Azure blob storage

[jmak]

We are going to be well over our total storage limit for the tenancy and we're looking for solutions (including paid). The problem with paying for additional storage on the tenancy is that it just gets added to the pool. That means that if a specific department has bought additional storage, we can't guarantee they'll get it.

 

I have two main queries:

 

1) Can access to the data be indexed in the same way as SharePoint data? This has become an important part of the users' workflows. Supplementary to that, can it be set up to synchronise directories with client machines so that there is a local copy? This allows them to leave the data in shared locations and have visibility of all their data and to process data locally.

 

2) Do you have any experience of how much extra is spent on top of the data storage fees? The price for the "hot" tier looks interesting, especially the reserved for three years price, but we'd need an idea of what the extra charges would be for the operations. Retrieval is free (included), and I presume I calculate the write cost by the amount of data we want to move there which will mostly be a one of cost plus a fairly accurate estimate if how much data we create every year. What I can't get my head around is what charges were might incur for the other processes. Did anyone have any experience or a decent guide to create an estimate?

 

Many thanks