Azure Storage has evolved rapidly, and I’m excited to announce that my Azure Storage Essential Training course on LinkedIn Learning has been fully updated (released October 2025). This 3h56m intermediate-level course still covers the fundamentals of Azure Storage (Blobs, Files, Queues) with hands-on demos, but now includes the latest features and best practices. We’ll explore new capabilities like built-in SFTP for Blob Storage, serverless automation with Azure Storage Actions, and advanced security options.
The course is aimed at IT professionals, developers, and cloud architects who design and manage Azure storage solutions or prepare for Azure certifications (AZ-104, AZ-204, AZ-500, etc.). In this blog post, I’ll walk through the major updates and course outline, showing why this is the definitive guide to Azure Storage. The updated course is available on LinkedIn Learning here.
Table of Contents
Major Updates in the Azure Storage Training Course
The refreshed and updated course includes the following major topics:
* Native SFTP support for Azure Blobs: Azure Blob Storage now supports SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) natively, so you can securely upload/download blobs via SFTP (port 22) without running your own servers. The course demonstrates how to enable SFTP on a storage account and manage blob access using this new feature.
* Azure Storage Actions (no-code automation): We introduce Azure Storage Actions, a new serverless platform to automate bulk data management tasks in Blob and Data Lake Storage. You’ll learn how to create storage “tasks” that automatically tier, rehydrate, tag, or delete objects at scale, all without writing code.
* Azure Storage Mover: A brand-new, fully managed migration service. Azure Storage Mover lets you migrate files and folders from on-premises or AWS S3 into Azure Storage with minimal downtime. In the course, you’ll see how to set up Storage Mover projects and agents to bulk-transfer and synchronize data from various sources into Azure.
* Secure Azure File Shares (Entra Private Access): We cover how to lock down Azure Files behind private endpoints and secure access with Microsoft Entra Private Access (Global Secure Access ZTNA). This lets you restrict Azure file share access to approved networks/devices, applying Entra ID conditional access policies for SMB file access. It’s a powerful new way to protect file data in Azure.
* Object Replication for Block Blobs: The backup chapter shows how to configure object replication so that new blob writes in one storage account are automatically asynchronously copied to another account (e.g., in a different region). This enhances data durability and provides geo-DR for block blob data by replicating new blobs (and their metadata) per your defined replication rules.
* Protecting & Securing Azure Storage: The updated security section includes a review of storage encryption (server-side encryption with Microsoft-managed and customer-managed keys), role-based access control, Azure Defender for Storage, and Shared Access Signatures (SAS). We also cover storage security best practices, such as using HTTPS-only, managing keys, and Entra ID-based access. The backup section now shows how to use Azure Backup for Files and Blobs (including snapshots) to protect your data long-term.
These highlights reflect just some of the new material. Other updates include the introduction of Azure NetApp Files (an enterprise-grade file service), Azure File Sync demos, and the latest on AzCopy, Azure Storage Explorer, and SDK usage. Overall, this new edition ensures you learn every current feature in Azure Storage.
Who Should Take This Course?
This updated training is designed for IT professionals, cloud architects, and developers working with Azure Storage. Whether you build cloud apps, manage enterprise storage infrastructure, or are preparing for Azure certifications, this course will fill in any knowledge gaps. It assumes basic familiarity with Azure, but teaches all Azure Storage concepts from the ground up. The hands-on demos and real-world examples make it practical and accessible, even for those new to Azure Storage.
Course Outline & Key Topics
Chapter 0: Introduction – Getting started with Azure Storage, including setup of the Azure portal, CLI, PowerShell, and an overview of core storage services and account types.
Chapter 1: Develop Solutions for Azure Blob Storage – Explores storage accounts, redundancy options, and creating blob containers. Learn about access tiers (hot/cool/archive), lifecycle management rules, and multi-protocol access (including Data Lake Gen2 with hierarchical namespaces). New: We demonstrate SFTP support for blobs and how to use local users for SFTP access. We also introduce Azure Storage Actions for automating blob management at scale.
Chapter 2: Develop Solutions for Azure Files – Covers Azure File Shares (SMB), tiering (transaction-optimized/cool), and file share management. You’ll see how to replace on-prem file servers with Azure Files, use snapshots, and implement Azure File Sync for hybrid caching. New: We include an intro to Azure NetApp Files – an Azure-native, high-performance file service.
Chapter 3: Develop Solutions for Azure Queues – Delves into Azure Storage Queues (message queues). Learn how to manage queues and develop applications that enqueue/dequeue messages with .NET, including best practices for reliable messaging patterns.
Chapter 4: Secure Azure Storage – Covers storage security fundamentals: authentication (Entra ID, Azure RBAC), authorization (access control lists, immutable storage policies), and encryption. You’ll learn to create and use Shared Access Signatures (SAS) for controlled access. New: We show how to secure Azure Files by combining Private Endpoints with Microsoft Entra Private Access (ZTNA) for SMB access behind the firewall.
Chapter 5: Manage Azure Storage – Introduces storage management tools. Hands-on demos of Azure Storage Explorer, Azure Import/Export service, and the AzCopy command-line tool. We also teach the Azure Storage Mover service for data migration. Finally, you’ll see how to use the Azure SDK (for .NET) to programmatically create, upload, and download blobs and files.
Chapter 6: Back Up Azure Storage – Teaches data protection strategies. Learn how to protect Azure File Shares and Blob Storage using snapshots and Azure Backup. We walk through backing up file shares (via Recovery Services vault) and blob backups. Importantly, we cover object replication for block blobs that we mentioned above, enabling asynchronous geo-replication of new blobs as part of your backup/DR strategy.
Chapter 7: Conclusion & Next Steps – Wrap-up and pointers to further resources (documentation, FAQs, and cloud certification paths).
Each chapter ends with a short assessment to reinforce learning. By the end, you’ll be well-equipped to design, implement, and secure Azure Storage solutions using the latest Azure features and tools.
Acknowledgments
Online courses don’t record, edit, and publish themselves. I want to say a big thank you to my wife and family for their support and patience while I was busier than usual this year, and for always supporting the crazy things I want to do. They are the reason that I can fulfill my dream and follow my passion.
Certainly, the learning course wouldn’t be possible at all without the LinkedIn Learning team supporting all the instructors in different projects running simultaneously. I want to say a big thank you to the Senior Content Manager Heather Hurley, Content Producer and inclusive instructional designer Christen Beck, as well as the entire design and graphics team (if I’ve missed anyone, I’m truly sorry).
Enroll in the Updated Course
The refreshed Azure Storage Essential Training (2025 edition) is now live on LinkedIn Learning. You can access the course and start watching immediately by clicking here. We hope this updated training helps you master Azure Storage and leverage its full power.
Enjoy the learning experience and feel free to leave a comment or question below!
Remember, you can always support us in developing tools and creating content via Why Contribute? – Charbelnemnom.com Cloud & Cybersecurity
__
Thank you for reading our blog.
Please let us know in the comments section below if you have any questions or feedback.
-Charbel Nemnom-
