Choosing the Right Microsoft Azure Solution for Files
Definitive Buyer’s Guide to Storing Files in Azure
When it comes to selecting a solution for storing, protecting, and accessing files, Microsoft Azure is a great choice!
But most IT leaders are often confused sorting through the various similar-sounding options. If you want to migrate from on-premises NAS, Windows file servers, StorSimple, or any other file storage infrastructure, this guide is for you! We want to help you make an informed decision on which Azure storage solution is best for your organization.
Understand Your Storage Options!
Three file storage options are designed for different business scenarios. All three solutions are available in the Azure Customer Portal and count toward your Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitments (MACC). While they sound similar, the details are essential to consider.
Azure Files
A fully-managed, highly-available Azure cloud service optimized for SMB or NFS file workloads that traditionally run on Windows file servers.
Azure NetApp Files
A fully-managed, highly-available Azure service that can handle the most demanding, high-performance, low-latency NAS workloads such as SAP and Oracle applications.
Nasuni for Azure Blob
A customer-managed, highly-available enterprise-class cloud service backed by scalable, low-cost Azure Blob object storage optimized for SMB and NFS workloads that traditionally run on Windows file servers and NAS hardware.
TL;DR Top Level Considerations
| Azure Files | Azure NetApp Files | Nasuni for Azure Blob | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Use Case | Best for organizations wanting a simple, secure, and serverless enterprise-grade cloud file shares. | Best for enterprise line-of-business (LOB) and storage professionals to migrate and run complex, file-based applications with no code change. Azure NetApp Files is used as the underlying shared file-storage service in various scenarios. These include migration (lift and shift) of POSIX-compliant Linux and Windows applications, SAP HANA, databases, high-performance compute (HPC) infrastructure and apps, and enterprise web applications. | Best for organizations that require enterprise-grade file data services for cloud file shares with advanced capabilities such as unlimited recovery points; ransomware inline detection and mitigation policies; VPN-less file share access; Microsoft Teams and Office 365 integrations; unlimited file, directory, and volume sizes; multi-site file sync; global file lock; fast data propagation; desktop sync for offline access; extended macOS SMB support; external file/folder sharing, and more. |
| Relative Pricing | Will vary based on performance, durability, region, capacity, and optional features. | Will vary based on performance, region, capacity, and cross-region replication. | Will vary based on durability, capacity, and optional features. |
MSRP Example Pricing for:
| $132,770 per year ($885/TB/year) Includes:
| $543,600 per year ($3,624/TB/year) Includes:
| $116,250 per year ($775/TB/year) Includes:
|
Design Considerations
Why TGI Fridays Chose Azure Blob and Nasuni
Leading Restaurant Brand Migrates Off StorSimple into Nasuni
Full Comparison
File Sharing and Access | Security | Scalability and Performance | Data Protection | Purchase and Deployment
File Sharing and Access
| Azure Files | Azure NetApp Files | Nasuni for Azure Blob | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Description | Azure Files is a fully-managed, highly-available, enterprise-grade service that is optimized for random access workloads with in-place data updates. | Azure NetApp Files is a fully-managed, highly-available, enterprise-grade NAS service that can handle the most demanding, high-performance, low-latency workloads requiring advanced data management capabilities. It enables the migration of workloads, which are deemed "un-migratable" without. ANF is built on NetApp's bare metal with ONTAP storage OS running inside the Azure datacenter for a consistent Azure experience and an on-premises like performance. | The Nasuni File Data Platform, backed by low-cost Azure Blob object storage, is a customer-managed, highly available, enterprise-grade file service optimized for SMB and NFS workloads that traditionally ran on Windows file servers and NAS. Nasuni can be deployed fully in Azure or as a hybrid cloud deployment with on-premises caching for high-performance file access in any location. |
| Cloud Support | Azure | Azure | Multi-cloud including Azure |
| Connectivity |
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| Protocols | Premium: SMB 2.1, 3.0, 3.1.1; NFS 4.1; REST Other Tiers: SMB 2.1, 3.0, 3.1.1; REST | All tiers: SMB 2.x, 3.x; NFS 3.x, 4.x; Dual protocol access (NFSv3/SMB) | SMB 2.x, 3.x; NFS 3.x, 4.x; Dual protocol access (NFSv3/SMB); REST; HTTPS; and TLS (for “VPN- less” access to file shares) |
| macOS support | Basic | Basic | Advanced: macOS SMB extensions, tags, long file/path names, extended metadata attributes |
| Multi-site File Synchronization | Yes, Azure File Sync caches copies of frequently accessed file data on Windows file servers (requires Windows Client Access License) and keeps them in sync. Enables the same file shares to be presented in multiple on-premises offices. | Yes, with NetApp Global File Cache add on | Yes, Nasuni caches copies of frequently accessed file data on Nasuni Edge VMs (Linux OS, no Windows CAL required) and keeps them in sync. Enables the same file shares to be presented in multiple on-premises offices and Azure regions. |
| Global File Locking | No | No | Yes, Nasuni Global File Lock minimizes version conflict when two or more users attempt to open the same file for editing in different locations by allowing only one user at a time to make changes. |
| Intelligent Data Propagation | No | No | Yes, Nasuni Global File Acceleration applies Machine Learning to file system audit logs to prioritize which locations should receive new files first, increasing data propagation speeds up to 20X. |
| Microsoft Teams Integration | No | No | Yes, Nasuni Access Anywhere includes a Microsoft Teams app that enables network file shares to be accessed directly from within Teams projects. It eliminates the need to copy files between file shares and the SharePoint storage used by Teams. |
| VPN-less Access | Yes, SMB 3.1 offers encryption but requires port 445 open | No | Yes, Nasuni Access Anywhere uses secure TLS protocol to provide remote users with accelerated access to file shares on any Nasuni Edge without a VPN bottleneck. |
| Desktop Sync | No | No | Yes, Nasuni Access Anywhere syncs files from a Nasuni Edge to a local desktop for offline access and syncs changes back when network connections are restored. |
| External File and Folder Sharing | No | No | Yes, Nasuni Access Anywhere enables internal users to securely share files with authenticated external users using web and desktop clients. |
Security
| Azure Files | Azure NetApp Files | Nasuni for Azure Blob | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Encryption | Encryption at rest (AES 256) with customer or Microsoft-managed keys | Encryption at rest (AES 256) with Microsoft-managed keys | Encryption at rest (AES 256) and in transit with customer-managed keys |
| Authentication | SMB:
|
SMB:
| SMB:
|
Scalability and Performance
| Azure Files | Azure NetApp Files | Nasuni for Azure Blob | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum Account / Volume Capacity | 100 TB | 100 TB | Unlimited |
| Maximum File Share Capacity | 100 TB | 100 TB | Unlimited |
| Maximum File Size | 4 TB | 16 TB | Unlimited |
| Maximum Share/Volume IOPS | Premium – up to 100,000 Other Tiers – up to 20,000 | Ultra and Premium – up to 450,000 Standard – up to 320,000 | On-Prem Edge Caches – up to 450,000 using all-flash arrays Azure Edge Caches – up to 160,000 using Azure Ultra disk |
| Storage Efficiency | Not Available | Not Available | 40% on average |
| Durability / Redundancy Levels | Premium:
| All tiers:
| Same as Azure Blob object storage:
|
| Region Availability | Premium: 30+ Regions Other Tiers: All regions To learn more, see products available by region. | All tiers: 28+ Regions To learn more, see products available by region. | All regions (same as Azure Blob object storage region availability) |
| Performance Tiers |
|
| Performance is determined by edge cache configuration not object storage tier. For on-premises caching, any storage behind VMware ESX, Hyper-V, and Nutanix AHV are supported. For Azure Cloud region caching, all Azure disk storage types are supported (e.g., Azure Ultra Disks, Azure Premium SSD, Azure Standard SSD) Learn more about Azure disk storage types. |
Data Protection
| Azure Files | Azure NetApp Files | Nasuni for Azure Blob | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum Snapshots (Recovery Points) | 200 | 255 | Unlimited |
| Snapshot Immutability | Yes | No | Yes |
| File/directory User Self-restore | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Share-level Soft Delete | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Restore to the Same or New Location | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cross-region Replication | Yes, with ZRS and GRS durability tiers | Yes, with a second Azure NetApp Files account and cross-region replication with additional charges | Yes, with object storage ZRS and GRS durability tiers (no cross-region replication charges or extra accounts required) |
| Ransomware Protection | Yes
| No | Yes
|
Purchase and Deployment
| Azure Files | Azure NetApp Files | Nasuni for Azure Blob | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licensing |
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| Nasuni
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| Cost Factors |
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| Available Through Microsoft Azure Customer Portal | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Available Through Microsoft Reseller Partners | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Count Against Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC) | Yes | Yes | Yes
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| Migration Tools |
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A Word About Azure File Storage Types
There are three first-party file storage types available in Azure: Azure Files, Azure NetApp Files, and Azure Blob. Azure Files is a Microsoft-developed, Azure-native SMB and NFS file sharing service built on Windows file server and Windows NTFS technology. Azure NetApp Files is NetApp’s Fabric Attached Storage (FAS) and All-Flash FAS (AFF) hardware hosted in Azure data centers and offered as a subscription service. Azure Blob is Microsoft-developed object storage optimized for storing massive amounts of unstructured data. Object storage is known for offering unlimited scale and capacity, the highest levels of durability, and the lowest cost. Azure Blob delivers on all three and is the type of storage that the Nasuni File Data Platform uses. Due to Nasuni's unique edge caching architecture, the lowest cost Azure Blob tier (Azure Blob Cool) provides top performance for a wide range of file server use cases at a considerably lower cost than the other file storage options.
Pro Tip for Doing a Proof of Concept (POC)
Don't rush into a POC until you're SURE the solution on paper can scale and fulfill both your short- and long-term business requirements! For example, a POC probably won't show that the 100 TB account limit in Azure Files may require you to create and manage 4 separate accounts and deploy 15 extra Windows file servers if you have 310 TB of file shares that need to be sync’ed to 5 office locations. Or that Nasuni offers a Microsoft Teams app that enables Teams users to open, edit, and save files directly on network file shares from inside Teams projects. Too often, IT leaders move into a POC and spend a lot of time and energy, only to find that the solution wasn't a great fit a few months later.
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