A company is migrating an on-premises application that uses a local file system for shared storage to Azure. The application requires SMB access and must support both Windows and Linux clients. The solution needs to minimize latency for frequently accessed files and provide high availability within a single Azure region. Which Azure Storage solution should you recommend?
- AAzure Blob Storage with NFS
- BAzure Files Premium tier with Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS)
- CAzure NetApp Files Standard tier
- DAzure Data Lake Storage Gen2
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Azure Files Premium tier with Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS)
Azure Files Premium tier provides high performance (low latency) and supports SMB. Combining it with Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS) ensures high availability within a single region by replicating data across availability zones. This meets all specified requirements for SMB access, multi-OS support, low latency, and regional high availability.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Azure Blob Storage with NFS provides NFS access, but the primary requirement is SMB, and it doesn't offer the same high performance/low latency profile for file shares as Azure Files Premium.
- C. Azure NetApp Files Standard tier is a high-performance solution but is often overkill and more expensive if Azure Files Premium can meet the requirements, and it's not explicitly mentioned for SMB support for both Windows/Linux in the same context as Azure Files.
- D. Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 is optimized for big data analytics workloads and doesn't directly provide SMB file share access for traditional applications.
Azure Files Premium Tier with ZRS
Azure Files Premium tier provides high-performance, low-latency SMB/NFS file shares, and when combined with Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS), it offers high availability within a single region by replicating data across distinct Azure Availability Zones.
- Premium tier for high performance and low latency.
- Supports SMB 3.0 and NFS 4.1 protocols.
- ZRS ensures data is replicated across 3 Azure Availability Zones within a region.
- Ideal for enterprise-grade file shares requiring high availability and low latency.
Memory trick: Files for shares, Blobs for objects, NetApp for extreme performance.