Sitecore Media Azure Blob Storage provider

This module allows to store Sitecore media library assets in the Azure Blob Storage account.

Instructions

• Restore nuget packages and build the solution.
• Move Sitecore.Media.AzureBlobStorage.dll to the \bin folder of your Sitecore application.
• Move App_Config\Include\Sitecore.Media.AzureBlobStorage folder to the App_Config\Include directory of you Sitecore application.
• Adjust settings in the App_Config\Include\Sitecore.Media.AzureBlobStorage\Sitecore.Media.AzureBlobStorage.config file if necessary.
• Disable Media.DisableFileMedia setting in your Sitecore application configuration.
• Set maxRequestLength attribute of httpRuntime section to set the size limit in KB for large media assets that you want to upload into Sitecore media library.
• Set maxAllowedContentLength attribute of /system.webServer/security/requestFiltering/requestLimits section to match the value specified in maxRequestLength attribute. This value should be in bytes instead of KB.
• Set Media.MaxSizeInDatabase setting to match size limit specified in maxRequestLength attribute. This value could be specified in KB, MB or GB.

There are a few functional tests in the solution that require Azure Storage Emulator to be running. You can install it as a standalone application or a part of Microsoft Azure SDK package.

Implementation details

This module overrides the following methods from default implementation of SqlServerDataProvider in order to replace underlying blob storage for media assets:

• GetBlobStream(Guid, CallContext)
• BlobStreamExists(Guid, CallContext)
• RemoveBlobStream(Guid, CallContext)
• SetBlobStream(Stream, Guid, CallContext)
• CleanupBlobs(CallContext)

Pros

The implementation substitutes low-level Data API which makes it possible to minimize amount of changes necessary to plug in alternative blob storage implementation.
Media management actions like Upload, Download, Attach, Detach work seamlessly with this approach and do not require any other changes.

Cons

Due to the fact that changes are made to SqlServerDataProvider level, there is not enough abstraction to seamlessly replace Sitecore version when needed. The solution needs to be recompiled with a target version of Sitecore.Kernel.dll and thoroughly tested before you can upgrade to a desired version of Sitecore platform.
The module forces all media assets to be stored in Azure Blob Storage and does not allow alternative storage. Thus, the file based media should be completely disabled in your Sitecore solution.

File based media option is not supported and must be disabled when this module is used.

Dependencies

• Windows Azure Storage nuget package.
• Sitecore.Kernel
• Azure Blob Storage emulator for functional tests.

License

This module is licensed under the MIT License.

Download

Donloads are available via GitHub Releases.

Alternative solution

If you find this approach too fragile for your liking, you may consider @jammykam's solution.