worried about people deleting Data
Microsoft Azure customers are becoming more aware of the cost-effectiveness of cloud storage, especially blob storage. If they have a means, probably a web app, to upload and access files to the blob service in a storage account, then they can store huge capacities at a very low cost. A file, now referred to as a blob, can be kept in the hot tier (for frequent access), the cold tier (for infrequent access), or the archive tier (for legal/regulator retention).
How Soft Delete Works
The following graphic, by Microsoft, illustrates a file/blob life cycle with Soft Delete enabled in the storage account.
- A file/blob, version B0, is uploaded into a storage account.
- An update is made to the blob, and this is saved by the storage account as B1. The original version is retained as B0 in the background as a soft delete snapshot. B0 is still retrievable.
- The blob is deleted by an application/user, but both B1 and B0 are retained in the background until the retention window expires and can be restored if required.
Now this storage becomes important and things happen. We have the ability to convert blob storage into WORM storagebut if the storage account is more interactive, then users will do things like accidentally deleting a file. Backups can be restored, but recycle bins are faster to use for these kinds of regular restores. And now, there is a preview for:
- Keeping historical versions of blobs
- Retaining blobs after deletion
Both of these features are offered by Soft Delete and are easily configured with a simple retention window.
