HDinsightGS_storage_vid4

In this video, I'll show you how to add data storage to a Windows Azure account. As you can probably guess, I can't add the storage unless I already have a Window Azure account. There are many reasons to create a Windows Azure Storage account. One reason is to store the data that is processed by a Windows Azure HDInsight cluster. With the cluster and the data in the same data center in the Cloud, I'll have faster access and will save the expense of transferring data up and back. And since my data is in a separate data store and not in HDFS, when I release my cluster, my data remains safe. To add a storage account, I start from the Windows Azure Management Portal. If this had been my first visit, I'd be treated to a very quick tour. Select New, Data Services, Storage, Quick Create. The URL field is deceiving. I don't actually have to enter an entire URL. Just a name for my data store. This will be used by my HDInsight clusters for storing configuration information. It will also be the default file system I name it Cluster Tutorial. The way the storage works is each blob I create gets a name, and each blob is assigned to a container. That also gets a name. So the complete URL to my storage account is http://clustertutorial.blob.core.windows.net/containername/blobname. By default, each blob is replicated at least 2 times onto separate nodes. So even though I write once, Windows Azure Storage Service creates at least 2 more copies onto different nodes in the data center. If I want to create a replica of my data in another data center, I leave Geo-Replication on. Replication protects my data from hardware failures and also improves availability. I'd like to store my data and the objects I'll create using this account in the North Europe regional group. When I create an HDInsight cluster in a later video, I'll host that cluster in the North Europe data center as well, so that I'll have quick access and no cross-location transfer costs. Click Create Storage Account. Status messages display here. Behind the scenes, Windows Azure is creating my new storage account with a new container that will function as the default file system. It takes less than a minute to complete. Please visit windowsazure.com for more information. [Microsoft]