When studying data integration and storage options in Azure, make sure you understand the differences between Azure Data Lake Storage and Azure Blob Storage. Now, this is a common comparison that shows up in your exam scenarios.
Design a data integration solution with Azure Data Lake
Start with understanding the data types and what each supports. Now, keep in mind your Data Lake Storage is designed for big data analytics and can handle structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data.
Blob Storage on the other hand, is optimized for unstructured data like images, videos, backups. So, know the key differences between those two for any scenario-based questions.
Next, look at namespace support; Data Lake uses a hierarchical namespace which means that everything is organized in a structure with directories and subdirectories, whereas Blob Storage uses a flattening space.
Again, you will want to know the key differences, distinctions between those as you’re going to through. And finally, review the security features, Data Lakes supports a wide range of controls including, Access Control Lists, RBAC, ABAC, shared keys and SAS tokens; where Blob Storage supports shared keys, SAS tokens, and RBAC, but it doesn’t include ABAC and ACLs.
So, these are key distinctions that you’ll want to keep in mind. You know, understanding these differences will help you choose the right storage solution when it comes to questions related to that on your exam.
| Criteria | Azure Data Lake Storage | Azure Blob Storage |
| Data type | Is a central repository of unstructured, semi-structured, and structured data used for big data analytics workloads | Is good for storing unstructured data that is not text-based, such as photos, videos, backup, and so on. |
| Namespace support | Uses a hierarchical namespace | Supports flat namespaces |
| Hadoop compatibility | Is optimized for big data platforms, multi-protocol access supporting Hadoop | Is not Hadoop compatible |
| Security | Uses Access Control Lists (ACLs), shared keys, SAS, ABAC, and RBAC | Uses shared keys, SAS, and RBAC |