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Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) vs Microsoft Azure File Storage comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon EFS (Elastic File Sy...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Storage (4th), File and Object Storage (8th)
Microsoft Azure File Storage
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
Public Cloud Storage Services (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Cloud Services solutions, they serve different purposes. Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) is designed for Cloud Storage and holds a mindshare of 7.6%, down 9.8% compared to last year.
Microsoft Azure File Storage, on the other hand, focuses on Public Cloud Storage Services, holds 10.3% mindshare, down 13.3% since last year.
Cloud Storage
Public Cloud Storage Services
 

Q&A Highlights

NC
Nov 21, 2021
 

Featured Reviews

MuhammadAzhar Khan - PeerSpot reviewer
Auto-scaling capabilities enhance file management while reducing downtime
The most valuable feature of Amazon EFS is its auto-scaling capability. It's really easy to configure EFS by just creating it and running a command to directly configure it with my servers. It supports unlimited use, and charges are applied based on the file usage at the end of the month. The solution offers reduced downtime and increased durability through its auto-scaling features.
PrashanthR - PeerSpot reviewer
Seamlessly streamlines document processing with advanced file storage and OCR integration
We need to store data over there. We process documents through Kofax Time is a major benefit, as well as ease of processing. With configuration, it happens quite easily, and we can finish tasks early. File storage is complemented by OCR with Azure Cognitive Service. This enhances the processing…

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most beneficial feature of the product for data storage stems from the fact that it serves as a shared file storage."
"Amazon EFS offers the flexibility of scaling as needed without requiring pre-provisioned storage."
"Amazon EFS offers the flexibility of scaling as needed without requiring pre-provisioned storage."
"I appreciate Amazon's extensive range of services, which makes it a favorable choice."
"Elastic File Systems allow me to share data, provision, and manage capacity and performance in AWS."
"The solution's technical support is good."
"The product's initial setup phase is easy, as per the configurations."
"We are not that big of a cloud user. We just use it for the storage of our bytes. The most valuable aspect is the storage."
"The interface is very good."
"Implementing Microsoft Azure has meant that we are using the same solution as our customers who use Azure Public Cloud. This allows us to integrate our application, as well as provide the solution to them."
"The most valuable aspect of Azure File Storage is that all the features are available in one place."
"The product can integrate with all platforms. My team also does data visualization, and Power BI can directly connect with those nodes. We can very conveniently connect with multiple tools for our database. The benefit here is that by utilizing the same storage application, my application is linked with their application through the same server. This setup provides real analytics and data for a holistic purpose, which is advantageous."
"First of all, the solution is very secure. Secondly, the solution is very fast. It is reliable and available all the time."
"The functionality is easy."
"My client had zero data loss while using the solution for backups and file security."
"The initial setup is fairly easy."
 

Cons

"It should be simplified. There are people who don't have cloud experience. It should be storage that we are able to just connect to."
"There are challenges related to AWS, such as ensuring proper security measures with IMS code and encryption."
"Its deployment process could be faster while installing the Python package directly into the environment."
"The lack of transparency in the costs attached to the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"Elastic File Systems can be expensive due to the nature of data transfer costs, using services like SSTP, and potentially being costly in a rate-shift context."
"The initial setup requires prior experience and technical skills."
"I don't have notes on improvements."
"The user activity needs to be more connected."
"The way retention policies are applied could be more optimized."
"Microsoft Azure File Storage needs more integrations. In the future, I also want to see GRC added to the portal. If you enroll or sign up for Azure services, your country may not have GRC available in the portal, so you may have to choose a strange country, for example, Kenya, to activate credit."
"Azure File Storage's stability is okay, but sometimes we have trouble with the link to the Azure VPN disconnecting."
"Maybe Microsoft can make it more economical because it is a costly affair."
"The product name keeps changing. It can be confusing when product names change frequently, especially with Microsoft. Sometimes, if you refer to a product by a certain name last year, it might have a different name six months later."
"I have had issues migrating my data to another subscription."
"The transparency of cost should be improved."
"Microsoft's technical support could be improved. Their response time is usually high, and it takes considerable time to get a response."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would rate the pricing 7 out of 10."
"It has flexible pricing. You are charged based on your storage."
"Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) offers a pay-as-you-go model, so whenever you use its services, you need to pay."
"The solution's price is mid-ranged."
"The product charges are based on the amount of data stored."
"The main challenge with EFS is its cost, which is slightly higher compared to EBS or S3. For one GB or ten GB of data, S3 is much cheaper. EFS could cost around $30 to $50 per month for similar usage."
"The product's price depends on the services and the size and capacity at which it is used in a business environment."
"The licensing cost for Microsoft Azure File Storage comes with an agreement from Microsoft."
"For one terabyte of data, we are spending about 150 Euro every month."
"The price of Microsoft Azure File Storage is expensive, we do not know exactly how the price is calculated."
"I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten, with ten being the most expensive. It's not cheap."
"The pricing is usually dependent on your storage requirements. Overall, I believe Microsoft Azure File Storage's price is reasonable."
"One needs to pay according to the storage they plan to use in the solution. The payments are to be made yearly. It is usually monthly, but we opted for yearly subscriptions in our company."
"The price is comparable to other competitive solutions."
"The product's pricing need improvement."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
14%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which file storage system is better - Amazon EFS (elastic file storage) or Azure File Storage?
Amazon EFS is easy to set up: you can use the AWS management console, API, or command-line. Amazon EFS can grow to petabytes and deliver consistent low latencies and high levels of throughput. This...
What do you like most about Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)?
The product's initial setup phase is easy, as per the configurations.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)?
Amazon EFS is more costly compared to other storage options available from AWS.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure File Storage?
The pricing for Microsoft Azure File Storage is five out of ten, not so expensive and not so low.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure File Storage?
There is a limitation on the storage capacity, like four terabytes. It could be improved to accommodate more data. Expanding the storage capacity would be beneficial.
 

Also Known As

No data available
MS Azure File Storage
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Arcesium, Atlassian, Seeking Alpha, Zend
Talon, Camden
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) vs. Microsoft Azure File Storage and other solutions. Updated: August 2024.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.