Azure Files and File Sync

Files vs Blobs
File storage5 offers shared storage for applications using the industry standard SMB protocol6.
Microsoft Azure virtual machines and cloud services can share file data across application
components via mounted shares, and on-premises applications can also access file data in the
share.
Applications running in Azure virtual machines or cloud services can mount a file storage share to
access file data, just as a desktop application would mount a typical SMB share. Any number of
Azure virtual machines or roles can mount and access the File storage share simultaneously.

Common uses of file storage

1 Replace and supplement. Azure Files can be used to completely replace or supplement traditional
on-premises file servers or NAS devices.
2 Access anywhere. Popular operating systems such as Windows, macOS, and Linux can directly
mount Azure File shares wherever they are in the world.
3 Lift and shift. Azure Files makes it easy to “lift and shift” applications to the cloud that expect a file
share to store file application or user data.
4 Azure File Sync. Azure File shares can also be replicated with Azure File Sync to Windows Servers,
either on-premises or in the cloud, for performance and distributed caching of the data where it's being
used.
5 Shared applications. Storing shared application settings, for example in configuration files.
6 Diagnostic data. Storing diagnostic data such as logs, metrics, and crash dumps in a shared
location.
7 Tools and utilities. Storing tools and utilities needed for developing or administering Azure virtual
machines or cloud services.

8
9 Comparing Files and Blobs
Sometimes it is difficult to decide when to use file shares instead of blobs or disk shares. Take a
minute to review this table that compares the different features.
Feature Description When to use
Azure Files Provides an SMB interface, You want to “lift and shift” an
client libraries, and a REST application to the cloud which
interface that allows access already uses the native file
from anywhere to stored files. system APIs to share data
between it and other applica-
tions running in Azure. You
want to store development and
debugging tools that need to
be accessed from many virtual
Feature Description When to use
Azure Blobs Provides client libraries and a
REST interface that allows
unstructured data to be stored
and accessed at a massive scale
in block blobs.
You want your application to
support streaming and ran-
dom-access scenarios.You want
to be able to access application
data from anywhere.