Azure NetApp Files on Microsoft Azure
What is Azure NetApp Files?
Azure NetApp Files is a native, high-performance enterprise file storage offering from Microsoft Azure built on NetApp ONTAP technology. The service provides volumes as a service, created within a NetApp account and a capacity pool, and shared via NFS (v3, v4.1), SMB (3.0, 3.1.1), dual-protocol, or an object-based REST API.
The service offers five adaptable performance tiers (Elastic zone-redundant, Flexible, Standard, Premium, Ultra) with dynamically changeable service levels, plus a cool access option for cost-efficient offloading of infrequently accessed data.
For organizations with GDPR requirements, Azure NetApp Files is available in European Azure regions and meets the relevant compliance standards. Data is encrypted both in transit and at rest (platform-managed or customer-managed keys).
Core Features
- Multi-protocol support: NFSv3, NFSv4.1, SMB 3.0/3.1.1, simultaneous dual-protocol, and an S3-compatible object REST API
- Five performance tiers: Elastic zone-redundant, Flexible, Standard, Premium, and Ultra, dynamically changeable per workload
- Flexible volume sizes: from a few GiB up to 1,024 TiB per volume, with cool access up to 7.2 PiB
- Scalable capacity pools: from 1 TiB to 2,048 TiB, resizable without downtime
- High availability: cross-region and cross-zone replication with automatic failover
- Data protection: block-efficient incremental snapshots, snapshot restore/revert, application-consistent backups, and ML-based ransomware protection at the volume level
- Azure VMware Solution integration: usable as a datastore for VMware workloads
Typical Use Cases
Azure NetApp Files is suited for enterprise workloads with demanding latency and throughput requirements, such as SAP HANA and other SAP systems, high-performance computing, database workloads, home directories, and file-sharing scenarios. Migrating existing on-premises file server workloads without refactoring, and using the service as storage for Azure VMware Solution, are also common scenarios.
Benefits
Native Azure integration (portal, REST, CLI, billing, monitoring) lets you provision and manage Azure NetApp Files like any other Azure service. Organizations benefit from near-bare-metal submillisecond latency, granular scalability, and built-in data protection and security features without additional third-party software.
Frequently Asked Questions about Azure NetApp Files
What is Azure NetApp Files?
Azure NetApp Files is a native enterprise file storage offering from Microsoft Azure built on NetApp ONTAP. It provides high-performance NFS, SMB, and dual-protocol volumes for demanding workloads.
When should I use Azure NetApp Files?
The service is suited for workloads with demanding latency and throughput requirements, such as SAP HANA, high-performance computing, databases, or migrating existing on-premises file servers to the cloud.
What does Azure NetApp Files cost?
Azure NetApp Files is billed on a capacity basis through capacity pools, with hourly billing depending on the chosen performance tier. Exact costs depend on capacity, tier, and region; current prices are available via the Azure pricing calculator.
How does Azure NetApp Files integrate with other Azure services?
Azure NetApp Files integrates natively with the Azure portal, REST API, CLI, billing, and monitoring, and is used, among other things, as a datastore for Azure VMware Solution and via Microsoft Fabric/OneLake for data analytics scenarios.
Does Azure NetApp Files offer ransomware protection?
Yes, ML-based ransomware protection can be enabled at the volume level to detect unusual access patterns and trigger alerts. Snapshot and backup functionality is also available for recovery.
Integration with innFactory
As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, innFactory supports you in integrating and optimizing Azure NetApp Files. We help with architecture, migration, operations, and cost optimization.
Contact us for a non-binding consultation on Azure NetApp Files and Microsoft Azure.
Note: All product information on this page has been compiled with care, but is provided without guarantee and may be outdated or incomplete. Cloud services evolve rapidly — features, pricing, SLAs, and availability change frequently. Authoritative and up-to-date information can only be found on the official product page of Azure (official documentation). This page does not represent an offer by Azure.
