Microsoft Azure Storage Release –Append Blob, New Azure File Service Features and Client Side Encryption General Availability
We are excited to announce new capabilities in the Azure Storage Service and updates to our Storage Client Libraries. We have a new blob type, Append Blob, as well as a number of new features for the Azure File Service. In detail, we are adding the following:
1. Append Blob with a new AppendBlock API
A new blob type, the append blob, is now available. All writes to an append blob are added sequentially to the end of the blob, making it optimal for logging scenarios. Append blobs support an Append Block operation for adding blocks to the blob. Once a block is added with Append Block, it is immediately available to be read; no further commits are necessary. The block cannot be modified once it has been added.
Please read Getting Started with Blob Storage for more details.
2. Azure File Service
A number of new features are available for the Azure File Service (in preview – with technical support available), including:
- Copy File – server side copy of a blob or file to a destination file within the Storage account or across different Storage accounts.
- Abort Copy File – abort a pending copy file operation.
- File share size quota - limit the size of file shares.
- Get File Properties - returns all user-defined metadata, standard HTTP properties, and system properties for the file. It does not return the content of the file.
- Set File Properties – set system properties on the file.
- CORS Support – allow browser access using Set File Properties, Get File Properties, and Preflight File Request.
- Get Share Stats – get usage data for a file share.
- Shared Access Signatures - provide SAS based access to file shares and files with REST API’s.
- Get Share ACL and Set Share ACL – manage shared access policies on a share for use with REST API’s.
- Get Directory Metadata and Set Directory Metadata – get/set all user-defined metadata for the specified directory.
Check out our Azure Files Preview Update blog to learn more. Also, read the How to use Azure File storage with PowerShell and .NET getting started to learn how to use these new features.
If you’re not familiar with CORS or SAS signatures, you’ll find the following documentation helpful:
3. Client-Side Encryption
We are also announcing general availability for the .NET client-side encryption capability that has been in preview since April. In addition to enabling encryption of Blobs, Tables and Queues we also have support for Append Blobs. Please read Get Started with Client-Side Encryption for Microsoft Azure Storage for more details.
4. Azure Storage Client Library and Tooling Updates
We have also released new versions of our .NET, Java, C++, Node.js, and Android client libraries which provide support for the new 2015-02-21 Storage Version. For tooling, we've released new versions of AzCopy. Check out Getting Started with the AzCopy Command-Line Utility to learn more. We've also released Storage updates to Azure PowerShell and Azure CLI.
We hope you will find these features useful. As always, please let us know if you have any further questions either via forum or comments on this post.
Thanks!
Azure Storage Team