Azure Blob Storage vs. Azure SQL Managed Instance

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Azure Blob Storage
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft's Blob Storage system on Azure is designed to make unstructured data available to customers anywhere through REST-based object storage.
$0.01
per GB/per month
Azure SQL Managed Instance
Score 9.3 out of 10
N/A
Azure SQL Managed Instance is a scalable cloud database service that combines SQL Server database engine compatibility with a fully managed and evergreen platform as a service.N/A
Pricing
Azure Blob StorageAzure SQL Managed Instance
Editions & Modules
Block Blobs
$0.0081
per GB/per month
Azure Data Lake Storage
$0.0081
per GB/per month
Files
$0.058
per GB/per month
Managed Discs
$1.54
per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Azure Blob StorageAzure SQL Managed Instance
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details——
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Azure Blob StorageAzure SQL Managed Instance
Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Top Cons

No answers on this topic

Features
Azure Blob StorageAzure SQL Managed Instance
Platform-as-a-Service
Comparison of Platform-as-a-Service features of Product A and Product B
Azure Blob Storage
-
Ratings
Azure SQL Managed Instance
8.4
1 Ratings
5% above category average
Ease of building user interfaces00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Scalability00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Platform management overhead00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Workflow engine capability00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Platform access control00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Services-enabled integration00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Development environment creation00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Development environment replication00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Issue monitoring and notification00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Issue recovery00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Upgrades and platform fixes00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Azure Blob StorageAzure SQL Managed Instance
Small Businesses
Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage
Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage
Score 9.3 out of 10
AWS Elastic Beanstalk
AWS Elastic Beanstalk
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Google Cloud Storage
Google Cloud Storage
Score 8.8 out of 10
Red Hat OpenShift
Red Hat OpenShift
Score 9.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Google Cloud Storage
Google Cloud Storage
Score 8.8 out of 10
Red Hat OpenShift
Red Hat OpenShift
Score 9.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Azure Blob StorageAzure SQL Managed Instance
Likelihood to Recommend
9.9
(9 ratings)
6.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Azure Blob StorageAzure SQL Managed Instance
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
Blob storage is well suited to hosting/sharing zipped files rather than several smaller files, as folder enumeration/listing is not supported. Files uploaded are case-sensitive, so users need to be educated on the correct naming convention format if they are delegating the file-sharing process outside of IT.
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Microsoft
Data management scenarios where there is a strong need to provide dynamic context for web based applications. Also can work as an infrastructure piece for ticketing systems without relying on another set of database software. The ease of importing data from Microsoft Excel &/or .csv files makes this really easy to use when importing data into the managed instance.
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Pros
Microsoft
  • Easy to work with - drag and drop
  • Capable of long term retention
  • Relatively low cost
  • Good for different data formats
  • Allows archival storage
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Microsoft
  • ease of use with microsoft products
  • data management
  • GUI interfacing
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Cons
Microsoft
  • If we are transferring huge amount of data (outbound), it can get quite expensive.
  • With new features being added constantly, although a good thing, at times it becomes difficult to keep up with the changes. Documentation needs to keep UpToDate and should include best practices.
  • Performance can be improved especially when it comes to cold storage.
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Microsoft
  • hard to use without Microsoft knowledge
  • Intimidating CLI
  • Commands are not intuitive
Read full review
Usability
Microsoft
Blob storage is fairly simple, with several different options/settings that can be configured. The file explorer has enhanced its usability. Some areas could be improved, such as providing more details or stats on how many times a file has been accessed. It is an obvious choice if you're already using Azure/Entra.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Microsoft
Microsoft has improved its customer service standpoint over the years. The ability to chat with an issue, get a callback, schedule a call or work with an architecture team(for free) is a huge plus. I can get mentorship and guidance on where to go with my environment without pushy sales tactics. This is very refreshing. Typically support can get me to where I need to be on the first contact, which is also nice.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
Azure Blob Storage is the best choice to store files when the app runs in Azure. It also has some advantages over S3, like Shared Access Signatures, that make it easy to control access to files directly via a URL. Azure Blob Storage is very fast and we have not had any major issues with it after using it for several years.
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Microsoft
Azure to our enviironment where we have everything integrated stacks up far better than MySQL where we would have to reinvent and use everything to fit a MySQL environment including the data and the commands within that data. Furthermore, doesn't work really well on SQL Management Studio which makes it completely useless for what we are trying to do.
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Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Azure has increased the flexibility of where we place data within our organization.
  • It has proven to be very reliable and always accessible.
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Microsoft
  • Decision Driven decisions have been quicker
  • Negatively cumbersome at start when training
  • Positive use of PaaS services instead of devoting VMs
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ScreenShots