Microsoft adds long-term storage option to Azure offering Azure

Microsoft has announced a new option to its Blob storage within Azure. The so-called Archive tier is cheaper than the Hot and Cold options and is suitable for long-term storage of data. A preview is now available.

Microsoft reports that with the new addition it wants to meet growing amounts of data at organizations. The Archive option is intended for data that is infrequently used and therefore has a lower latency requirement.

As long as a blob is stored on the Archive servers, it is not possible to read, copy, overwrite or modify the data. To be able to read, the blob must first be moved to a different tier such as Hot or Cold. Microsoft introduced the latter option last year as an option for rarely used data.

Azure customers can participate in a preview of the new option by submitting a request, Microsoft said. No euro prices of the option have yet been announced, the company has only put the price for one American region online. The price is $0.0018 per GB per month, compared to $0.01 for Cold storage and $0.0184 for Hot. According to Microsoft, these are preview prices that will go up once the option becomes available to everyone.