Azure NetApp Files vs NetApp Data Infrastructure Insights comparison

Azure NetApp Files vs. NetApp Data Infrastructure Insights

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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

Azure NetApp Files

Ranking in Cloud Migration

9th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Storage (13th), Public Cloud Storage Services (14th)

NetApp Data Infrastructure ...

Ranking in Cloud Migration

14th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (46th), Cloud Monitoring Software (18th)

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Cloud Migration category, the mindshare of Azure NetApp Files is 3.9%, down from 12.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp Data Infrastructure Insights is 3.4%, up from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Migration Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Azure NetApp Files	3.9%
NetApp Data Infrastructure Insights	3.4%
Other	92.7%

Cloud Migration

Featured Reviews

Rajat Wadhwa

Cloud Architect at IBM

Cross-region replication has delivered seamless disaster recovery for enterprise storage needs

In terms of improvement, I would say cost reservation; the cost is a bit high. If we compare Azure Files and Azure NetApp Files, I know that customers are using less of Azure NetApp due to the cost. If they bring the cost a little bit closer to what Azure Files offers, it can be a great product in the market and bring a lot of business to NetApp. Backup is quite critical. As of now, Azure NetApp Files requires you to use Azure NetApp Backup solution, which is in public preview at the moment. I would definitely expect NetApp to come up with that solution so that customers can start using it because they do not have confidence in backup as it is still in preview. They are still doing some testing and research on that product, which is not officially released for use by multiple customers.

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Punit Waghela

Technical Specialist at Softcell Technologies Limited

Reduces troubleshooting time and improves operational efficiency through a single console

NetApp technology, specifically NetApp Cloud Insights, has significantly impacted the way my customers do business. One customer had multiple components, such as a VMware environment, Cisco switches, NetApp storage, and backup tools. Previously, the customer had to monitor all these tools individually each morning by logging into every console to check for errors or performance issues. It used to take them about 1 or 2 hours, but after we installed NetApp Cloud Insights, the time spent was reduced to just 5 minutes with a single console where they could monitor everything. The customer can integrate their VMware servers, Cisco switches, and storage with NetApp Cloud Insights to quickly identify any problems and resolve issues efficiently, demonstrating a reduction in complexity and monitoring time. The values that NetApp Cloud Insights delivers to my customers are evident in real examples, such as an application team running their application on a single VM connected through a switch and storage. When they experience a performance issue, the VMware team needs to identify the source of the slowness, whether it's from the server, switch, or storage, which requires a time-consuming investigation of each component. Without NetApp Cloud Insights, this process is slow and stressful for both the application team and the VMware team, but with the tool, a single click allows the customer to pinpoint the issue directly, improving response times to performance problems immensely. The evolving cybersecurity landscape and the proliferation of AI highly influence my customers' technology decisions, as having NetApp storage in their environment allows them to detect ransomware attacks effectively. NetApp guarantees data recovery in case of such attacks, and here, NetApp Cloud Insights plays a crucial role; it can identify where a ransomware attack originates, allowing the IT team to respond rapidly, such as disconnecting affected devices to mitigate the damage, especially crucial when multiple users are involved.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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 downtime, which is a strong point. Based on the money spent, we can get performance improvements and high availability."

"It's elastic, so it scales with our demands. We can start small, then with the addition of customer loads, we can expand on-the-fly without the need to reprovision something."

"We recommend this solution to our customers because of its ease of use, availability, and security, but they don't usually go for it because of its price."

"Azure NetApp Files gives our clients better options."

"It is faster. It is quicker. It is reliable."

"We use Azure NetApp Files mainly for backup."

"The most valuable features of the solution is replication to another region and the performance. The solution is stable. The solution is scalable. The initial setup is straightforward."

"The performance has improved by about 30 percent, and the solution’s combination of ease of use, simplicity, and reduction in IT management versus the cost has helped a lot."

More Azure NetApp Files pros

"The solution’s ability to quickly inventory our resources, figure out interdependencies across them, and assemble a topology of our environment—the performance and metrics and dashboards for doing that—is amazing."

"NetApp Cloud Insights helps reduce the time spent on problem resolution by up to 50% for my customers, making their operations significantly more efficient and productive, which is a perfect outcome."

"NetApp Cloud Insights helps with login monitoring and troubleshooting. Previously, if we had performance concerns or needed to interface with other groups and their products, a task that should require only one or two people turned into a six-person job."

"Its ability to quickly inventory our resources, figure out interdependencies across them, and assemble a topology of your environment is brilliant. There is a price associated with it. Whenever you target a NetApp environment, it is included in the price but whenever you want to add different vendors, like VMware and Cisco, the price greatly spikes. Inventorization helps us a lot to visualize the environment."

"One feature we appreciate the most is its ability to take snapshots, which adds an extra layer of security and allows us to protect our data effectively."

"The solution is 98 percent stable."

"All our production clusters are in Cloud Insight. It provides a single pane of glass, giving us visibility into the environment, which allows us to understand if any issues are going on across any of our clusters."

"Among the most valuable features are the queries and reporting that allow us to look at the utilization of resources, at how well the storage is performing, and to report on which resources are being used by which business units. We can track usage across the entire environment, across applications, business units, cost centers, etc."

More NetApp Data Infrastructure Insights pros

Cons

"The initial setup was not straightforward. We had help from the NetApp team."

"I would like to see multi-zone redundancy so that I don't have to worry about it. I just back up my data to that one SMB share and I know that it's replicated to a different region."

"It is expensive in small environments, which could be better. The reason is the four terabyte minimum."

"The deployment process is somewhat complex compared to other storage solutions."

"Features are being added to this product at a very slow pace, and they should be speeding that up and being a little more aggressive."

"The pricing definitely needs to be improved."

"The main hurdle in promoting this solution is the price. Its price definitely requires an improvement. It is more expensive than other options, so customers go for a cheaper option."

"This solution would be improved with more innovation."

More Azure NetApp Files cons

"There is room for improving the creating and managing or modifying of reports."

"The first level of NetApp's technical support could be improved."

"In my opinion, one area where NetApp Cloud Insights could be improved for the next release is the console, which I find a bit complex."

"Cloud Insights could offer more detail when we drill down into the Azure environment."

"The biggest challenge though is the licensing model for Cloud Insights. For example, for our environment, the price of purchasing was close to the price of the storage itself, which is why we didn't actually pursue using Cloud Insights further."

"Ease of reporting is one thing that they're trying to tackle. If you have a specific set of data you want from Cloud Insights, you can ask NetApp to help you build the reports from the ground up. The dashboards are intuitive, but finding the report you want is sometimes a challenge. If you don't have the report already loaded, pulling it in and letting it build its data can be cumbersome."

"Their pricing model needs improvement."

"When I did need support because I was having problems with the solution, the first or the second line just didn't understand it. They were providing this only on a software as a service basis. So, they were asking all the wrong questions."

More NetApp Data Infrastructure Insights cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."

"This solution is very expensive compared to the alternatives."

"It is expensive in small environments, which could be better. The reason is the four terabyte minimum. A one terabyte minimum would be better."

"The performance has improved by about 30 percent."

"Our pricing has not been determined because we are still waiting on additional features."

"We are currently on a pay-as-you-go model with the storage that we use."

"The pricing depends on your scaling and consumption."

"The price of Azure NetApp Files could be better."

More Azure NetApp Files pricing and cost advice

"The licensing is complex. The calculation depends on what you're ingesting. A terabyte of one product is not a terabyte of another product. Virtual machines don't equate so easily. It's all about the end-use managed units and having an easy place to reference how far those units go."

"The solution's pricing is based on the device you purchase and includes support services."

"We are billed based on management units, so we can purchase units based on six months, twelve months, twenty-four months, or thirty-six months upfront or pay as you go depending on our requirements."

"The solution is expensive."

"Be aware of the capacity licensing and understand how that works, because it is based on capacity. Getting an understanding of that is the biggest thing."

"The licensing model could be improved. We love that you can use it for free for looking at NetApp products. You only need licenses to look at non-NetApp products, but as soon as you do that, you start utilizing licenses that actually would have been free in the public. So, there is a bit of an anomaly in the licensing model."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Educational Organization

Outsourcing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	14

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	1
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	10

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure NetApp Files?

On pricing, I would rate it around eight. It's highly priced, and there's no cost reservation option available compared to Azure Files. If NetApp could bring that kind of model for customers to sav...

What needs improvement with Azure NetApp Files?

What needs improvement with NetApp Cloud Insights?

In my opinion, one area where NetApp Cloud Insights could be improved for the next release is the console, which I find a bit complex. Even though I work with NetApp, it still takes time for me to ...

What is your primary use case for NetApp Cloud Insights?

It is a monitoring and analysis tool. In our environment, we have different technologies such as VMware, Nutanix, or maybe a backup tool. Instead of monitoring them through different consoles, with...

What advice do you have for others considering NetApp Cloud Insights?

NetApp Cloud Insights delivers significant efficiencies in addressing performance issues as experienced by an application team running on a single VM. The VMware team must methodically check each c...

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP vs Azure NetApp Files

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Product Reports

Azure NetApp Files

Download Azure NetApp Files product report

NetApp Data Infrastructure Insights

Download NetApp Data Infrastructure Insights product report

NetApp Data Infrastructure Insights report

Also Known As

NetApp ANF, ANF

Cloud Insights

Overview

Azure NetApp Files offers flexibility, speed, and tight Active Directory integration, making it versatile. Its scalability, rapid response time, and replication capabilities like SnapMirror enhance its value, along with SEC compliance through SnapLock and efficient database management.

Azure NetApp Files is a robust service for unstructured data storage within Microsoft Azure and on-premises environments. It supports NFS and CIFS protocol testing, SQL backups, SAP virtualization, Azure Virtual Desktop, and event collection. This service facilitates seamless provisioning, non-disruptive resizing, and fast snapshots for disaster recovery. Known for high availability and cost-effective throughput, its ease of use and security make it preferred by users. Issues with high pricing and support highlight areas for enhancement, alongside desires for expanded regional availability, better security, and integration with diverse solutions.

What are the key features of Azure NetApp Files?

Flexibility: Supports diverse applications with robust Active Directory integration.
Scalability: Easily adjusts to increased performance demands.
Fast Snapshotting: Enhances disaster recovery capabilities.
SnapMirror: Provides effective replication features.
SnapLock: Ensures SEC compliance.

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

High Availability: Delivers reliable performance.
Cost-effective Throughput: Balances performance with expenditure.
Ease of Use: Simplifies data management tasks.
Non-disruptive Resizing: Facilitates seamless storage adjustments.
Enhanced Security: Protects sensitive data effectively.

In educational contexts, Azure NetApp Files shines by offering seamless data handling and high IOPS performance, supporting high-demand environments like research facilities. For enterprises, it aids legacy system migrations and optimizes virtual environments while enhancing data protection and file share performance.

NetApp

NetApp Data Infrastructure Insights delivers comprehensive capabilities like visibility, usage optimization, and real-time alerting to manage and report resource utilization efficiently.

NetApp Data Infrastructure Insights focuses on strengthening data security and enhancing performance monitoring. Its sophisticated analytics tools offer clarity on complex resource interdependencies, reducing troubleshooting times. With advanced dashboards and data visualization, users can efficiently monitor performance metrics and optimize infrastructure management. While it boasts numerous features, improvements are needed in reporting, affordability, and simplifying the interface.

What are the key features of NetApp Data Infrastructure Insights?

Visibility and Optimization: Tracks resource utilization to optimize operations.
Real-time Alerting: Provides immediate alerts for performance issues.
Advanced Analytics: Uncovers multi-tiered insights for better decision-making.
Snapshot Capabilities: Enhances security by providing recovery points.
Comprehensive Dashboards: Visualizes complex data for performance monitoring.

What benefits and ROI should users expect?

Improved Efficiency: Streamlines performance monitoring and troubleshooting.
Increased Security: Identifies vulnerabilities like ransomware threats.
Resource Optimization: Forecasts capacity needs to prevent bottlenecks.
Seamless Integration: Unifies technologies like VMware and Nutanix for cohesive management.

Organizations implementing NetApp Data Infrastructure Insights across industries can expect improved analysis capabilities and security measures. From finance to healthcare, entities rely on its ability to integrate diverse environments like virtualization or storage management, enhancing predictability and efficiency in their operations.

NetApp

Sample Customers

SAP, Restaurant Magic

Information Not Available

Azure NetApp Files vs. NetApp Data Infrastructure Insights