What is Azure Blob Storage used for?

Azure Blob Storage is Microsoft Azure object storage for unstructured data such as backups, media and data lake content, with scalable and cost-efficient tiers. It is a good fit for storing application files and media on Azure, and keeping backups and archives in the cloud.

How much does Azure Blob Storage cost?

Azure Blob Storage is a paid product with no free plan.

Is Azure Blob Storage open source?

No. Azure Blob Storage is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Azure Blob Storage include RustFS, SeaweedFS and Ceph.

What are some alternatives to Azure Blob Storage?

Azure Blob Storage competes with Google Cloud Storage, Wasabi and Backblaze B2. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Azure Blob Storage alternatives.

Azure Blob Storage: features, pricing and alternatives

About Azure Blob Storage

Azure Blob Storage is the object storage service in Microsoft Azure. It is meant for large amounts of unstructured data, including documents, images, backups, logs and analytics datasets, and it is described by Microsoft as scalable and cost-efficient for demanding workloads.

Blob Storage is commonly used as the foundation for backup and archive, content delivery origins and data lakes, and it integrates with other Azure services for analytics, machine learning and security monitoring. Customers access it through APIs, SDKs and tools from within the Azure portal and developer environments.

Azure Blob Storage is proprietary and available only as a cloud service within an Azure subscription, so there is no self-hosted version. Costs depend on the amount of data, the access tier and operations used, and are described on the Azure pricing pages.

Key features

Object storage for unstructured data
Scalable capacity for large datasets
Suitable for backups and archives
Foundation for data lake workloads
Integration with other Azure services

Good fit for

→Storing application files and media on Azure
→Keeping backups and archives in the cloud

Tags: object-storage; azure; cloud-storage; backup; data-lake; unstructured-data; microsoft

Azure Blob Storage: questions and answers

What is Azure Blob Storage used for?: Azure Blob Storage is Microsoft Azure object storage for unstructured data such as backups, media and data lake content, with scalable and cost-efficient tiers. It is a good fit for storing application files and media on Azure, and keeping backups and archives in the cloud.
How much does Azure Blob Storage cost?: Azure Blob Storage is a paid product with no free plan.
Is Azure Blob Storage open source?: No. Azure Blob Storage is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Azure Blob Storage include RustFS, SeaweedFS and Ceph.
What are some alternatives to Azure Blob Storage?: Azure Blob Storage competes with Google Cloud Storage, Wasabi and Backblaze B2. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Azure Blob Storage alternatives.