Research persistent storage options in Azure

[thekaveman]

We're starting to talk about an administrative interface for the Benefits app, to simplify app configuration and content management.

In order to make this happen, we need to transition the app from using a Sqlite database that is recreated locally every time the container restarts, to a more stable persistent storage mechanism.

Options could include:

• A real database service e.g. Postgres
• A lighter-weight key/value store
• Some kind of syncing to maintain the Sqlite database between container restarts

In addition, we need to think about maintaining 3 separate environments of configuration, and potentially wanting to migrate between those environments.

Acceptance Criteria

• The setup and configuration of the solution can be defined in code/terraform
• The solution can segregate different environments of app settings
• Minimal if any code/logic changes to the Benefits app (some settings/config changes are expected)

Additional context

• Meeting notes from kick-off requirements gathering / scoping call

What is the definition of done?

A write-up (a comment on this issue is fine) that describes one or more options that meet the above criteria, with pros/cons and any special considerations.

[thekaveman]

Some kind of syncing to maintain the Sqlite database between container restarts

This is probably the simplest approach with the fewest number of changes, and could be done with no additional services in Azure (cost may increase slightly for additional blob storage).

We know we can mount an Azure storage container into the app's filesystem at runtime. Questions:

• Can we change the path where the django.db database is (initially) created, to the mount?
• As of now we've only mounted for reading files; is it possible to write to files in the mount?

[thekaveman]

Closing this issue for now and will create a new one to implement the idea above: #1312 (comment)