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Onyemachi Doris
Onyemachi Doris

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Maximize Your IT Efficiency with Easy-to-Configure Azure Storage Settings

Table of Contents

  • Introduction to IT Efficiency
  • What is Azure Storage?
  • Key features of Azure Storage
  • Common use cases for Azure Storage
  • Step-by-Step Guide to Creating and Configuring Azure Storage Settings
  • Conclusion

Introduction to IT Efficiency

In today's interconnected world, technology is essential for businesses. It helps them work more efficiently and discover new ways to grow. But to get the most out of technology, companies need to plan carefully. They should use their resources wisely, simplify their processes, and improve their overall performance.

IT efficiency is not merely a buzzword; it's a critical factor that can differentiate businesses from their competitors. By improving their technology systems, companies can save money, work faster, and make better choices. A well-managed technology environment can also encourage new ideas and flexibility, helping businesses adjust to changing markets.

What is Azure Storage?

Azure Storage is simply a cloud storage solution provided by Microsoft. It offers highly available, scalable, and secure storage for various types of data, including files, images, videos, and databases.  

Key features of Azure Storage

  • Scalability: It can handle massive amounts of data and can easily scale up or down to meet your needs.  

  • Durability:Your data is stored across multiple data centers for redundancy and protection against data loss.  

  • Security: Azure Storage provides robust security measures to protect your data from unauthorized access.  

  • Performance: It offers high performance and low latency for accessing your data.  

  • Flexibility: Azure Storage offers various storage options to suit different use cases, such as blob storage, file storage, table storage, and queue storage.

    Common Use Cases for Azure Storage

  • Storing media files: Images, videos, and audio files can be stored and easily accessed from Azure Storage.  

  • Backing up data: Azure Storage can be used to backup data from on-premises systems or other cloud services.  

  • Archiving data: Old or infrequently accessed data can be archived in Azure Storage for long-term retention.  

  • Building applications: Developers can use Azure Storage to store data for their applications and access it from anywhere in the world.  

  • Analysing data: Azure Storage can be used to store large datasets for analysis and machine learning purposes.

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating and Configuring Azure Storage Settings

Assuming an IT Department needs to prototype different storage scenarios and to train new personnel but the content isn’t important enough to be backed up and doesn’t need to be restored if the data is overwritten or removed, a simple configuration setting which can easily be changed is required. A step-by-step guide on how to do achieve this is illustrated below.

Step 1: Create a Resource Group and Storage Account

Create and deploy a resource group to hold all your project resources.

Some of us might be wondering what a resource group is. A resource group is a logical container that holds related resources for an Azure solution. Think of it as a folder or a grouping of resources that share a common lifecycle or purpose. This means you can manage and deploy these resources together, making it easier to control and organize your Azure environment.

  • In the Azure portal, search for and select Resource groups.

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  • Select + Create.

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  • Give your resource group a name. For example, storagerg.

  • Select a region. Use this region throughout the project.

  • Select Review and create to validate the resource group.

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  • And finally select Create to deploy the resource group.

Next, create and deploy a storage account to support testing and training.

  • In the Azure portal, search for and select Storage accounts.

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  • Select + Create.

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  • On the Basics tab, select your Resource group.

  • Provide a Storage account name. The storage account name must be unique in Azure.

  • Set the Performance to Standard.

  • Select Review, and then Create.

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  • Wait for the storage account to deploy and then Go to resource.

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Step 2: Configure Simple Settings in the Storage Account.

The data in this storage account doesn’t require high availability or durability. A lowest cost storage solution is desired.

  • In your storage account, in the Data management section, select the Redundancy blade.

  • Select Locally-redundant storage (LRS) in the Redundancy drop-down.

  • Be sure to Save your changes.

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  • Refresh the page and notice the content only exists in the primary location.

The storage account should only accept requests from secure connections.

  • In the Settings section, select the Configuration blade.

  • Ensure Secure transfer required is Enabled.

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Developers would like the storage account to use at least TLS (transport layer security) version 1.2.

  • In the Settings section, select the Configuration blade.

  • Ensure the Minimal TLS version is set to Version 1.2.

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Until the storage is needed again, disable requests to the storage account.

  • In the Settings section, select the Configuration blade.

  • Ensure Allow storage account key access is Disabled.

  • Be sure to Save your changes.

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Ensure the storage account allows public access from all networks.

  • In the Security + networking section, select the Networking blade.

  • Ensure Public network access is set to Enabled from all networks.

  • Be sure to Save your changes.

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Conclusion

Azure Storage is a strong and flexible tool that helps businesses improve their technology. It's easy to use and can make companies work better, handle data better, and achieve better results overall.

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Top comments (2)

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rdgmh profile image
Raphael Gab-Momoh

Welldone

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onyemachi_doris profile image
Onyemachi Doris

Thank you.