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Azure Blob Storage Inventory Report

Overview​

This guide will help you generate a comprehensive blob inventory report from your Azure Storage account. Spotto requires this report to analyze your storage and recommend optimal tier strategies without needing direct access to your blob data.

Cost Savings Focus

The primary reason for generating this inventory report is to identify significant cost savings opportunities in your Azure storage account. Spotto analyzes your blob access patterns to recommend optimal storage tiers (Hot, Cool, Cold, Archive), that can result in 20-60% cost reductions.

Why Spotto Need This Report​

  • Privacy & Security: Spotto does not require read access to your blob storage data
  • Cost Optimization: The inventory report provides the metadata needed to recommend optimal storage tiers
  • Estimated Savings: Spotto will provide cost savings recommendations based on your actual access patterns

Azure Inventory Report Cost​

To generate the inventory report in Azure, it would cost approximately US$0.006 per 10,000 files scanned

  • Example: 1 million files = ~US$0.60
  • Example: 10 million files = ~US$6.00

📊 Official Azure Pricing: For current pricing details, see Azure Blob Storage pricing

Note: This is an Azure storage account transaction cost for generating the inventory report, not a Spotto fee. This small cost typically pays for itself many times over through the storage tier optimizations identified.

Setup Instructions​

For additional technical details, see Microsoft's guide: Enable Azure Storage blob inventory reports

Step 1: Navigate to Blob Inventory​

  1. Open the Azure Portal
  2. Navigate to your storage account (e.g., "backupstorage")
  3. In the left menu, under Data management, select Blob inventory

Step 2: Create Inventory Rule​

  1. Click "Add your first inventory rule" (or "Add rule" if you have existing rules)
  2. Configure the rule with these exact settings:

Azure Blob Inventory Setup Interface

Basic Configuration​

  • Rule name: spotto-analysis (or any name you prefer)
  • Inventory policy container: Select (new) inventory or choose an existing container

Object Selection​

  • Object type to inventory: ✅ Blob

Blob Types (Select ALL)​

  • ✅ Block blobs
  • ✅ Page blobs
  • ✅ Append blobs

Subtypes (Select ALL)​

  • ✅ Include blob versions
  • ✅ Include snapshots
  • ✅ Include deleted blobs

Time Range​

  • ⬜ Leave "Created (in days)" UNCHECKED (this ensures all blobs are included regardless of age)

Blob Inventory Fields​

Select these essential fields (should show "11 selected"):

  • ✅ Name
  • ✅ Creation time
  • ✅ Last modified
  • ✅ Last access time (critical for optimization)
  • ✅ Content length
  • ✅ Access tier
  • ✅ Snapshot
  • ✅ Current Version Status
  • ✅ Version ID
  • ✅ Deleted
  • ✅ Blob Tags (if needed)

Report Settings​

  • Inventory frequency: ✅ Weekly
  • Export format: ✅ CSV

Step 3: Enable Last Access Time Tracking (Critical)​

⚠️ Important: If not already enabled, you must enable "Last Access Time Tracking" for meaningful optimization recommendations.

  1. In the Blob inventory page, click "Blob inventory settings"
  2. Check ✅ "Enable last access tracking"
  3. Click "Save"

Step 4: Save and Wait​

  1. Click "Save" to create the inventory rule
  2. Wait up to 24 hours for the first report to generate

Step 5: Download the Report​

  1. Navigate back to Blob inventory in your storage account
  2. Go to Containers → inventory (or your chosen container)
  3. Look for a folder structure like: inventory-reports/YYYY/MM/DD/
  4. Download the CSV file (will be named something like [account-name]_[timestamp]_inventory.csv)

Step 6: Provide Report to Spotto​

  1. Upload the CSV file to Spotto through your designated channel
  2. Include your storage account details: account name
  3. Spotto will analyze the data and provide optimization recommendations

After providing the report to Spotto, you can delete the inventory rule to avoid ongoing costs:

  1. Delete the inventory rule:

    • Go back to Blob inventory
    • Delete the rule you created
    • This prevents weekly report generation and associated costs

  2. Delete the inventory CSV file (optional):

    • Navigate to the inventory container
    • Delete the generated CSV file to avoid ongoing storage costs
    • Keep a local copy for your records if needed

Note: Without cleanup, the rule will continue generating weekly reports and incur ongoing costs.

What Spotto Will Provide​

Based on your inventory report, Spotto will deliver:

✅ Tier Optimization Strategy - Recommendations for moving data between Hot, Cool, Cold and Archive tiers
✅ Cost Savings Estimates - Projected monthly savings with tier changes
✅ Lifecycle Policy Templates - Ready-to-implement Azure lifecycle management policies
✅ Risk Assessment - Analysis of data access patterns to ensure recommendations don't impact operations
✅ Implementation Guidance - Step-by-step instructions for implementing recommendations

Troubleshooting​

Report not generating?

  • Ensure you have sufficient permissions on the storage account
  • Verify the destination container exists and is accessible
  • Check that "Last Access Time Tracking" is enabled

Missing last access time data?

  • Last access time tracking must be enabled before the data you want to analyze
  • For historical analysis, you may need to rely on "Last modified" dates

Large storage accounts taking too long?

  • This is normal for accounts with millions of blobs
  • Consider running the report during off-peak hours

Support​

If you encounter any issues setting up the inventory report, please contact Spotto support with:

  • Screenshots of your configuration
  • Your storage account size (approximate number of blobs)
  • Any error messages received

This inventory report generation is a one-time process that enables Spotto to provide tailored storage optimization recommendations without requiring ongoing access to your blob data.