Quickstart: Deploy Azure Data Box Disk using the Azure portal

Article
05/24/2024

This quickstart describes the process of deploying Azure Data Box Disk using the Azure portal. Follow the steps in this article to create an order; receive, unpack, and connect disks; and copy data to the device for upload to Azure.

For detailed step-by-step deployment and tracking instructions, refer to the Order Azure Data Box Disk tutorial.

If you don't have an Azure subscription, create a trial account.

This guide describes the process of deploying Azure Data Box Disk using the Azure portal, and helps answer the following questions.

Prerequisites

Before you begin:

Ensure that your subscription is enabled for Azure Data Box service. If necessary, sign up for the service to enable it on our subscription.

Review prerequisites: Check the number of disks and cables, operating system, and other software.
Connect and unlock: Connect the device and unlock the disk to copy the data.
Copy data to the disk and validate: Copy data to the disks into the precreated folders.
Return the disks: Return the disks to Azure datacenter where data is uploaded into your storage account.
Verify the data in Azure: Verify that your data has uploaded into your storage account before you delete it from source data server.

This step takes approximately 5 minutes.

Create a new Azure Data Box resource in the Azure portal.
Select a subscription enabled for this service and choose transfer type as Import. Provide the Source country where the data resides and Azure destination region for the data transfer.
Select Data Box Disk. The maximum solution capacity is 35 TB and you can create multiple disk orders for larger data sizes.
Enter the order details and shipping information. If the service is available in your region, provide notification email addresses, review the summary, and then create the order.

Once the order is created, the disks are prepared for shipment.

Use these Azure CLI commands to create a Data Box Disk job.

Prepare your environment for the Azure CLI

If you prefer to run CLI reference commands locally, install the Azure CLI. If you're running on Windows or macOS, consider running Azure CLI in a Docker container. For more information, see How to run the Azure CLI in a Docker container.

If you're using a local installation, sign in to the Azure CLI by using the az login command. To finish the authentication process, follow the steps displayed in your terminal. For other sign-in options, see Sign in with the Azure CLI.
When you're prompted, install the Azure CLI extension on first use. For more information about extensions, see Use extensions with the Azure CLI.
Run az version to find the version and dependent libraries that are installed. To upgrade to the latest version, run az upgrade.

Run the az group create command to create a resource group or use an existing resource group:
```
az group create --name databox-rg --location chinaeast2
```
Use the az storage account create command to create a storage account or use an existing storage account:
```
az storage account create --resource-group databox-rg --name databoxtestsa
```

Run the az databox job create command to create a Data Box job with the SKU DataBoxDisk:

az databox job create --resource-group databox-rg --name databoxdisk-job \
    --location chinaeast2 --sku DataBoxDisk --contact-name "Jim Gan" --phone=<phone-number> \
    --city <city> --email-list JimGan@contoso.com --street-address1 <street> \
    --postal-code <postal-code> --country China --state-or-province <province> \
    --storage-account databoxtestsa --expected-data-size 1

Run the az databox job update to update a job, as in this example, where you change the contact name and email:

az databox job update -g databox-rg --name databox-job --contact-name "Robert Anic" --email-list RobertAnic@contoso.com

Run the az databox job show command to get information about the job:

az databox job show --resource-group databox-rg --name databox-job

Use the az databox job list command to see all the Data Box jobs for a resource group:

az databox job list --resource-group databox-rg

Run the az databox job cancel command to cancel a job:

az databox job cancel -resource-group databox-rg --name databox-job --reason "Cancel job."

Run the az databox job delete command to delete a job:

az databox job delete -resource-group databox-rg --name databox-job

Use the az databox job list-credentials command to list credentials for a Data Box job:

az databox job list-credentials --resource-group "databox-rg" --name "databoxdisk-job"

Once the order is created, the device is prepared for shipment.

Unpack

Unpacking your disks should take approximately 5 minutes.

Data Box Disks are mailed in a UPS Express Box. Inspect the box for any evidence of tampering or obvious damage.

After opening, check that the box contains 1 to 5 bubble-wrapped disks. Because hardware encrypted disks can be connected directly to your host's SATA port, orders containing these disks might not contain connecting cables. Orders containing software encrypted disks have one connecting cable for each disk.

Finally, verify that the box contains a shipping label for returning your order.

Connect and unlock

This step takes roughly 5 minutes.

Use the included cable to connect the disk to a Windows/Linux machine running a supported version. For more information on supported OS versions, go to Azure Data Box Disk system requirements.
To unlock the disk:
1. In the Azure portal, go to General > Device Details and get the passkey.
2. Download and extract operating system-specific Data Box Disk unlock tool on the computer used to copy the data to disks.
3. Run the Data Box Disk Unlock tool and supply the passkey. For any disk reinserts, run the unlock tool again and provide the passkey. Do not use the BitLocker dialog or the BitLocker key to unlock the disk when using Windows-based hosts. For more information on how to unlock disks, go to Unlock disks.
4. The drive letter assigned to the disk is displayed by the tool. Make a note of the disk drive letter. This is used in the subsequent steps.

Copy data and validate

The time to complete this operation depends upon your data size.

The drive contains PageBlob, BlockBlob, AzureFile, ManagedDisk, and DataBoxDiskImport folders. Within the BlockBlob root folder, you'll find a sub-folder corresponding to each of the available access tiers.

Drag and drop data such as VHD/VHDX to PageBlob folder, and appropriate data to AzureFile. Copy any VHDs that you want to upload as managed disks to a folder under ManagedDisk.

To copy your blob data, you must first select the sub-folder within the BlockBlob share which corresponds to one of the access tiers. Next, create a sub-folder within that tier's folder to store your data. Finally, copy your data to the newly created sub-folder. Your new sub-folder represents a container created within the storage account during ingestion. Your data is uploaded to this container as blobs.

To copy files to the AzureFile share, first create a folder to contain your files, then copy your data to the newly created folder. A file share is created for a sub-folder under AzureFile. Any files copied directly to the AzureFile folder fail and are uploaded as block blobs with the storage account's default access tier.

All files under PageBlob folders are copied into a default container $root under the Azure Storage account. Just as with the AzureFile share, a container is created in the Azure storage account for each sub-folder within the PageBlob folder.
Note
- All the containers, blobs, and files should conform to Azure naming conventions. If these rules are not followed, the data upload to Azure will fail.
- Ensure that files do not exceed ~4.75 TiB for block blobs, ~8 TiB for page blobs, and ~4 TiB for Azure Files.
(Optional but recommended) After the copy is complete, we strongly recommend that at a minimum you run the DataBoxDiskValidation.cmd provided in the DataBoxDiskImport folder and select option 1 to validate the files. We also recommend that time permitting, you use option 2 to also generate checksums for validation (may take time depending upon the data size). These steps minimize the chances of any failures when uploading the data to Azure.
Safely remove the drive.

Ship to Azure

This step takes about 5-7 minutes to complete.

Place all the disks together in the original package. Use the included shipping label. If the label is damaged or lost, download it from the portal. Go to Overview and click Download shipping label from the command bar.
Drop off the sealed package at the shipping location.

Data Box Disk service sends an email notification and updates the order status on the Azure portal.

Verify your data

The time to complete this operation depends upon your data size.

When the Data Box disk is connected to the Azure datacenter network, the data upload to Azure starts automatically.
Azure Data Box service notifies you that the data copy is complete via the Azure portal.
1. Check error logs for any failures and take appropriate actions.
2. Verify that your data is in the storage account(s) before you delete it from the source.

Clean up resources

This step takes 2-3 minutes to complete.

To clean up, you can cancel the Data Box order and then delete it.

You can cancel the Data Box order in the Azure portal before the order is processed. Once the order is processed, the order cannot be canceled. The order progresses until it reaches the completed stage.

To cancel the order, go to Overview and click Cancel from the command bar.
You can delete the order once the status shows as Completed or Canceled in the Azure portal.

To delete the order, go to Overview and click Delete from the command bar.

Next steps

In this quickstart, you've deployed Azure Data Box Disk to help import your data into Azure. To learn more about Azure Data Box Disk management, advance to the following tutorial:

Use the Azure portal to administer Data Box Disk