The API Management capability within IBM Cloud Pak for Integration, when deployed on Microsoft Azure, has a specific prerequisite for its backup and restore functionality. The subsystem is designed to use object storage for this purpose. Official IBM documentation explicitly states that Azure Blob storage must be provisioned and configured to store these backups. This is a mandatory requirement for the management database component of the API Management service to ensure data persistence and disaster recovery.

A. Azure Disks: This service provides block storage for the underlying Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) worker nodes, not the specific object storage required for the API Management application's backups.

B. Azure Files: This offers a managed file share service (SMB protocol), which is a different storage paradigm than the object storage required by the API Management backup mechanism.

C. Azure Tables: This is a NoSQL key-value store service and is not used for the backup and restore functionality of the API Management capability.

1. IBM Cloud Pak for Integration Documentation: In the section on deploying API Management on Azure

the prerequisites clearly list the need for object storage. The guide states

"The API Management subsystem requires Azure Blob storage for storing backups."

Source: IBM Cloud Pak for Integration 2023.4 documentation

"Preparing for an API Management deployment on Azure

" Sub-section: "Creating storage for API Management backups on Azure."

2. IBM Cloud Pak for Integration Documentation: The installation instructions further detail the process

reinforcing the requirement. It provides steps to "Create an Azure Storage account" and then "Create a Blob container" specifically for the API Management subsystem.

Source: IBM Cloud Pak for Integration 2023.4 documentation

"Installing the API Management subsystem on Azure."