virtual network integration Data is encrypted using Microsoft-managed keys by default, but customer-managed keys can also be used for more control. Scalability and Pricing All Azure storage types are: Highly scalable – From gigabytes to petabytes Durable – 99.999999999% (11 nines) data durability Geo-redundant – Optional GRS replication across regions Pricing models vary based on: Type of storage (blob, table, etc.) Tier (hot, cool, archive) Data access, ingress/egress bandwidth Redundancy level (LRS, ZRS, GRS) Cost control can be achieved using lifecycle management policies to move data between tiers. Integrating Azure Storage with Applications Azure Storage integrates seamlessly with: Azure SDKs (.NET, Java, Python, Node.js, Go) Azure Logic Apps, Functions, and Event Grid Power BI and Azure Synapse Analytics On-premises systems using Azure Data Box Monitoring via Azure Monitor and Azure Storage Explorer Developers can easily add logging, backup, media, or user data storage to their applications. Comparison Summary Storage Type Ideal For Protocol/API Structure Max Size File Storage Shared drives, legacy apps SMB/NFS, REST Files & Directories Up to 100 TiB Table Storage NoSQL, large structured data REST, OData Tables, Entities Up to petabytes Queue Storage Messaging, background tasks REST Queues & Messages Millions of msgs Blob Storage Unstructured data, backups, media REST Containers & Blobs Up to petabytes Best Practices In today’s hybrid and cloud-first environments, businesses n Use Azure Blob Storage for large unstructured data Use Queue Storage for decoupling and scalable job processing Use Table Storage for quick, NoSQL lookups Use File Storage when migrating on-prem file systems to Azure Implement lifecycle policies to optimize storage costs Secure all endpoints using SAS tokens or AAD
In today’s world of dynamic, web-based applications, organizations must deliver secure, fast, and scalable web services to their users—globally and reliably. Traditional load balancers lack application-level intelligence and can’t manage increasingly complex web traffic
In today’s hybrid and cloud-first environments, businesses need scalable, shared, and easy-to-integrate file systems that work across different platforms and networks. Microsoft Azure File Storage delivers precisely that—a fully managed cloud file share service built on the familiar SMB (Server Message Block) and NFS protocols.
Modern applications must meet increasing expectations for performance, availability, and reliability. Users demand fast and responsive services regardless of their location or the time of access. In the cloud, load balancing plays a central role in distributing network traffic, ensuring scalability and uptime.
Databases are at the heart of nearly every application—web, mobile, or enterprise. While MySQL remains one of the most popular open-source relational databases due to its simplicity, reliability, and widespread community support, managing it at scale in the cloud introduces challenges such as provisioning, patching, backups, and scalability.
When deploying cloud-based applications, many scenarios require virtual machines (VMs) or resources inside an Azure Virtual Network (VNet) to access the internet, such as downloading updates, calling APIs, or accessing external services. However, for security and compliance reasons, you may not want those VMs to have public IPs.
In cloud environments, particularly Microsoft Azure, networking is a foundational pillar for application delivery, security, and performance. As cloud deployments become more complex—with virtual machines, subnets, load balancers, gateways, and firewalls—monitoring and troubleshooting network-related issues becomes crucial.
In today’s hybrid and cloud-first environments, businesses need scalable, shared, and easy-to-integrate file systems that work across different platforms and networks. Microsoft Azure File Storage delivers precisely that—a fully managed cloud file share service built on the familiar SMB (Server Message Block) and NFS protocols.
Azure Disk Storage By Pooja | 8th July 2025 Introduction As cloud adoption increases, enterprises rely more on virtual infrastructure for their workloads. At the heart of virtual machines (VMs) lies the need for reliable and high-performance disk storage. Azure Disk Storage is Microsoft’s solution to this need, providing durable, high-performance, and secure block storage designed to support a wide range of applications and workloads. This article dives deep into Azure Disk Storage—its types, features, pricing, and best practices—so you can understand how to leverage it in your cloud strategy. What is Azure Disk Storage? Azure Disk Storage is block-level storage designed to be used with Azure Virtual Machines. It provides disks for operating systems, data, and applications. Each disk is a virtualized version of a physical hard drive, which can be attached to a VM. These disks are persistent, meaning data is retained even when a VM is stopped or deallocated. They support features such as encryption, snapshots, performance tiers, and redundancy options, making them suitable for mission-critical workloads. Types of Azure Disks OS Disk An OS disk contains the operating system for a virtual machine. When you create a VM from an image, Azure automatically creates an OS disk from that image. Mounted as the C: drive (Windows) or /dev/sda1 (Linux) Typically 127 GiB, but can be resized Supports auto-encryption by default Data Disk A data disk is used to store application data, databases, logs, and other files. You can attach multiple data disks to a single VM depending on the VM size. Can be formatted with file systems like NTFS or ext4 Available in various performance tiers Ideal for storing high-IOPS or large datasets Azure Managed Disks Overview Azure Managed Disks eliminate the need for you to manage the storage account used for the disk. Azure automatically handles the storage, availability, and replication. Benefits Simplified management: No need to manage storage accounts manually. Improved reliability: Managed Disks are designed for high availability. Scalability: Easy to scale as per VM and workload requirements. Integration: Seamlessly works with features like availability sets, availability zones, and snapshots. Azure Disk Types and Performance Tiers Azure offers four main types of disks based on performance and cost: Standard HDD Based on magnetic hard disks Lowest cost option Suitable for infrequent access Use Case: Backup, cold data storage Standard SSD Entry-level SSD performance More reliable and faster than HDD Cost-effective for general-purpose workloads Use Case: Web servers, lightly used applications Premium SSD High-performance SSD Low latency and high throughput Ideal for I/O-intensive apps Use Case: Databases, large transactional systems Ultra Disk Highest performance disk Configurable IOPS and throughput Sub-millisecond latency Use Case: High-performance databases like SAP HANA, large analytics workloads Disk Sizes and Limits Azure provides a wide range of disk sizes, from 4 GiB up to 64 TiB. Here are typical size ranges: Disk Type Min Size Max Size Max IOPS Max Throughput Standard HDD 4 GiB 32 TiB 500 60 MB/s Standard SSD 4 GiB 32 TiB 2,000 400 MB/s Premium SSD 4 GiB 32 TiB 20,000 900 MB/s Ultra Disk 4 GiB 64 TiB 160,000 4,000 MB/s You can dynamically scale Ultra Disk performance based on your needs. Key Features of Azure Disk Storage High Availability Disks are locally redundant (LRS) by default Option for zone-redundant storage (ZRS) for higher availability Snapshots Point-in-time backup of disks Used for disaster recovery or cloning Encryption Server-side encryption (SSE) enabled by default Supports customer-managed keys (CMK) with Azure Key Vault Disk-level encryption with BitLocker (Windows) or DM-Crypt (Linux) Shared Disks Premium SSDs and Ultra Disks can be shared across multiple VMs Enables clustered applications like SQL Server Always On or SAP How Azure Disks Work with Virtual Machines Attach/Detach Disks: You can add or remove data disks dynamically. Boot from OS Disk: Every VM needs at least one OS disk to boot. Managed Integration: Azure handles disk resiliency and storage placement. Mounting and formatting are required after attaching a new data disk. Linux uses /dev/sd*, and Windows shows them as additional drives. Use Cases Enterprise Applications Use Premium SSD or Ultra Disk to run critical databases and applications with high IOPS and low latency. Web Applications Use Standard SSD for backend storage of web apps deployed on Azure App Service or VMs. Backup & Archive Standard HDD is ideal for archiving infrequently accessed logs and backups. SAP on Azure Ultra Disks are designed for enterprise workloads like SAP HANA with predictable latency requirements. Security and Compliance Azure Disk Storage is designed to meet enterprise security and compliance needs: ISO/IEC 27001, HIPAA, FedRAMP compliant Integrated with Azure Defender for threat detection Disk access policies for fine-grained control Private endpoints to restrict network access Azure also supports double encryption—SSE + Azure Disk Encryption—for sensitive data workloads. Disk Pricing Pricing is based on: Disk type (Standard HDD, SSD, Premium, Ultra) Provisioned size (in GiB) Provisioned IOPS and throughput (for Ultra Disks) Snapshots and data transfer costs Example: A 128 GiB Premium SSD (P10) has a fixed price, but you may incur additional costs for snapshots and outbound data. Use the Azure Pricing Calculator to estimate costs based on region and usage Best Practices Choose the right disk type based on IOPS and latency needs. Use managed disks to reduce operational complexity. Distribute disks across availability zones for higher resilience. Leverage snapshots regularly for backup and disaster recovery. Monitor performance metrics with Azure Monitor and set alerts. Use Ultra Disks for mission-critical, high-throughput applications. Implement disk encryption using customer-managed keys when required Conclusion Attach/Detach Disks: You can add or remove data disks dynamically. Boot from OS Disk: Every VM needs at least one OS disk to boot. Managed Integration: Azure handles disk resiliency and storage placement. Mounting and formatting are required after attaching a new data disk. Linux uses /dev/sd*, and Windows shows them as additional drives. Explore Our Recent Blogs AZURE, Cloud Computing Mounting Azure File Storage CloudJuly 9, 2025 AZURE, Cloud Computing Azure Disk Storage CloudJuly 8, 2025 AZURE, Cloud Computing Microsoft Azure IAM
