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I'm confused about the difference between "files" and other objects in Azure storage. I understand how to upload a file to a share using the Azure web console and command line, but in the Azure Storage Explorer I don't see either of these, but only see "blobs" and though I can upload "files" there using the explorer, I can't upload to or see any of my "file" "shares".

Is there a way to browse and manage "files" and "shares" using Azure Storage Explorer, or some other client or CLI tool (on OS X)?

David Makogon
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orome
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2 Answers2

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It is the different services. Azure Storage is... the "umbrella" service that consists of some services - Queues (obvious :)), Tables (kind of a noSQL table storage), Blobs (binary large objects, from text files to multimedia) and Files (the service that implements the file shares that may be connected to the Virtual Machine, for example, as a file share).

They are different services that may be used from the Azure Storage Explorer, but it depends on what you want to use and/or implement. If you need to put just files, you may use blobs. If you need to attach the storage as a file share to the VM, then the Files service is what you need. Good comparison.

I am not sure if you can manage Files with the Azure Storage Explorer (UPD: checked - do not), but something like CloudXplorer is able to do that.

Community
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Alex Belotserkovskiy
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  • CloudXplorer is Windows only, I think. – orome May 14 '16 at 14:08
  • So if the goal is to upload a file for use in, say, Azure machine learning (e.g., a data source or wiped code resource) Blobs are the intended tool? – orome May 14 '16 at 14:10
  • For machine learning service, [i see that](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/machine-learning-import-data-from-online-sources/) azure files is not supported as a data source, but azure blobs are. So, if that is the scenario, i would go with the blobs. – Alex Belotserkovskiy May 14 '16 at 14:12
  • Azure storage feels like its in transition (these distinctions are a bit confusing from a user point of view, and some services and tools seem to support Blobs and Files without much distinction, will others seem to support only Blobs). Is there a white paper or roadmap that give a hint of where this is going. – orome May 14 '16 at 14:14
  • One of the best Azure whitepapers i saw were written by [David Chappell](http://davidchappellopinari.blogspot.ru). But his whitepaper on Storage is quite old (but i can't say that it is really outdated). So, the most up-to-date whitepaper is on the [official documentation hub](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/storage-introduction/) where you may see the differences in the services. Regarding names - yes, may be confusing. – Alex Belotserkovskiy May 14 '16 at 14:20
  • Regarding roadmap - you may go to the [official MSFT cloud platform roadmap](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/roadmap/) but it is not go very deep into the details. – Alex Belotserkovskiy May 14 '16 at 14:21
  • (I assume all this means there's no way to use standard tools — e.g., to `git push` code bundles for example — to sync files to Azure.) – orome May 14 '16 at 14:33
  • This isn't the place for a discussion. I suggest you start a Chat. – David Makogon May 14 '16 at 18:34
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You can browse and add/edit/delete files in Azure File Shares similar to how you would any other file share after mounting. You can refer to these two articles on how to do so:

Alternatively, you can use CLI or PowerShell, see examples below:

Mine Tanrinian Demir - MSFT
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