Azure Blob Storage Limits

This article outlines the storage limits and capacity quotas for Azure Blob Storage. Understanding these limits is crucial for designing and scaling your blob storage solutions effectively.

Note: Limits are subject to change. Always refer to the official Azure documentation for the most up-to-date information.

General Blob Storage Limits

These limits apply broadly across all blob storage operations and resources.

Limit Name Value Description
Maximum Blob Size 5 TiB The maximum size for a single blob. This limit may vary for certain deployment options or regions.
Maximum Account Capacity 5 PiB The maximum total capacity for a storage account.
Maximum Number of Containers No practical limit The number of containers within a storage account is virtually unlimited.
Maximum Number of Blobs per Container No practical limit The number of blobs within a container is virtually unlimited.
Maximum Request Rate per Storage Account Up to 10,000 to 20,000 requests per second (RPS) This is a soft limit and can be increased by contacting Azure support. The actual limit depends on factors like blob size and operation type.
Maximum Transaction Rate per Storage Account Up to 15,000 to 30,000 transactions per second (TPS) Similar to RPS, this is a soft limit.

Specific Blob Type Limits

Different blob types may have specific considerations:

Block Blobs

Block blobs are ideal for storing large objects like video files, images, and backups. They are composed of blocks of data.

  • Maximum individual block size: 4 MiB
  • Maximum number of blocks per blob: 50,000
  • This results in a maximum blob size of approximately 195 GiB (50,000 blocks * 4 MiB/block). However, the overall block blob limit is 5 TiB.

Append Blobs

Append blobs are optimized for append operations, such as logging.

  • Maximum individual append block size: 4 MiB
  • Maximum number of append blocks per blob: 50,000
  • Maximum blob size: ~195 GiB. The overall append blob limit is 5 TiB.
  • Note: Append blobs cannot be modified or deleted after creation.

Page Blobs

Page blobs are optimized for random read and write operations and are used for IaaS virtual machine disks.

  • Maximum individual page size: 512 bytes
  • Maximum page blob size: 8 TiB
  • Page blobs support sparse pages, meaning only non-zero bytes consume storage.

Service and API Limits

These limits relate to the Azure Storage services and their APIs.

API Operation Limit Description
List Containers/Blobs 5,000 items per page The maximum number of items returned in a single API call when listing containers or blobs. Use the `nextMarker` for pagination.
HTTP Request Headers 4 KB The maximum size of all HTTP request headers combined.
Tip: For high-throughput scenarios, consider using multiple storage accounts to distribute the load and bypass certain account-level limits.

Best Practices for Managing Limits

  • Monitor your usage: Regularly check your storage account metrics in the Azure portal.
  • Optimize your data access patterns: Design your application to minimize unnecessary requests and leverage efficient operations.
  • Consider Premium Blob storage: For latency-sensitive workloads and higher throughput requirements, Premium Blob storage offers different performance characteristics and limits.
  • Contact Azure Support: If you anticipate exceeding soft limits or require higher capacities, reach out to Azure support to discuss your needs and potential increases.
Important: Exceeding certain hard limits can result in request throttling or outright failures. Always plan your architecture with these limitations in mind.

For detailed information on specific API limits, consult the Azure Blob Storage REST API documentation.

Last updated: October 26, 2023