Guided Lab: How to Create Azure Blob Storage in a Storage Account
Description
Azure Blob Storage is a service for storing large amounts of unstructured data such as text or binary files. It is optimized for storing objects like documents, images, videos, and backups, and is designed to handle massive amounts of data cost-effectively. Blob storage is often used in scenarios such as serving content to users directly via HTTP/HTTPS, storing backups and disaster recovery files, or archiving large datasets for compliance.
In this lab, you will learn how to create a new Storage Account in Azure and configure a Blob Storage container inside it. This exercise will introduce the basic configuration settings for Blob Storage and help you understand how to organize and manage object data within Azure.
Objectives
In this lab, you will be able to:
- Create a new Azure Storage Account configured for Blob storage.
- Understand the different replication options and why region selection matters.
- Create and configure a Blob container for storing unstructured data.
- Review access options for Blob containers (private vs public access).
Subscribe to access Azure PlayCloud LabsLab Steps
Creating a Storage Account
1. In the Azure portal, type Storage accounts in the search bar and select the service.
2. Click the Create button in the center of the Create or on the top left corner of the portal.
3. On the Basics tab, fill in the following:
- Subscription: Use Azure Labs Subscription
- Resource group: Select the default resource group (i.e azure-lab-rg-9jdvDNHrzgv9)
- Storage account name: Enter a globally unique name, such as orchidblobstorage.
- Region: Select Central US.
- Preferred Storage Type: Choose Azure Blob Storage or Azure Data Lake Storage Gen 2
- Performance: Standard.
- Redundancy: Locally-redundant storage (LRS).
4. Leave other settings as default, then click Review + Create, followed by Create.
Note: The name of a storage account must be globally unique, use only lowercase letters and numbers, and be between 3–24 characters.
Creating a Blob Container
1. Once deployment completes, click Go to resource.
2. Inside your storage account, on the left menu, select Containers under Data Storage.
3. Click + Container and provide the following:
- Name: orchid-container
- Public access level: Private (no anonymous access).
- Click Create.
Security Tip: Public access should be avoided unless explicitly required. Azure recommends private access with controlled sharing using SAS (Shared Access Signatures).
Uploading a Test Blob
1. Open your newly created container.
2. Select Upload.
3. Choose a local file (for example, a small text file or image) to upload.
4. Once uploaded, verify that the file appears in the container list.
Uploading a test blob ensures that your container is working correctly and that you can store and retrieve unstructured data within Azure Blob Storage. This step validates that the storage account and container configuration are functional, and it provides a hands-on check that files can be securely uploaded and accessed as intended.
Tips: Make it a habit to delete resources after completing your labs. In this case, delete the Storage Account you created. This will also remove the associated Blob container and data. Cleaning up resources not only prevents accidental charges but also helps you practice responsible cloud resource management.
✅ Congratulations! You have successfully created a Storage Account, added a Blob container, uploaded test data, and reviewed container access levels. You now understand the basics of Blob Storage and how it can be applied in real-world scenarios such as data archiving, application storage, and serving static content.