Azure Blob Storage

Azure Blob Storage: Hot Tier

The hot access tier is optimized for data that is accessed frequently. This tier offers the lowest access costs and the highest retrieval costs, making it ideal for scenarios where data needs to be readily available.

When to Use the Hot Tier

Data that is actively being used or needs to be accessed frequently.
Data required for immediate processing or real-time analytics.
Content served directly to users, such as images or videos on a website.
Application data requiring rapid retrieval.

Key Characteristics

Low Access Latency: Optimized for quick data retrieval.
High Throughput: Designed to handle a large volume of read/write operations.
Cost-Effective for Frequent Access: Lower storage costs compared to cooler tiers, but higher access costs.
Durability: Offers the same high durability as other Azure Storage tiers.

Comparing Tiers: Hot vs. Cool vs. Archive

Understanding the differences between storage tiers is crucial for optimizing costs and performance:

Hot Tier: For frequently accessed data. Highest access costs, lowest storage costs.
Cool Tier: For infrequently accessed data. Lower access costs, higher storage costs than hot. Data accessed less than once every 30 days is a good candidate.
Archive Tier: For rarely accessed data. Lowest storage costs, highest retrieval costs. Data accessed less than once every 180 days and with flexible retrieval times (hours).

You can change the access tier of existing blobs to optimize costs based on usage patterns.

Configuring the Hot Tier

When creating a new storage account or configuring existing blobs, you can select the hot tier. For new blob containers, the default tier is typically hot.

Managing Blob Access Tiers

You can manage access tiers using various Azure tools:

Azure Portal: Navigate to your storage account, select the container, and then the blob. The access tier can be modified from the blob's properties.
Azure CLI: Use commands like az storage blob update-tier.
Azure PowerShell: Use cmdlets like Set-AzStorageBlobContent with the -StandardBlobTier parameter.
REST API: Utilize the Blob service REST API for programmatic tier management.

Important Consideration: While the hot tier offers the best performance for frequently accessed data, its higher retrieval costs mean it's not the most economical choice for data that sits idle for extended periods.

Regularly review your blob access patterns to ensure you are using the most cost-effective tier.

Example Usage (Azure CLI)

To set a blob to the hot tier:


az storage blob set-tier --account-name <your-storage-account-name> --container-name <your-container-name> --name <your-blob-name> --tier Hot

To set a blob to the cool tier:


az storage blob set-tier --account-name <your-storage-account-name> --container-name <your-container-name> --name <your-blob-name> --tier Cool

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