In this article we are discussing Storage Accounts in Windows Azure. We will
start with the purpose first.
What is the purpose of Storage Accounts?
We know that in our traditional applications we need persistence like:
- Storing Data in Database
- Storing Information in Files
The persistence is needed for retrieving them
later. As Windows Azure is a different platform (Operating System) the
storage mechanisms also differ.
Types of Storage in Windows Azure
There are mainly three types of storage:
- Local Storage
- Windows Azure Storage
- SQL Azure Database Storage
Local Storage
- Similar to normal file system storage
- Faster way of storing data
- Used for Temporary purposes and data is removed on instance restart
- Multiple application access is restricted
- No price involved
Windows Azure Storage
- Durable Storage service
- Multiple application access is possible
- Pricing involved
- 3 Types of storage: Blobs, Tables and Queues
Sql Azure Database Storage
- RDBMS (Relational Database Management System)
- Sql Server on the Cloud
- Access data using ADO.NET or ODBC technologies
- Pricing involved
The following image summarizes the types of
storage.
Each storage example will be provided in the further articles.
More Information
More information on the pricing and features can be found in
link