Azure Blob Storage URL : WASB:// vs HTTP://

Question

I see that there are different kinds of URLS to access a blob storage like shown below:

wasb://[email protected]

https://[email protected]

What is the difference? what could be the reason for difference?

Answer 1

From what I understand, wasb://[email protected] is used to access blob storage through HDInsight (ref: http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/documentation/articles/hdinsight-use-blob-storage/) where as https://[email protected] is used to access blobs through clients supporting HTTP protocol (web browsers etc.).

Answer 2

Just to refine the previous answer a bit: wasb is the hdfs compatible API on top of Azure blob storage. So, using it you can access blobs from any hdfs client, be it part of HDInsight, a self installed IaaS hadoop cluster etc.

Answer 3

There is another scheme: wasbs which enables secured transfers with hadoop clients. If you always want secured transfers with your storage account you can enable secured transfers configuration through Azure portal.