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Azure NetApp Files vs Microsoft Azure File Storage comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 1, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.4
Azure NetApp Files boosts performance, eases deployment, reduces downtime, and optimizes costs, despite higher initial expenses than on-premises.
Sentiment score
3.3
Microsoft Azure File Storage offers easy global file sharing and cost savings, though ROI impact varies for medium businesses.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.4
Azure NetApp Files receives mixed feedback on support, praised for integration and ease, but some users seek more specialized assistance.
Sentiment score
5.8
Microsoft Azure File Storage customer service varies in response time, with premium contracts offering better efficiency and support.
They have top-notch people.
Microsoft technical support is very prompt.
The perspective documentation is good.
As and when we require, they are able to provide solutions or guide us toward solutions.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Azure NetApp Files is scalable, flexible, and cost-effective for large setups, but pricing concerns exist for smaller setups.
Sentiment score
6.1
Microsoft Azure File Storage offers exceptional scalability, accommodating diverse business needs with automatic scaling for substantial user bases.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.4
Azure NetApp Files is rated highly for stability due to its reliability and consistency under increased workloads and migrations.
Sentiment score
6.0
Microsoft Azure File Storage is highly rated for stability and reliability, with minor connectivity issues and minimal disruptions.
I rate the stability of Microsoft Azure File Storage as a seven out of ten.
We sometimes encounter glitches with bigger files, but everything else works as expected.
 

Room For Improvement

Azure NetApp Files needs improved features, cost efficiency, easier deployment, regional integration, and strengthened security to meet user demands.
Microsoft Azure File Storage needs cost transparency, better support, performance, security, usability, and improved integration and management features.
I would like for them to have more compression so that it can avoid using more storage.
Expanding the storage capacity would be beneficial.
Some chunking logics need to be better to address issues with processing bigger files.
 

Setup Cost

Azure NetApp Files pricing is premium yet justified by features like management, scalability, and flexible licensing options.
Microsoft Azure File Storage pricing is moderate, flexible, and usage-based, but transparency and competitiveness could be improved.
It is expensive, especially with NetApp Ultra Storage.
I would rate it three or three and a half out of ten on the pricing scale.
The pricing for Microsoft Azure File Storage is five out of ten, not so expensive and not so low.
 

Valuable Features

Azure NetApp Files enhances performance, scalability, and management with integrated features for backup, recovery, and seamless Azure integration.
Microsoft Azure File Storage provides scalable, secure cloud storage with seamless Azure integration, supporting multiple file formats and Active Directory.
The most valuable feature is that the sixty-terabyte database snapshot can be done in less than two to three minutes.
The storage solution saves time and makes document processing seamless.
It is satisfying our requirements with encryption and security features in place.
In Microsoft Azure File Storage, the S3 bucket is the most helpful feature for my use.
 

Categories and Ranking

Azure NetApp Files
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
10th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Migration (8th), Cloud Storage (9th)
Microsoft Azure File Storage
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
50
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of Azure NetApp Files is 7.9%, up from 7.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure File Storage is 9.8%, down from 13.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Public Cloud Storage Services
 

Featured Reviews

AjayKumar13 - PeerSpot reviewer
Fast, reliable, and helps meet our SLAs
The most valuable feature is that the sixty-terabyte database snapshot can be done in less than two to three minutes. It is faster. It is quicker. It is reliable. You don't need to take the snapshot. Snapshots are compressed. It doesn't take storage from the back end. It takes three minutes to do sixty terabytes of the database. You don't have to go to the tape and store it outside, which takes hours and hours. It also uses a lot less of the storage. It's very easy to restore or copy the snapshots to other locations for disaster recovery. There are a lot of benefits. In terms of the snapshot's rapid restore capability, we were testing the load of performance testing, and we needed to rebuild the DR site. If I need to rebuild the DR for a standby database, it takes sixty terabytes to copy onto the another site, which will take at least a day. Now, the snapshot is easy. We just copy the snapshots, and then we do the cross-region application. The snapshots came along with that, and that's where we were able to build the DR site within a few hours rather than days. All together, instead of a four-day process, instead of a day.
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…
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Retailer
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How does Azure NetApp Files compare to NetApp ONTAP?
Azure NetApp Files is a Microsoft Azure file storage service built on NetApp technology. The platform combines the file capabilities of Azure and NetApp to move critical file-based applications to ...
What do you like most about Azure NetApp Files?
The availability is good, meaning downtime or network issues rarely occur. The system also offers flexibility, allowing for increases in data volume, IOPS, and other capabilities without requiring ...
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 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.
 

Also Known As

NetApp ANF, ANF
MS Azure File Storage
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

SAP, Restaurant Magic
Talon, Camden
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure NetApp Files vs. Microsoft Azure File Storage and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.