Mount Azure Blob Storage as a Windows Drive
Do you need to access blobs as files from your local computer or Azure? AzureBlobDrive solves this problem by mounting blob storage as drive in Windows. Containers appear as a folders, each blob is displayed as a file:
AzureBlobDrive can run either on an Azure instance, or on your local machine.
Works well for these scenarios:
+ If you have an existing application which you want to migrate to Azure, but it needs to read/write to a persistent drive.
+ If you have an application split across Azure and a local data centre, and they need to share files.
+ If you want convenient access to blobs and containers from your local computer.
Not suitable for these scenarios:
- Reading/writing large files.
- Storing files that change a lot (i.e. database files).
Demonstration
Run locally
- Install the Dokan driver, which can be downloaded from here: http://dokan-dev.net/wp-content/uploads/DokanInstall_0.6.0.exe
- Download the AzureBlobDrive source: https://github.com/richorama/AzureBlobDrive
- Update the app.config file in the Two10.AzureBlobDrive.Console project, to point to your Azure storage account (alternatively you can use the Azure emulator).
- Run the Two10.AzureBlobDrive.Console project. An ‘R’ drive will be mounted, you should be able to see your containers.
Run in Azure
- Download the AzureBlobDrive source: https://github.com/richorama/AzureBlobDrive
- Update the Two10.AzureBlobDrive.Console.exe.config in the Two10.AzureBlobDrive.WorkerRole project, to point to your Azure storage account.
- Build the solution.
- Publish the Two10.AzureBlobDrive.CloudProject project to Azure, the role will install the Dokan driver with an elevated startup command, and the worker role will mount the ‘R’ drive in the ‘Run’ method.
Current limitations
AzureBlobDrive is alpha quality code, and has a number of limitations. Some of these limitations are passed on by the inherent limitations of Azure blob storage.
Files can only be placed in a folder (container). You cannot have files in the root directory.Folders cannot contain folders (blob storage does not support hierarchy).- Root folder names (containers) must be in lower case, and cannot contain spaces and other special characters.
- Performance is poor, and large files are not recommended.
- Files and folders are cached for one minute, so changes made by other machines may not be instantly viewable.
- Files (blobs) cannot be empty (i.e. have a zero size).
Parv 12:20 pm on December 7, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
hi.. awsm wkr with this project. i was looking smthing exactly like this cuz i need to build a system to in azure for files with programatic access restrictions. however can u help becuz the run method of the worker role present contains no code to mount the drive and also the console that is supposed to work inside windows locally is also exiting without any error and without any drive being mounted to my system.
thankx in advance
Parv 7:01 am on December 9, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
awsm wrk i hav worked things out but because i dnt hav a documentation of which function does what.. plz help
Gibberish 5:47 am on January 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
What are you trying to say? Stopped reading your post because your writing style is annoying, please use proper english to be heard and understood.
parv 6:56 am on January 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
was tht for me? if yes.. through my last comment here i was asking for some documentation to be added so that the one (like me) attempting to edit code knows exactly how each method in the different classes work and what exactly is expected out of them.. also what all will break if a particular function is removed. u get it now? i apologize if my style of writing annoyed you
Richard 8:00 pm on January 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
It’s probably best to look at the Dokan documentation: http://dokan-dev.net/en/docs/
But what can I *do* with Windows Azure? Backups - Carpe Datum - Site Home - MSDN Blogs 6:27 pm on March 26, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
[…] Source: https://coderead.wordpress.com/2011/09/02/mount-azure-blob-storage-as-a-windows-drive/ which uses: […]
Buck Woody : But what can I *do* with Windows Azure? Backups 6:27 pm on March 26, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
[…] Source: https://coderead.wordpress.com/2011/09/02/mount-azure-blob-storage-as-a-windows-drive/ which uses: […]