Item: Azure Blob Storage
Rating: 10
Author: Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Azure Blob Storage

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Blob storage to share large files and public marketing material. Using blob storage is very easy; the access settings allow you to make files public so that anyone with the URL can access them, or they can be set as private and restricted. Using Blob storage allows us to keep control of the files at the source rather than leaving our estate as with external file-sharing systems. Using a vanity URL allows the link to look more user-friendly/professional.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Hosting large files.
Vanity URLs.
Temporary access.
Different levels of access to files.

Cons

Enumeration of folders is not possible.
Spaces in file names can be problematic.

Return on Investment

Meant that we did not need to seek a 3rd party alternative.
Central control of file storage and file hosting.
That staff come to IT rather than seek alternative products.

Usability

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.

Alternatives Considered

OneDrive, Dropbox, FileShare, ShareFile and WeSend

Blob storage lets us control the file source/hosting and retain everything within our Microsoft ecosystem. Blob is less feature-rich than some of the other products. Still, we consider it as a value-added product included within our environment, and alternative products are not needed for our requirements. Keeping the hosting within our tenant locale is vital to us.

Key Insights

Do you think Azure Blob Storage delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Azure Blob Storage's feature set?

Yes

Did Azure Blob Storage live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Azure Blob Storage go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Azure Blob Storage again?

Yes

Likelihood to Recommend

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.

Comments

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Blob storage for central control.