Azure Storage API Documentation

Introduction to Azure Storage

Azure Storage is Microsoft's cloud storage solution for modern applications that need highly scalable, durable, and available storage. It offers a range of services to store and access data, including Blob Storage, File Storage, Table Storage, and Queue Storage.

This documentation provides an overview of the Azure Storage APIs, covering RESTful operations and guidance for using the various storage services.

Blob Storage

Azure Blob Storage is an object storage solution for the cloud. It's optimized for storing massive amounts of unstructured data, such as text or binary data. You can use Blob Storage to serve images or documents directly to a browser, store files for distributed access, stream video and audio, write to log files, store data for backup and restore, disaster recovery, and archive.

Blob REST API

The Blob REST API provides programmatic access to Azure Blob Storage. You can use this API to perform operations on containers, blobs, and snapshots.

Key Operations:

For detailed information, refer to the official Blob Service REST API reference.

Blob SDKs

Azure provides SDKs for various languages to interact with Blob Storage more easily.

File Storage

Azure Files offers fully managed cloud file shares that are accessible via the industry-standard Server Message Block (SMB) protocol. You can mount File shares concurrently from cloud or on-premises Windows, Linux, and macOS deployments.

File REST API

The File REST API enables you to interact with Azure File shares.

Key Operations:

Refer to the File Service REST API reference for comprehensive details.

File SDKs

Use the following SDKs for simplified integration with Azure Files:

Table Storage

Azure Table Storage is a NoSQL key-value store that allows you to store large amounts of structured, non-relational data. It's a cost-effective solution for storing data that can be modeled without complex joins.

Table REST API

The Table REST API facilitates operations on tables and entities.

Key Operations:

Consult the Table Service REST API reference for full documentation.

Table SDKs

Integrate with Table Storage using these SDKs:

Queue Storage

Azure Queue Storage is a service that stores large numbers of messages that can be processed asynchronously. Queue messages are typically HTTP/1.1 requests, and can be accessed from anywhere in the world via authenticated calls using HTTP or HTTPS.

Queue REST API

The Queue REST API provides access to Queue Storage features.

Key Operations:

For detailed API specifications, see the Queue Service REST API reference.

Queue SDKs

Leverage these SDKs to work with Azure Queue Storage:

Authentication

Azure Storage uses several authentication methods, including Shared Key authorization, Shared Access Signatures (SAS), and Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) integration.

Recommendation: For most applications, using Shared Access Signatures (SAS) or Azure AD authentication is recommended over Shared Key for enhanced security.

Learn more about authentication and authorization for Azure Storage.

Best Practices

  • Use appropriate storage tiers (Hot, Cool, Archive) for cost optimization.
  • Implement robust error handling and retry mechanisms.
  • Secure your storage accounts using SAS tokens with limited scope and expiry.
  • Leverage Azure CDN for performance-sensitive, publicly accessible data.
  • Monitor storage usage and performance through Azure Monitor.