MSDN Documentation

Microsoft Developer Network - Azure Storage APIs

Azure Storage APIs

This section provides comprehensive documentation for interacting with Azure Storage services, enabling you to store and access your data in a highly scalable, reliable, and cost-effective manner.

Blob Storage

Store and access unstructured data like documents, images, and videos.

File Storage

Managed file shares in the cloud, accessible via SMB protocol.

Queue Storage

Reliable messaging for asynchronous task processing.

Table Storage

NoSQL key-attribute store for semi-structured data.

Blob Storage APIs

Azure Blob Storage is an object store for massive amounts of unstructured data. Blob Storage can be used to serve images or documents directly to a browser, store files for distributed access, stream video and audio, write to log files, and back up or restore data.

Core Blob Operations

  • Create/Upload Blob: Upload data to a new blob or overwrite an existing one. 
    POST /mycontainer/myblob HTTP/1.1
Host: mystorageaccount.blob.core.windows.net
x-ms-version: 2019-07-07
x-ms-blob-type: BlockBlob
Content-Length: [size]

[binary data]
  • Download Blob: Retrieve the content of a blob. 
    GET /mycontainer/myblob HTTP/1.1
Host: mystorageaccount.blob.core.windows.net
x-ms-version: 2019-07-07
  • Delete Blob: Remove a blob. 
    DELETE /mycontainer/myblob HTTP/1.1
Host: mystorageaccount.blob.core.windows.net
x-ms-version: 2019-07-07
  • List Blobs: Retrieve a list of all blobs in a container. 
    GET /mycontainer?restype=container&comp=list HTTP/1.1
Host: mystorageaccount.blob.core.windows.net
x-ms-version: 2019-07-07

Blob Types

  • Block Blobs: Optimized for storing large amounts of unstructured text or binary data.
  • Append Blobs: Optimized for append operations, such as writing to log files.
  • Page Blobs: Optimized for random read/write operations. Used for Azure Virtual Machine disks.

For detailed REST API references, SDKs, and examples, please refer to the Blob Service REST API documentation.

File Storage APIs

Azure Files offers fully managed cloud file shares that are accessible via the industry-standard Server Message Block (SMB) protocol. You can mount multiple clients simultaneously to these shares from on-premises or in the cloud.

Core File Operations

  • Create Share: Create a new file share.
  • Upload File: Upload a file to a directory within a share.
  • Download File: Download a file from a share.
  • List Files/Directories: Enumerate files and directories within a share.

For detailed REST API references and examples, consult the File Service REST API documentation.

Queue Storage APIs

Azure Queue Storage is a service that stores large numbers of messages that can be processed in a highly scalable way. Queue Storage is typically used to decouple components of a cloud application.

Core Queue Operations

  • Create Queue: Create a new queue.
  • Add Message: Add a message to a queue. 
    POST /myqueue/messages HTTP/1.1
Host: mystorageaccount.queue.core.windows.net
x-ms-version: 2019-07-07
Content-Length: [size]

<QueueMessage><MessageText>{message body}</MessageText></QueueMessage>
  • Get Messages: Retrieve one or more messages from a queue.
  • Delete Message: Delete a message from a queue.

Explore the full capabilities in the Queue Service REST API documentation.

Table Storage APIs

Azure Table Storage is a NoSQL key-attribute store for storing large amounts of structured, non-relational data. It's a cost-effective and scalable way to store flexible datasets for web applications.

Core Table Operations

  • Create Table: Create a new table.
  • Insert Entity: Add a new entity (row) to a table.
  • Query Entities: Retrieve entities from a table based on criteria.
  • Update Entity: Modify an existing entity.
  • Delete Entity: Remove an entity from a table.

For in-depth details, please visit the Table Service REST API documentation.

General Concepts