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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
7.5
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Storage (9th), File and Object Storage (10th)
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 6.9%, down 9.6% compared to last year.
Microsoft Azure File Storage, on the other hand, focuses on Public Cloud Storage Services, holds 10.0% mindshare, down 13.6% 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

"Elastic File Systems allow me to share data, provision, and manage capacity and performance in AWS."
"Elastic File Systems allow me to share data, provision, and manage capacity and performance in AWS."
"Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) is secure as it is used under VPC."
"I appreciate Amazon's extensive range of services, which makes it a favorable choice."
"The solution's technical support is good."
"Amazon EFS offers the flexibility of scaling as needed without requiring pre-provisioned storage."
"The initial setup was straightforward."
"Amazon EFS is extremely stable, as it is managed by AWS."
"The functionality is easy."
"It was easy to set up."
"My client had zero data loss while using the solution for backups and file security."
"It is a very scalable solution. I rate the solution's scalability a nine out of ten."
"This solution supports all file formats."
"It is a scalable product since it is a cloud solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"It's a stable product."
"The biggest advantage of Azure File Storage vis-à-vis other public cloud storage providers, and why we recommend Azure first and foremost, is that many of our customers have partnerships with Microsoft and so they have access to better cloud economics. Compared to AWS, we have found that (from a customer perspective) Azure is much more competitive."
 

Cons

"The initial setup requires prior experience and technical skills."
"There are challenges related to AWS, such as ensuring proper security measures with IMS code and encryption."
"It could be better in connecting with Windows Server instances."
"The user activity needs to be more connected."
"I don't have notes on improvements."
"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."
"Their response was not prompt, and it took them a while to figure out solutions. While the time to respond was good, the time to resolve was not optimal, as it took more than a week."
"The platform's connectivity could be improved to be more comparable to S3 buckets, which offer better API availability."
"I have had issues migrating my data to another subscription."
"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."
"They can improve the ability to assign permissions to different groups or users."
"The transparency of cost should be improved."
"The support could improve."
"Some of the procedures are a bit more complex in Azure than in other providers."
"It's not very intuitive."
"In our use cases, we see the weakness in mobile internet connectivity."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"I would rate the pricing 7 out of 10."
"The product charges are based on the amount of data stored."
"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."
"One of the major benefits for AWS is that they have a very large customer representative base where clients can be picked from, they offer large discounts and credit. We were not able to receive the same kind of offers from Microsoft Azure File Storage. We tried to approach Azure while hiring for our disaster recovery discussion, but we didn't receive anything from Azure."
"Microsoft Azure File Storage has a reasonable price."
"The product must improve its price."
"Microsoft Azure File Storage is expensive."
"We pay for both yearly and monthly licenses. The yearly one is cheaper than the monthly one."
"I give the pricing of the solution a seven out of ten."
"The licensing cost for Microsoft Azure File Storage comes with an agreement from Microsoft."
"The product's pricing need improvement."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
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.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.