A Guide to Convert Block Blob to Page Blob in Azure

Overview

This guide provides a comprehensive walkthrough for converting the Azure Block Blob to Azure Page Blob in Azure and subsequently creating a managed disk from the Azure Page Blob. Understanding how to manipulate Azure Storage Blobs efficiently is essential for optimizing your storage and performance needs, especially in scenarios involving virtual machine disks and high-performance applications.

Introduction

In this guide, we will walk you through converting Azure Block Blob to Azure Page Blob in Azure and then creating a disk from the Azure Page Blob. Azure Storage Blobs are an essential part of Microsoft Azure’s storage offerings, and knowing how to manipulate them effectively can be crucial for optimizing your storage and performance needs.

Understanding the Basics

Before we dive into the step-by-step guide, it’s important to understand the difference between Block Blobs and Page Blobs:

• Azure Block Blobs: These are perfect for holding binary and text data, like media files and documents. They are optimized for sequential read and write operations.
• Azure Page Blobs: These are optimized for read and write for various tasks. They are ideal for scenarios like virtual machine disks requiring high performance and random access.

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Generate SAS Token for Source Block Blob

A Shared Access Signature (SAS) token provides secure, delegated access to resources in your storage account. We will generate a SAS token for the source Block Blob.

Navigate to the Azure Portal

1. Open the Azure portal.
2. Locate the Storage Account:
   • Go to “Storage accounts” and select the storage account that contains the Azure Block Blob.

Generate SAS Token

3. Navigate to the container that holds the block blob.

4. Select the block blob you wish to convert.

5. In the settings, select “Shared access signature”.

6. Set the necessary permissions (Read, Write, Create, Delete, List, Add) and expiry time.

7. Make a copy of the SAS token after choosing “Generate SAS”.

Step 2: Generate SAS Token for Destination Page Blob

We need to generate a SAS token for the destination Azure Page Blob. The steps are very similar to those for the source Azure Block Blob.

Navigate to the Azure Portal

1. Open the Azure portal.
2. Locate the Storage Account:
   • Go to “Storage accounts” and select the storage account where you want to store the page blob.

Generate SAS Token

3. Navigate to the target container.

4. Click on “Shared access signature”.

5. Set the necessary permissions (Read, Write, Create, Delete, List, Add) and expiry time.

6. Make a copy of the SAS token after choosing “Generate SAS”.

Step 3: Execute the AzCopy Command to Convert Block Blob to Page Blob

AzCopy is a command-line utility that copies data to and from Azure Storage. We will use AzCopy to convert the Azure Block Blob to Azure Page Blob.

Prepare the Command

Replace the placeholders with the actual values:

• <source-storage-account>: The source storage account name.
• <source-container>: The source container name.
• <source-blob>: The source blob name.
• <source-sas-token>: The source’s SAS token was created.
• <destination-storage-account>: The destination storage account name.
• <destination-container>: The destination container name.
• <destination-blob>: The destination blob name.
• <destination-sas-token>: For the destination, the SAS token.

Run the Command

Run the above command in the Azure Cloud Shell or your local terminal configured with Azure CLI.

Step 4: Verify the Conversion

After running the command, navigate to the destination container in the Azure portal and verify that the Azure Page Blob has been created.

Step 5: Create a Disk from the Azure Page Blob

Now that you have Azure Page Blob, you can create a disk. This is particularly useful for scenarios like virtual machine disks.

Navigate to Disks

1. In the Azure interface, navigate to “Disks” and select “Create”.

Fill Disk Details

1. Enter the following details:
   • Subscription
   • Resource Group
   • Disk Name
   • Region

Source Type

3. Select “Storage blob” and paste the SAS URL of the Azure Page Blob or browse the disk location in the container.

Finalize Creation

1. Configure size and performance options.
2. Click “Review + create”.
3. Click “Create”.

Conclusion

This guide has walked you through the process step-by-step, from generating SAS tokens to verifying the conversion and creating a disk. With these skills, you’ll be better equipped to handle various storage scenarios in Azure, ensuring optimal performance and efficiency for your applications.

Drop a query if you have any questions regarding Azure Block Blobs and we will get back to you quickly.

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