The Azure Blob Storage Archive tier

In the Azure cloud service, the Blob Storage resource type has three main access tiers: Hot, Cool, and Archive. The Archive tier is meant for data you rarely read but still want to keep for years, such as old backups, audit logs, or compliance archives.

Key points about the Archive tier:

• Low storage (write) cost, higher access (read) cost.
• Data is offline; you must rehydrate it before reading.
• Good for data you might need once in a long while.

You can move a blob to Archive from the portal, or via the CLI:

az storage blob set-tier ^
  --account-name mystorageaccount ^
  --container-name logs ^
  --name 2018-01-logs.zip ^
  --tier Archive

When you need the blob again, change it back to Hot or Cool:

az storage blob set-tier ^
  --account-name mystorageaccount ^
  --container-name logs ^
  --name 2018-01-logs.zip ^
  --tier Cool

Rehydration can take a while, so plan ahead. Archive is not for interactive workloads, but it can save a lot of money on long-term storage.