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    Microsoft Azure Storage Essentials
    Microsoft Azure Storage Essentials
    Microsoft Azure Storage Essentials
    Ebook269 pages1 hour

    Microsoft Azure Storage Essentials

    By Chukri Soueidi

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Harness the power of Microsoft Azure services to build efficient cloud solutions

    About This Book
    • Get to grips with the features of Microsoft Azure in terms of Blob, Table, Queue, and File storage
    • Learn the how and when of using the right storage service for different business use cases
    • Make use of Azure storage services in various languages with this fast-paced and easy-to-follow guide
    Who This Book Is For

    If you are an IT professional with basic knowledge of Microsoft Azure and want to learn Azure storage services, then this book is for you. Some familiarity with C# and Visual Studio is needed in order to utilize the examples present in the book.

    What You Will Learn
  • Get familiar with Windows Azure Storage Service in terms of architecture and working
  • Recognize the libraries and tools offered by Azure storage, supporting several popular programming languages
  • Know how the storage services expose their resources as REST APIs and what client libraries exists to develop against the storage
  • Gain the understanding of types of Blobs and best ways to upload and retrieve them
  • Learn how to make use of Tables as a NoSQL data store and how to retrieve, insert, update and delete entities in terms of design patterns
  • Use Queue storage as a messaging solution for communications between different apps
  • Create mounted shares and allow legacy systems to access data using the SMB protocol
  • Get accustomed to deal with faults, monitor storage metrics and logs
    • In Detail

    With the many advantages of using cloud computing, Azure Storage is a robust platform that helps you shift faster to the cloud by providing scalable, durable and highly available data storage options. For developers, it provides a rapid development environment that supports building large-scale applications to support new scenarios on the cloud, server, mobile and web. For IT professionals, it reduces complexity of managing, protecting and replicating data.

    This book will make you familiar with the Azure storage in terms of architecture and components. It starts with the basics of storage accounts, which give access to the four basic services the Blob, Table, Queue, and File storage services. These services are exposed through a REST API that makes it possible for client libraries to implement most of their functionality in a wide range of popular programming languages. Emphasizing the Windows Azure Client Library for .NET, we will deal with storing and retrieving unstructured data with Blobs, then will move to Tables to insert and update entities in a structured NoSQL fashion. Then we will discover Queues as a reliable messaging service, and after that we will show File storage that allows you to migrate legacy applications data to the cloud to end with transient fault handling and service monitoring.

    Style and approach

    This book is a concise and fast-paced guide to learn about development for storage services. Each topic is elaborated sequentially, in order to create basic knowledge for using it in the right place and the correct way.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPackt Publishing
    Release dateAug 28, 2015
    ISBN9781784390709
    Microsoft Azure Storage Essentials
    Author

    Chukri Soueidi

    Chukri Soueidi is a software developer based in Beirut, Lebanon. With an experience that spans more than 8 years, he specializes in web development and Microsoft technologies. He currently works at the American University of Beirut as a software engineer and systems analyst, developing new software solutions for the university and its medical center. He was awarded the Microsoft Most Valued Professional (MVP) award for 2 years 2014 and 2015 for his contributions to the technical communities of Visual C# and .NET. The MVP award is an annual award that recognizes exceptional technology community leaders worldwide, who actively share their high-quality and real-world expertise with other communities. With fewer than 5,000 awardees worldwide, Microsoft MVPs represent a highly selected group of experts. He is heavily involved in local developer communities in Beirut, coaching on the latest technologies, and he is also a regular speaker at the major evangelism events held by Microsoft, Lebanon. He conducted several workshops for university students and professionals on topics of software development and gaming technologies. Chukri is also a technical trainer and has been working as an instructor at the regional learning centers. Away from his laptop, Chukri is an avid marathon runner. He enjoys exploring new places and cooking with his beloved ones and friends. You can always reach him at chukrisoueidi@outlook.com.

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      Book preview

      Microsoft Azure Storage Essentials - Chukri Soueidi

      Table of Contents

      Microsoft Azure Storage Essentials

      Credits

      About the Author

      Acknowledgments

      About the Reviewers

      www.PacktPub.com

      Support files, eBooks, discount offers, and more

      Why subscribe?

      Free access for Packt account holders

      Instant updates on new Packt books

      Preface

      What this book covers

      What you need for this book

      Who this book is for

      Conventions

      Reader feedback

      Customer support

      Downloading the example code

      Errata

      Piracy

      Questions

      1. An Introduction to Microsoft Azure Storage Services

      An introduction to Azure Storage

      High availability and durability

      Strong consistency

      Scalability

      Storage services

      The Blob storage

      The Table storage

      The Queue storage

      The File storage

      Storage accounts

      The namespaces and endpoints

      Storage account security

      Redundancy options

      Metrics and logging

      Summary

      2. Developing Against Storage

      The Service Management REST APIs

      The request

      The response

      Microsoft Azure Management Libraries

      The Storage Services REST APIs

      The Blob service REST API

      The Table service REST API

      The Queue service REST API

      The File service REST API

      Azure Storage Client Libraries

      Microsoft Azure Storage Client Library for .NET

      Microsoft Azure Storage Client Library for Node.js

      The Microsoft Azure Storage SDK for Java

      The PHP Client Libraries for Azure

      The Microsoft Azure SDK for Python

      The Microsoft Azure SDK for Ruby

      Azure Storage Emulator

      PowerShell

      Summary

      3. Working with Blobs

      Types of blobs

      Block blobs

      Page blobs

      The blob structure

      Containers

      Addressing blobs

      Using the Azure Storage Client Library

      Creating a container

      Uploading the first blob

      Getting acquainted with an explorer

      Downloading a blob

      The container access level

      Shared Access Signatures

      Deleting a blob

      Hierarchies

      The $root container

      The folder structure

      Listing blobs

      Paged listing and continuation tokens

      Properties and metadata

      Conditional headers

      Blob snapshots

      Summary

      4. Working with Tables

      The arrival of NoSQL

      NoSQL

      The Table storage basics

      Entities

      Naming rules

      Using the Azure Storage Client Library

      Starting with a table

      Adding entities to a table

      Entity Group Transactions

      Updating entities

      Querying the table

      Continuation tokens

      Summary

      5. Designing Scalable and Performant Tables

      Things to understand about Azure Table storage

      The table's primary key

      The three layer architecture

      Partitions

      Entity Group Transactions

      Choosing between Azure Table and Azure SQL

      Table design guidelines

      Studying your data

      Partition sizing

      Querying performance

      Selecting the best PartitionKey

      Summary

      6. Working with Queues

      The need for queues

      Increasing the availability and reliability

      Reducing latency and avoiding IO bottlenecks

      Load leveling

      Passing messages between Azure web roles and worker roles

      The Queue storage structure

      Addressing

      Naming

      Service Bus Queues

      Using the queue storage from .NET

      Creating our first queue

      Inserting a message in the queue

      Handling large messages

      Retrieving the next message

      Getting more messages

      The dequeueCount and poison messages

      Peeking messages

      Editing queue messages

      Setting metadata for the queue

      Getting the queue length and metadata

      Deleting queues

      Summary

      7. Working with the Azure File Service

      Where are Azure Files used?

      The File storage structure

      Using Azure Files

      Using PowerShell with Azure Files

      Getting familiar with Azure PowerShell

      Creating a file share

      Creating directories and subdirectories

      Uploading the first file

      Downloading a file

      Listing files

      Removing files

      File Shares via the SMB 2.1 protocol

      Persisting connections to shares

      Mounting shares from Linux

      File Shares via the Storage Client Library

      Creating our share

      Creating a directory

      Uploading and downloading files

      Using AzCopy

      Summary

      8. Transient Fault Handling and Analytics

      Transient fault handling

      Storage Analytics

      A closer look at metrics

      Transaction metrics

      Capacity metrics

      A closer look at logging

      The log format

      Analyzing the Storage Analytics data

      Common practices

      Summary

      Index

      Microsoft Azure Storage Essentials

      Microsoft Azure Storage Essentials

      Copyright © 2015 Packt Publishing

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

      Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.

      Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

      First published: August 2015

      Production reference: 1250815

      Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

      Livery Place

      35 Livery Street

      Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.

      ISBN 978-1-78439-623-7

      www.packtpub.com

      Credits

      Author

      Chukri Soueidi

      Reviewers

      David Braverman

      Sebastian Durandeu

      Florian Klaffenbach

      Laxmikant P. Patil

      Commissioning Editor

      Amit Ghodake

      Acquisition Editor

      Sonali Vernekar

      Content Development Editor

      Siddhesh Salvi

      Technical Editor

      Madhunikita Sunil Chindarkar

      Copy Editor

      Ting Baker

      Project Coordinator

      Nidhi Joshi

      Proofreader

      Safis Editing

      Indexer

      Hemangini Bari

      Production Coordinator

      Nitesh Thakur

      Cover Work

      Nitesh Thakur

      About the Author

      Chukri Soueidi is a software developer based in Beirut, Lebanon. With an experience that spans more than 8 years, he specializes in web development and Microsoft technologies. He currently works at the American University of Beirut as a software engineer and systems analyst, developing new software solutions for the university and its medical center.

      He was awarded the Microsoft Most Valued Professional (MVP) award for 2 years 2014 and 2015 for his contributions to the technical communities of Visual C# and .NET. The MVP award is an annual award that recognizes exceptional technology community leaders worldwide, who actively share their high-quality and real-world expertise with other communities. With fewer than 5,000 awardees worldwide, Microsoft MVPs represent a highly selected group of experts.

      He is heavily involved in local developer communities in Beirut, coaching on the latest technologies, and he is also a regular speaker at the major evangelism events held by Microsoft, Lebanon. He conducted several workshops for university students and professionals on topics of software development and gaming technologies. Chukri is also a technical trainer and has been working as an instructor at the regional learning centers.

      Away from his laptop, Chukri is an avid marathon runner. He enjoys exploring new places and cooking with his beloved ones and friends. You can always reach him at <chukrisoueidi@outlook.com>.

      Acknowledgments

      I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation and gratitude to the Packt Publishing team for all their trust and support. The comments of the technical editor, reviewers, and proofreaders were so valuable in realizing this title. I would also like to thank my acquisition editor, Sonali S. Vernekar, and the content development editor, Siddhesh Salvi, for their professionalism, guidance, and patience.

      Furthermore, I would also like to express my appreciation for my family and the people who supported me throughout this new experience: my friend Rami Sarieddine, who provided me with key remarks and also shared his authoring experience with me; also, my brother Rabih Soueidi, Michel Makhoul, Saber Shebly, and Mohamad Ghandour for their constant motivation and advice.

      Above all, I would like to thank my dearest Lena Osseyran for her remarkable support, motivation, and all the good food while writing! Thank you all.

      About the Reviewers

      David Braverman is the chief technology officer of Holden LLC, a pioneer in sales performance development. Braverman is also an accomplished software developer and consultant with nearly 25 years of experience of working in the U.S. and Europe. Before joining Holden LLC, Braverman performed due diligence technology investigations of potential acquisition targets for West Monroe Partners, created and developed a healthcare scheduling application for medical interpreter businesses, wrote security analysis and reporting software, assisted a Portuguese mobile telecom provider with location-based service offerings, and led a large team that developed an inventory prediction application for an international food manufacturer. Braverman earned his MBA from Duke University, a JD from Loyola University Chicago with special recognition in intellectual property law, and a BA from Hofstra University. You can follow him on his blog, http://www.thedailyparker.com/.

      Sebastian Durandeu is a senior software engineer with a primary focus on building applications and services for the cloud using Microsoft technologies. He works at Southworks, a high-end software development company that helps businesses leverage the latest technologies. Here, he has worked closely with several Microsoft divisions, helping the developer community adopt emerging technologies by using recommended practices. Sebastian currently lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he is an active contributor to the developer community. He shares his knowledge via his Twitter (@sebadurandeu) and GitHub accounts (sdurandeu).

      Florian Klaffenbach started his IT career in 2004 as a first- and second-level IT support technician and

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