There are three basic methods of adding disks (storage) to your SoftNAS® instance on Azure. Each method is a fairly simple task, but there are some considerations before adding your storage, or even selecting your method. One of the key decisions you will need to make is whether to deploy and use block or object storage.
Note: Whichever type of storage you choose, it will require the setup of underlying storage accounts. If using managed disks and block storage, these are created automatically in the background. If using blob storage, these accounts will need to be added manually, as per instructions below.
Block Storage
Block storage provides fixed size raw storage capacity within your VM. In Azure, these are referred to as virtual hard disks. Within the SoftNAS UI, these are referred to as Microsoft (MSFT) Disks. Each volume added is treated as an independent disk drive. Block storage disks are only accessible when attached to an OS, such as the linux-based SoftNAS framework we offer. They are typically formatted with a file system, such as FAT32, NTFS, EXT3, or EXT4. They are also easily configured into software RAID configurations.
...
The available types of disks are ultra disks, premium solid-state drives (SSD), standard SSDs, and standard hard disk drives (HDD). For information about each individual disk type, see Select a disk type for IaaS VMs.
Note: In SoftNAS®, object storage can also be leveraged into RAID configurations.
...
Widget Connector width 800 url https://vimeo.com/311905213 height 600
Object (Blob) Storage
Object storage (called Blob storage in Azure), is directly accessible through an API or HTTP/HTTPS and can store any type of data. The data is guaranteed not to be lost and can be replicated across data centers. It offers web service interfaces for easy access.
...