Uploading Blobs to Azure Storage

This article details how to upload a blob to Azure Blob Storage using various methods.

Azure Blob Storage is a service that stores unstructured data such as text or binary data. Blobs can be any type of text or binary data, such as images, documents, or streaming media. This guide will walk you through the common scenarios for uploading blobs using the Azure SDKs and Azure CLI.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

• An Azure account. If you don't have one, create a free account.
• A storage account. If you don't have one, create a storage account.
• A container within your storage account.
• The necessary SDKs or Azure CLI installed.

Methods for Uploading Blobs

from azure.storage.blob import BlobServiceClient, ContentSettings

# Replace with your actual storage account name and key
connection_string = f"DefaultEndpointsProtocol=https;AccountName=;AccountKey=;EndpointSuffix=core.windows.net"
container_name = ""
local_file_name = "local_file_path.txt"
blob_name = "my-uploaded-blob.txt"

try:
    # Create a BlobServiceClient object
    blob_service_client = BlobServiceClient.from_connection_string(connection_string)

    # Get a client to interact with a specific container
    container_client = blob_service_client.get_container_client(container_name)

    # Create a local file for demonstration
    with open(local_file_name, "w") as file:
        file.write("This is the content of the blob.")

    # Upload the blob
    with open(local_file_name, "rb") as data:
        blob_client = container_client.upload_blob(name=blob_name, data=data, overwrite=True)
        print(f"Blob '{blob_name}' uploaded successfully.")
        print(f"Blob URL: {blob_client.url}")

except Exception as ex:
    print('Exception:')
    print(ex)

# Optional: Clean up the local file
import os
if os.path.exists(local_file_name):
    os.remove(local_file_name)
    print(f"Local file '{local_file_name}' removed.")

az login

az storage blob upload \
    --account-name  \
    --account-key  \
    --container-name  \
    --name my-uploaded-blob-cli.txt \
    --file ./local_file_path.txt \
    --overwrite

az storage blob upload \
    --account-name  \
    --container-name  \
    --name my-folder/my-uploaded-blob-cli.txt \
    --file ./local_file_path.txt \
    --overwrite

Blob Types and Upload Methods

Azure Blob Storage supports three types of blobs:

• Block blobs: Optimized for storing large amounts of unstructured data that are accessed infrequently, such as media files, backup data, and log files. Block blobs are composed of blocks, and each block can be a different size.
• Append blobs: Optimized for append operations, such as writing to log files. An append blob is a collection of blocks that are all the same size.
• Page blobs: Optimized for random read/write operations. Page blobs are used primarily for IaaS virtual machine disks.

The upload methods discussed primarily apply to block blobs. For append blobs, you would use specific append operations from the SDKs.

Best Practices

• Use the appropriate SDK: Leverage the Azure SDKs for your programming language to manage uploads efficiently.
• Error handling: Implement robust error handling for network issues or authentication failures.
• Concurrency: For large numbers of uploads, consider parallel uploads to improve performance.
• Overwrite: Be mindful of the overwrite flag to prevent accidental data loss.
• Access Tiers: Choose the appropriate access tier (Hot, Cool, Archive) for your data to optimize costs.