Creating a Blob Storage Account in Azure
Published: 2023-08-14 21:58:19


We will be considering the steps required to create an Azure storage account. An Azure storage account contains all your different Azure  storage data objects: blob, files, queues and tables. we shall be considering how to store data object using blob. Blob is used to store large amounts of unstructured data. This data is accessible anywhere in the world over HTTP or HTTPS.
The first thing to do is to log into the azure portal and create a storage account.

**Steps for Creating a Storage account**
1. Type storage account in the search bar or click on it on the dashboard.
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/50w50v6jyjt7bhmrigwj.jpg)
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/eykzfr8euluxdss5w6wr.jpg)
2. Select your subscription and resource group or create your a new resource group
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/sz6nwcw68upwl0a0xj73.jpg)
3. Select the parameters under Instance details and provide a storage account name. By default, performance and redundancy is selected. You can change them based on preference or need. 
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/wc0dcqzwvrwzj5qsdgik.jpg)
4. We will not make any changes to the parameters under the other tabs from Advanced to Tags. click on Review tab and then click on create at the bottom left-hand corner of the screen.
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/h9lzybxnc4cee7ornxkz.jpg)
 
5. Click on go to resources.
6. Select container (No.1) under Data Storage and click on container (No.2) to create one
7. Give the container a name
8. Click the dropdown arrow under 'Public access level' and select 'Blob (anonymous read access for blobs only)' and click the create button 
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/6ybq7w01ii83h6l61oxa.jpg)

**Uploading a file**
1. Click on the name of the container you created to open it.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/plol85ezkr5aa13trx4o.jpg)
2. Click on the upload tab; a new window is opened.
3. Click on Browse for files. Select the file and click open.
4. Finally click the upload button and close the window. Your file is loaded into the container.  
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/f3apyzbingljyw16btqi.jpg)
Note, a URL is created for the file that was stored in the container and it can be viewed from anywhere on the globe once the URL is copied into a web browser. To view the file on the web;
a. Click on the file name to open a new window
b. Copy the URL of the file.
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/qum4xks1vjzzvvou9jms.jpg)
c. Open your web browser and paste the URL. You should see the file you uploaded displayed on the web browser
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/eox87c5ygjy6drciq0zf.jpg)
**Azure Storage Access Tiers**

Azure storage comes with four levels of access. 
You can reduce costs by placing blob data into the most cost-efficient access tiers. Depending on the estimated frequency of usage, data can be stored in the following access tiers: 
a. Hot tier - This implies that the data is accessed frequently, therefore it should be available always. When you tick the check box close to the file name, the access tier selected by default is Hot tier

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/ey7gp4bvtt4ixqgqhrcz.jpg)

b. Cool tier - The data is less frequently accessed. The data in this tier should be stored for a minimum of 30 days.
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/qkd1nidb4qhh2e79ot2s.jpg)

c. Cold tier - This online tier is optimized for storing data that should be stored for a minimum of 90 days. 
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/i67fvsmrac6ipaenuhrb.jpg)

d. Archive tier - This is an offline tier and is optimized for data that is rarely accessed and that has flexible latency requirements. Data should be stored for a minimum of 180 days. 

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/o6r0mypbzs3g6cbl6li5.jpg)