What are the Azure Blob Storage access tiers?

Azure offers Hot (frequently accessed, higher storage cost, lower access cost), Cool (infrequent access, lower storage cost, higher access cost), Cold (rarely accessed, even lower storage cost), and Archive (offline storage, lowest storage cost, highest retrieval cost and latency). Lifecycle policies automate transitions between these tiers.

How does last access time tracking work?

When enabled on a storage account, Azure tracks the last time each blob was read or written. Lifecycle rules can use this timestamp to tier or delete blobs that haven't been accessed within a specified number of days. Note that enabling this feature generates additional monitoring data.

Azure Blob Storage Lifecycle Builder

StorageAzure

Build blob lifecycle management rules for tiering, deletion, and snapshots.

Blob Storage Lifecycle Configuration

Rule 1

Rule Name

Enabled

Blob Types (comma-separated)

Prefix Match (comma-separated, optional)

Tier to Cool (days, optional)

Tier to Archive (days, optional)

Delete After (days, optional)

Generated Lifecycle Policy

Output will appear here...

About This Tool

The Azure Blob Lifecycle Builder helps you create lifecycle management policies for Azure Blob Storage containers. Lifecycle policies automate transitioning blobs between access tiers (Hot, Cool, Cold, Archive) and deleting old blobs based on age or last access time. This tool provides a visual rule builder with support for prefix filters, blob types, and multiple actions per rule, generating the JSON policy you can apply to your storage account.

When to Use This Tool

•Build policies to automatically move infrequently accessed blobs from Hot to Cool or Archive tier to reduce storage costs.
•Create lifecycle rules to delete old log files, temporary uploads, or expired backups after a retention period.
•Configure rules based on last access time tracking to automatically tier blobs that haven't been read recently.
•Design multi-rule policies that apply different retention periods to blobs based on container prefixes or blob index tags.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the Azure Blob Storage access tiers?: Azure offers Hot (frequently accessed, higher storage cost, lower access cost), Cool (infrequent access, lower storage cost, higher access cost), Cold (rarely accessed, even lower storage cost), and Archive (offline storage, lowest storage cost, highest retrieval cost and latency). Lifecycle policies automate transitions between these tiers.
How does last access time tracking work?: When enabled on a storage account, Azure tracks the last time each blob was read or written. Lifecycle rules can use this timestamp to tier or delete blobs that haven't been accessed within a specified number of days. Note that enabling this feature generates additional monitoring data.

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Disclaimer: This tool runs entirely in your browser. No data is sent to our servers. Always verify outputs before using them in production. AWS, Azure, and GCP are trademarks of their respective owners.