The blob storage interface on the Data Box has been in preview since September 2018 and we are happy to announce that it's now generally available. This is in addition to the server message block (SMB) and network file system (NFS) interface already generally available on the Data Box.
The blob storage interface allows you to copy data into the Data Box via REST. In essence, this interface makes the Data Box appear like an Azure storage account. Applications that write to Azure blob storage can be configured to work with the Azure Data Box in exactly the same way.
This enables very interesting scenarios, especially for big data workloads. Migrating large HDFS stores to Azure as part of a Apache Hadoop® migration is a popular ask. Using the blob storage interface of the Data Box, you can now easily use common copy tools like DistCp to directly point to the Data Box, and access it as though it was another HDFS file system! Since most Hadoop installations come pre-loaded with the Azure Storage driver, most likely you will not have to make changes to your existing infrastructure to use this capability. Another key benefit of migrating via the blob storage interface is that you can choose to preserve metadata. For more details on migrating HDFS workloads, please review the Using Azure Data Box to migrate from an on premises HDFS store documentation.
Blob storage on the Data Box enables partner solutions using native Azure blob storage to write directly to the Data Box. With this capability, partners like Veeam, Rubrik, and DefendX were able to utilize the Data Box to assist customers moving data to Azure.
For a full list of supported partners please visit the Data Box partner page.
For more details on using blob storage with Data Box, please see our official documentation for Azure Data Box Blob Storage requirements and a tutorial on copying data via Azure Data Box Blob Storage REST APIs.