On this Page
Overview
Azure Blob storage is Microsoft's object storage solution for the cloud. Blob storage is optimized for storing massive amounts of unstructured data, such as text or binary data.
Blob storage is ideal for:
Serving images or documents directly to a browser.
Storing files for distributed access.
Streaming video and audio.
Writing to log files.
Storing data for backup and restore, disaster recovery, and archiving.
Storing data for analysis by an on-premises or Azure-hosted service.
Blob Service Concepts
Blob storage exposes three resources: your storage account, the containers in the account, and the blobs in a container. The following diagram shows the relationship between these resources.
SkySync Connection
The Microsoft Azure Blob connector in SkySync allows you to analyze, migrate, copy, and synchronize files between your Azure Blob account and cloud storage repositories and on-premise network file shares. SkySync utilizes token-based authentication to establish a connection to an Azure Blob Storage Account. A Blob storage Access Key will need to be provided in order to authenticate to the defined Azure Blob storage account. A Blob storage account is a specialized storage account for storing your unstructured data as blobs (objects) in Azure Storage. Blob storage accounts support only block and append blobs, and not page blobs. Hot or Cool Access Tier attributes can be defined or modified as needed depending on frequent or in-frequent access to Blob objects. All objects transferred from the SkySync platform to Azure Blob Storage will be stored within a specified container. A container is similar to a folder in a file system. You can further organize blobs into virtual directories, and traverse them as you would a file system.
In addition to providing the ability to connect directly to Azure Blob Storage via the SkySync Azure Blob Storage Connector, the same connection is utilized during Office 365 content integration and migration projects. When projects require transferring data to Office 365, SkySync establishes a connection to Azure Blob Storage in order to leverage the Office 365 Migration API.
Create Connection | SkySync Application User Interface
The first step is to create the connection by providing the connection information required for SkySync to connect to the platform/server. The connector can be created using any user account with permissions to access the content.
Select Connections > Add connection.
Select Azure Blob Storage as the platform on the Add connection modal.
Enter the connection information. Reference the table below for details about each field.
Test the connection to ensure SkySync can connect using the information entered.
Select Done.
Add connection modal - Azure Blob Storage
Field | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
Display as | Enter the display name for the connection. If you will be creating multiple connections, ensure the name readily identifies the connection. The name displays in the application, and you can use it to search for the connection and filter lists. If you do not add a display name, the connection will automatically be named using account name. For example, Azure Blob Storage (Account Name). If it will be useful for you to reference the connection by the account name, you should use the default name. | Optional |
Account Name | Enter the account name that should be used to connect to the platform. | Required |
Access Key | Enter the access key ID required to access the account. Refer to the Manage storage account keys in the Microsoft Azure product documentation for information on where to locate the access keys. | Required |
Container Name | Enter the Blob container name you want to access. | Required |
Snapshot blobs before overwrite | Select if you want to create snapshot of the blobs before overwriting. Refer to the Create a snapshot of a blob page in the Microsoft Azure product documentation for information about blob snapshots. | Optional |
Connection Test Succeeded
Features and Limitations
Platforms all have unique features and limitations. SkySync’s transfer engine manages these differences between platforms and allows you to configure actions based on Job Policies and Behaviors. The information below is platform specific. Use the Platform Comparison tool to see how your integration platforms may interact regarding features and limitations.
Files and Folders
Below is list of supported and unsupported features as well as additional file/folder restrictions.
Supported Features | Unsupported Features |
|---|---|
Create Connection | SkySync API
Creating a basic Azure Blob Connection
Create a basic connection using the example below. Replace the example values with the information relevant to your connection.
POST {{url}}v1/connections/ |
|---|
{
"name": "display name goes here",
"platform": {
"id": "azure-blob"
},
"auth": {
"client_secret": "this is the access key",
"domain": "this is the account name",
"container": "this is the container name"
}
}
|
Create a Job | SkySync API Job Configuration Example
The sample code below shows how to create a basic copy job for a connection created to connect as a standard user. Replace the source and destination IDs and paths with information relevant to your connections and jobs.
POST {{url}}v1/jobs |
|---|
{
"name":"Simple Job",
"kind": "transfer",
"transfer": {
"transfer_type": "copy",
"source": {
"connection": { "id": "{{Connection_sourceID}}" },
"target": {
"path": "/sourceDocumentLibrary"
}
},
"destination": {
"connection": { "id": "{{Connection_destinationID}}" },
"target": {
"path": "/destinationFolder"
}
},
"simulation_mode": false
},
"schedule": {
"mode": "manual"
},
"stop_policy": {
"on_success": 5,
"on_failure": 5,
"on_execute": 25
},
"category": {
"name": "Report {Name}"
}
}
|