Moving the Windows files server to the cloud opens opportunities to modernize your IT and has advantages compared to a windows file server on-premises system.

This article will discuss how Microsoft Azure file share can be helpful if you are considering moving from on-premises to the cloud.

Microsoft Azure has diverse ways to replace your on-premises windows file server. It comes down to costs and uses cases, and requirements.

One of the reasons to choose Azure is to have the ability to access your data from anywhere.

However, Azure file share is an option for a cloud-based file server system.

What is Microsoft Azure File Share?

The Azure file share service offers file server capabilities accessible over the internet, and it follows the industry standard distributed file system protocol. File share services can be made available concurrently on-premises on Windows, Linux, or Mac machines. For example, if you are familiar with an X drive in your PC, then Azure file service would be another mapped drive, say Z drive in your computer.

Top two needs for cloud-based File share services

1. Replacing Traditional File Server

If you are considering replacing or supplementing the traditional file server setup, then file share is helpful. Besides, you could configure it to work as a file synch to windows server within the same network or in the Azure cloud.

2. Retain Application On-Premises

A hybrid scenario where you could keep running your business applications on-premises but move application data and user files to Azure file service.

How does Azure file share work?

The Azure file services would allow you to mount as a drive in a user machine and synchronize with the cloud. In the backend, the file share would connect to a storage account with several types of redundancies which help in data restoration in case of an emergency.

Since it acts as a distributed file system, the shared file services in Azure become a centralized repository and allow access from one or more office locations.

What are the pre-requisites?

To move your windows file server to the Azure cloud, you require an Azure subscription; A Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider partner can help set up your account and configure file services.

Besides, a quick audit of your files to avoid non-usable or temporary storage and archive legacy data would help you have a clean data store. Further, it also helps in bringing down your storage consumption costs.

Benefits of using Azure file service as a cloud file server

Access to application data across multiple machines and locations.

No hardware to manage and operate systems. It means there are no recurring systems engineering tasks, including patching security updates or fixing failing hard drives.

The high availability of file services enables businesses to not worry about local network failures, power outages, and broken connections.

What does it take to keep the Azure file share running?

Managing file share in Azure is different as the hardware component is not here. Instead, Microsoft handles it for you. The only maintenance you’d need to focus on is the quality of data and data consumption. Pricing data storage has different tiers, so it helps you to get an understanding of your threshold.

In addition, for any support, you could work through your partner or direct with Microsoft if you are managing on your own.

Our view

Start preparing to move your windows file servers to Azure file share if not already. Engage a partner who could aid you with configuration and transition.

From our experience, Azure file share is a go-to option. It is flexible, scalable, follows industry-standard security protocols, provides the ability to synchronize between on-premises active directory with Azure AD, and your team could connect to data from any location.

AECCloud has been assisting organizations on cloud adoption and provides managed cloud services fulfilling the IT needs of various functions. You can email or contact us now to discuss with a subject matter expert.