Configure and manage storage accounts
📘Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104)
This topic covers how to upload, download, copy, and manage data across Azure Storage services using Azure Storage Explorer (a GUI tool) and AzCopy (a command-line tool). Both tools are widely used in IT environments for storage administration, troubleshooting, and automation.
For the exam, you must understand what they are, when to use them, how authentication works, and common operations.
✅ 1. Azure Storage Explorer
Azure Storage Explorer is a free, standalone GUI application that helps you manage Azure Storage resources visually.
1.1 What Services It Supports
Storage Explorer can manage:
- Blob Storage
- Azure Files
- Queues
- Tables
- Data Lake Storage Gen2
- Managed disks (limited)
This makes it useful when administrators need a graphical interface to interact with Azure Storage.
✅ 2. How to Connect Azure Storage Explorer
Storage Explorer supports multiple authentication methods. You must know these for the exam.
2.1 Sign-in with Azure AD (Recommended)
- Secure and modern authentication
- Uses user permissions (RBAC roles such as Storage Blob Data Reader/Contributor)
2.2 Connect Using Connection Strings
Common method in legacy apps or direct access scenarios.
Steps:
- Go to the storage account → Access keys
- Copy the connection string
- Paste it into Storage Explorer to connect
2.3 Connect Using Shared Access Signature (SAS)
Useful for temporary and scoped access.
You can provide:
- Account SAS
- Service SAS
- Container/Directory SAS
2.4 Connect Using Storage Account Name + Key
Considered less secure than Azure AD
Still available under Access keys
✅ 3. Managing Blob Data with Storage Explorer
Storage Explorer allows you to perform file operations on blob containers:
Common Operations:
| Operation | Description |
|---|---|
| Upload | Send files/folders to a container |
| Download | Copy files/folders from a container |
| Rename | Change blob names |
| Delete | Remove blobs or containers |
| Copy/Paste | Move data between containers or accounts |
| View Properties | Check metadata, access tier, etc. |
| Set Access Tier | Hot, Cool, Archive |
Directory-Level Actions
- Create folders
- Upload folder structure
- Move folders
Permissions & Access
Before making changes, ensure your account has:
- Storage Blob Data Contributor OR
- Storage Blob Data Owner (for full rights)
✅ 4. Managing Azure Files with Storage Explorer
Storage Explorer can manage:
- Azure file shares
- Directories
- NTFS permissions (if using AD DS)
You can:
✔ Upload / download files
✔ Change directory structures
✔ Modify file share quotas
✔ Manage snapshots
✅ 5. Managing Data Lake Gen2 with Storage Explorer
For hierarchical namespace-enabled accounts:
- Create directories
- Upload large folder structures
- Modify ACLs (Access Control Lists)
ACL permissions include:
- Read (r)
- Write (w)
- Execute (x)
⚡ 6. What Is AzCopy?
AzCopy is a command-line utility optimized for:
- High-performance data transfer
- Bulk operations
- Automation and scripting
It supports transfers between:
- Local → Azure Storage
- Azure Storage → Local
- Azure → Azure
- Even cross-region or cross-account
🚀 7. AzCopy Authentication Methods
7.1 Azure AD Login (Recommended)
azcopy login
Uses your Azure AD identity and RBAC permissions.
7.2 SAS Token Authentication
You simply append a SAS token to the URL.
7.3 Access Key Authentication
Used with:
AZCOPY_ACCOUNT_NAME
AZCOPY_ACCOUNT_KEY
Environment variables.
🔧 8. Common AzCopy Commands You MUST Know (Exam Focus)
8.1 Upload a file to Blob Storage
azcopy copy "C:\data\file.txt" "https://account.blob.core.windows.net/container" --recursive
8.2 Download a file from Blob Storage
azcopy copy "https://account.blob.core.windows.net/container/file.txt" "C:\downloads"
8.3 Upload a folder
azcopy copy "C:\data" "https://account.blob.core.windows.net/container" --recursive
8.4 Copy between two storage accounts
azcopy copy "https://src.blob.core.windows.net/container?sas" "https://dest.blob.core.windows.net/container?sas" --recursive
8.5 Sync local folder with Azure Storage (one-way sync)
azcopy sync "C:\localfolder" "https://account.blob.core.windows.net/container" --recursive
Important:
- Sync is one-directional
- Not a full replication tool
- It deletes files on destination if they were deleted locally (optional with
--delete-destination=true)
🔐 9. When to Use Storage Explorer vs. AzCopy
| Scenario | Use Storage Explorer | Use AzCopy |
|---|---|---|
| GUI-based management | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Automating uploads/downloads | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Bulk transfers (TB-scale) | ⚠️ Slow | ✔️ Fast |
| Scripted operations | ❌ | ✔️ |
| ACL editing for Data Lake Gen2 | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Temporary access via SAS | ✔️ | ✔️ |
📌 10. Key AZ-104 Exam Areas You Must Know
✔ Differences between Storage Explorer and AzCopy
✔ How to authenticate (Azure AD, SAS, access keys)
✔ Common AzCopy commands
✔ How to manage Blob, File, and Data Lake data
✔ How to upload/download/copy data
✔ Using hierarchical namespace with Storage Explorer
✔ Understanding sync vs. copy
✔ When to use which tool in a real IT environment
📝 11. Real IT Use Cases (No Non-IT Examples)
- An IT admin migrating on-premise file shares to Azure Files using AzCopy scripts
- A cloud engineer viewing logs stored in Blob containers through Storage Explorer
- DevOps teams using AzCopy to automatically upload build artifacts
- Data engineers moving folders into Data Lake Gen2 using Storage Explorer
- Support engineers troubleshooting failed blob uploads using Storage Explorer logs
🎯 FINAL SUMMARY
Azure Storage Explorer provides an easy graphical interface to manage storage accounts, while AzCopy is a high-speed command-line tool used for automation and bulk data movement.
Mastering authentication, basic operations, and common commands will ensure you pass the AZ-104 exam.
