Automated backup and recovery
Replication across the globe
Support for data analytics
Encryption capabilities
Multiple data types
Data storage in virtual disks
Storage tiers
Relational Database as a service. Based on Microsoft SQL Server database engine.
Uses the Microsoft Data Migration Assistant to generate reports to guide through migration.
Globally distributed database service supporting schema-less data (NoSQL). Used for highly responsive and always-on applications
Holds unstructured data
Allows you to perform analytics on your data usage and prepare reports. Data lake is a large repository that stores both structured and unstructured data.
Offers fully managed file shares in the cloud over SMB (Server Message Block).
Used for storing large numbers of messages
Can be used to:
Create a backlog of work and to pass messages between different Azure web servers
Distribute load among different web servers/infrastructure and to manage bursts of traffic
Build resilience against component failure when multiple users access your data at the same time
Provides disks for virtual machines and other services to access as they need. Comes in many different sizes and performance levels, from SSDs to HDDs.
Azure offers 3 storage tiers for blob object storage
Hot storage - Accessed frequently
Cool storage - Infrequent access
Archive storage - Rarely accessed
The following encryption types are available for your resources:
Azure Storage Service Encryption (SSE) - For data at rest. Encrypts before storing and decrypts during retrieval
Client side encryption - Data already encrypted by the client libraries. Decrypted during retrieval
| Needs | On Premises | Azure data storage |
|---|---|---|
| Compliance and security | Dedicated servers required for privacy and security | Client side encryption and encryption at rest |
| Store structured and unstructured data | Additional IT resources with dedicated servers required | Azure data lake and portal analyses and manages all types of data |
| Replication and high availability | More resources, licensing and servers required | Built in replication and redundancy features available |
| Application sharing and access to shared resources | File sharing requires additional administration resources | File sharing options without additional license |
| Relational data storage | Needs a database server with database admin role | Offers DBaaS options |
| Distributed storage and data access | Expensive storage, networking and compute resources needed | Azure Cosmos DB provides distributed access |
| Messaging and load balancing | Hardware redundancy impacts budget and resources | Azure Queue provides effective load balancing |
| Tiered storage | Management of tiered storage needs technology and labour skill set | Azure offers automated tiered storage of data |