Best way to index data in Azure Blob Storage?

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I plan on using Azure Blob storage to store images. I will have around 5000 categories for images that I plan on using folders to keep separated. For each of the image files, the file names won't differ a lot across the board and there is the potential to need to change metadata frequently.

My original plan was to use a SQL database to index all of these files and store my metadata there, but I'm second guessing that plan.

Is it feasible to index files in Azure Blob storage using a database, or should I just stick with using blob metadata?

Edit: I guess this question should really be "are there any downsides to indexing Azure Blob storage using a relational database?". I'm much more comfortable working with a DB than I am Azure storage, so my preference is to use a DB.

I'm second guessing whether or not to use a DB after looking at Azure storage more and discovering meta-tags and indexing. Hope this helps.

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azureazure-storageazure-storage-blobs
azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/blog/… – Nick.McDermaid
As Blob indexing is still in preview, another alternative is to use Azure Search docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/search/… – silent
"but I'm second guessing that plan." explain why you are second guessing that plan. What is wrong with the plan? – John
I guess that's what I'm asking, is there anything wrong with the plan to index using a database. I'm very new to Azure storage so looking for best practices. – Thomas Rathbun

2 Answers

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You can use Azure Search for this task as well, store images in Azure Storage (BLOB) and use Azure Search for crawling. indexing and searching. Using metadata you can enhance your search as well. This way you might not even need to use Folders to separate different categories.

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Blob Index is a very feasible option and it can save the in the pricing, time, and overhead in terms of not using SQL. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/blog/manage-and-find-data-with-blob-index-for-azure-storage-now-in-preview/

If you are looking for more information on this preview feature, I would love hear more and work closer on this issue. Could you please reach me on [email protected].