Provide storage for the public website

CONFIGURATION STEPS :

• Create a storage account with high availability:

  Creating a storage account with high availability ensures that data is replicated across multiple locations or zones, providing resilience against hardware failures or outages and guaranteeing reliable access for applications and users.

• Ensure the storage account has anonymous public access:

  Enabling anonymous public access allows the storage account or container to serve files over the internet without authentication. This is essential for hosting publicly accessible content, such as website documents, while ensuring ease of access for all users.

• Create a blob storage container for the website documents:

  Creating a blob storage container organizes and stores the website’s documents and assets within the storage account, providing a dedicated space for files such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and media content.

• Enable soft delete so files can be easily restored:

  Enabling soft delete ensures that deleted files are retained for a configurable period, allowing accidental deletions to be recovered easily and enhancing data protection.

• Enable blob versioning:

  Enabling blob versioning automatically maintains previous versions of files, allowing changes to be tracked and older versions to be restored if needed, thereby improving data management and recovery.

EXERCISE INSTRUCTIONS

1.Provisioning the Storage Account

Objective:

Create a storage account that supports high availability and public website hosting.

Steps:

1. In the portal, search for and select Storage accounts.

2. Select + Create.

3. For Resource group, select New, provide a name, and select OK.

4. Set the Storage account name to publicwebsite (ensure uniqueness by adding an identifier).

5. Accept default settings for all other options.
6. Select Review + Create, then Create.

7. Wait for the deployment to complete, then select Go to resource.

2.Enable High Availability

Objective:

Ensure the storage account remains accessible during regional outages.

Steps:

1. In the storage account, navigate to the Data management → Redundancy blade.

2. Select Read-access Geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS).

3. Review the primary and secondary location information.

Note: RA-GRS replicates data to a secondary region, providing read access if the primary region becomes unavailable.

3.Enable Anonymous Public Access

Objective:

Allow website content to be accessed by users without authentication.

Steps:

1.In the storage account, go to Settings → Configuration.

2.Enable the Allow blob anonymous access setting.

3.Save your changes.

Use case: This setting is essential for serving website files such as HTML, CSS, images, and documents to all users.

4.Create a Blob Storage Container with Anonymous Read Access

Objective:

Organize website assets (images, documents) in a dedicated container and allow public access without requiring authentication.

Steps:

1.In your storage account, go to Data storage → Containers.

2.Select + Container.

3.Set the container name to public and select Create.

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4.Configure anonymous read access:

• Open the newly created container.

• On the Overview blade, select Change access level.

• Set Public access level to Blob (anonymous read access for blobs only).
• Select OK.

5.Testing Uploads and Access:

• Upload a test file to the public container by selecting the public container created

• Select Upload, browse to a file (image or text), and select Upload.

• Refresh the container and confirm the file is uploaded.

6.Test public access:

• Select the uploaded file, copy the URL from the Overview tab, and open it in a browser.

• Images should display directly; other file types may be downloaded.

5.Configure Soft Delete

Objective:

Protect against accidental deletions by retaining deleted files for a specified period.

Steps:

1.In the storage account, go to Overview → Properties → Blob service → Blob soft delete.

2.Enable Soft delete for blobs and set Keep deleted blobs for 21 days.

3.Save your changes.

4.Testing Soft Delete:

• Navigate to your container and delete a file. Confirm deletion.

• Toggle Show deleted blobs on the container Overview page.

• Select the deleted file, click the ellipsis, and choose Undelete.

• Refresh the container to confirm the file has been restored.

6.Configure Blob Versioning

Objective:

Maintain historical versions of files to track changes and allow recovery.

Steps:

1.In the storage account, navigate to Overview → Properties → Blob service → Versioning.

2.Enable Versioning for blobs and configure options to keep or delete previous versions as needed.
3.Save your changes.

4.Testing Versioning:

• Upload a new version of an existing file in the container (overwrite the previous file).
• Previous versions are available under the Show deleted blobs page.
• Experiment with restoring older versions to verify versioning functionality.

✅ Key Benefits of These Configurations
• Anonymous Public Access: Serves website files without authentication.
• Soft Delete: Protects against accidental file deletions.
• Blob Versioning: Tracks changes and enables recovery of previous file versions.
• High Availability: Ensures data remains accessible even during outages or hardware failures.