Work with Azure Storage

Overview

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is a relational database service in the cloud that is based on the Microsoft SQL Server engine. SQL Database delivers predictable performance, scalability with no downtime, business continuity, and data protection—all with nearly noadministrative overhead. You can focus on rapid app development and accelerating your time to market, rather than managing virtual machines and infrastructure. Because it’s based on the SQL Server engine, SQL Database supports existing SQL Server tools, libraries, and APIs, which makes it easier for you to move to and extend to the cloud.

This tutorial shows you how to work with Azure Storage by using the Azure Storage Explorer tool to analyze a project that is available in Azure. It supports Azure Blob storage, Azure Queue storage, and Azure Table storage, so you can analyze blobs, queues, and tables. When you’re finished, you will know how to use the Azure Storage Explorer tool to analyze your available blobs, tables, and queuesin Azure Storage.

The following shows the Azure Storage ExplorerUI:

In this tutorial, you’ll learn these procedures:

How to prepare your machine for Azure development by installing the Azure SDK for .NET.
How to configure Visual Studio for the use of Azure Storage, and how to install Azure Storage Explorer.
How to use Azure Storage Explorer to analyze Azure Storage in a project.

Requirements

This document assumes that the user has a subscription in Azure and knowledge aboutAzure Storage, as well as the different types of related Storage services—Blob storage, Table storage, Queue storage, and File storage.

In addition, we recommend that you have Azure Storage Account and the related Storage services running, and that you learn how to useAzure Storage Explorer.

Set up the development environment

To start, set up your development environment by installing the latest version of the Azure SDK.

Visual Studio 2015▶

Visual Studio 2013▶

If you don't have Visual Studio installed, use the link for Visual Studio 2015, and Visual Studio will be installed along with the SDK.

Also, you need toinstall the Azure Storage Explorer tool.

Click the Download button and open the installation file. The basic wizard guides you through the installation.

Work with Azure Storage Explorer

By using Azure Storage Explorer, you can maintain and analyze the Azure Storage services that you’ve deployed in Azure.

After you’ve opened Azure Storage Explorer, you’ll see an empty window, which shows no information—you must first add an Azure account to the subscription list that is available in the application. To do this, select the Settings button, and add the accounts and subscriptions that you want to have.

After you’ve added the accounts, select the subscriptions that you want, and click Apply to load the data that relates to this account (such as services that are available).

The services that are registered in the Azure account will be displayed.

The application also has a resource filter and a search engine. When you select a resource, some actions and properties that are related to this resource will show.

Work with blobs, queues, and tables in Azure Storage Explorer

In Azure Storage Explorer, you can also work with Azure Storage services that are already created in an Azure subscription—Blob storage, Queue storage, and Table storage.

By right-clicking on the different categories of available services within the available account, you can perform actions such as pasting and creating new services.

In addition, when you double-click a service that was already created, you can see information aboutthe service, as well as available actions.While blob containers have their own actions, currently this option isn’t available for tables and queues.