Install and open Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer (Download it free here and click on the box titled “Operating System” and select your OS accordingly, then Install once downloaded).
- Click on the Open Connect Dialog icon on the left panel.
- Select Blob container.
- Then select Shared access signature URL (SAS) and click Next.
- Copy and paste the SAS URL into the Blob container SAS URL field. The Display name will automatically populate. Click on Next when done. The SAS URL is provided by the Mercury Data Migration Team.
- A summary will be displayed, click on Connect and the container will now be linked.
- You can access the blob container under Local & Attached > Storage Accounts > (Attached Containers) > Blob Containers. Files can be copied and pasted (for dragged) into the container. Please try to put all files into folders with meaningful names.
Tips
- To decrease time taken to transfer data, use compressed database backups and place files into a zip container before uploading them to storage.
- It’s a good idea to put your backups in folders with a descriptive name, including the date and then copy the folders over to blob storage. This will help distinguish between multiple backup sets (e.g., initial backup transfer and final delta transfer).
- Do not copy over existing backups. If you’ve already sent a backup and need to send further backups, please put them into new folders. This is because attempting to copy over existing files is a much more expensive operation (in time as well as monetary costs). It’s faster and cheaper to simply create new copies of backups in new folders rather than attempt to “merge” all backups into a single folder.
- Whenever transferring backups, it’s handy to note the total time taken for future backup transfers. This is because time will be very limited when sending over the final delta backups & an unexpected several hour delay might cause go-live to happen a day later than scheduled.