How to sign-up for Azure storage account and register it with CloudBerry Explorer

Note: this post applies to CloudBerry Explorer for Windows Azure.

Microsoft Azure blob storage is alternative cloud storage service that helps store unlimited amount of binary data at low cost. As of February, 1 2010 the service is out of beta and you have to start paying for usage. One of the exciting thing about Microsoft Azure and I can’t help sharing it here is that there is actually a so called Introductory Special offer that enables you to try Windows Azure at no charge! It includes 500 MB of free storage and 10 000 free storage transaction per month.

In this post we will show you how to get Microsoft Azure project, create storage account and register the account with CloudBerry Explorer for Windows Azure

Full description of Azure sign-up process is outside the scope of this article but it is suffice to say that this process involves choosing the package that best fits your usage requirements and entering payment information. Once your account is set up you can go to the control panel and start creating services.

Click to Windows Azure and then to “+New Service” link you will see a screen like the one below. Click on the Storage Account as this is what you need to create to be able to use Blob Storage.

The configuration screens will guide you through the process and once the service is created you will see the screen like below with the service access parameters.

Now let’s look how you can register an account in CloudBerry Explorer. Go to the program menu File| Azure Accounts. Click Add button in the opened window and you will be presented with the windows similar to the one below. On the Display name field enter anything you want. This is just to help you to identify your account if you have several accounts. It is just a display name. In the Account field enter the first part of your endpoint URL. In our example the endpoint looks like this:

http://cloudberrylab.blob.core.windows.net/

and you need to use only cloudberrylab part of it for account.

In the shared key field enter the Primary Access Key as displayed above.

If everything is entered correctly you should be able to access your account. Don’t forget to click test connection button. If you see a message like the one below you entered everything correctly.

CloudBerry Explorer for Windows Azure is a Windows freeware product that helps managing Azure Blog storage. You can download it at http://azure.cloudberrylab.com/

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