Azure NetApp Files vs NetApp ONTAP comparison

The compared Azure NetApp Files and NetApp ONTAP solutions aren't in the same category. Azure NetApp Files is ranked #8 in CM , with an average rating of 7.3, and holds a 11.7% mindshare in the category. NetApp ONTAP is ranked #1 in SS , with an average rating of 8.7, and holds a 37.7% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Azure NetApp Files users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 98% of NetApp ONTAP users who would recommend it.

Azure NetApp Files

Read 17 Azure NetApp Files reviews

2,365 Views
828 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

NetApp ONTAP

Read 90 NetApp ONTAP reviews

1,263 Views
960 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

Azure NetApp Files

NetApp ONTAP

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Azure NetApp Files and NetApp ONTAP based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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Cloud Migration

August 2025

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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

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Migration (8th), Cloud Storage (9th), Public Cloud Storage Services (11th)

NetApp ONTAP

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Storage Software (1st)

Mindshare comparison

Azure NetApp Files and NetApp ONTAP aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Azure NetApp Files is designed for Cloud Migration and holds a mindshare of 11.7%, down 15.3% compared to last year.
NetApp ONTAP, on the other hand, focuses on Storage Software, holds 37.7% mindshare, down 43.9% since last year.

Cloud Migration Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Azure NetApp Files	11.7%
NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP	11.9%
Nasuni	8.8%
Other	67.6%

Cloud Migration

Storage Software Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
NetApp ONTAP	37.7%
DataCore SANsymphony	25.0%
Dell PowerPath	16.5%
Other	20.799999999999997%

Storage Software

Q&A Highlights

Netanya Carmi

Content Manager at PeerSpot

Nov 01, 2021

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 the cloud. Azure NetApp Files provides high-performance computing at high-speed and is SAP and HIPAA certified. Azure NetApp Files helps for cloud-based workloads that need low latency and high performance. When you need to access a large volume of data, other features we like are its elasticity and the support for multiple protocols. One downside of Azure NetApp Files is that it is not available in the Azure Free tier. Also, it is relatively more expensive than other Azure options like file storage. NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP is an enterprise-level storage management solution. NetApp gives you not only storage management but data protection too. NetApp ONTAP supports multiple use cases, like block-level storage serving NAS and SAN, backup, archive, DevOps, databases, and disaster recovery. We like having the same consistent storage experience on Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud. Other features we like from ONTAP are the dynamic mapping of storage devices and the central management of storage components. The solution provides compression and deduplication. NetApp Cloud Volumes enables our administrators to design, configure, and deploy storage in a hybrid cloud environment. You can also scale the issues easily. Integration with third-party tools is limited, though. Migrating storage workloads between cloud service providers can also be a hassle. From the three major providers, its integration with AWS is the best. The documentation is a bit poor. You can not manage storage across hybrid and multiple cloud environments. ONTAP is more suited for organizations with large storage volumes or that need high performance for their cloud environment. Conclusions It will depend on the use case. Cloud Volumes ONTAP is specifically designed to manage large storage volumes. If you can afford the extra cost, Azure NetApp Files can provide a more comprehensive solution for smaller organizations.

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Featured Reviews

AjayKumar13

Cloud/Data/Database Manager at a government with 10,001+ employees

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.

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Naveen Radhwani

Head IT at TO THE NEW Digital

Provides good performance, stability, and complete data security

Our upcoming investments would be prioritized around a hybrid cloud solution because we ourselves promote the cloud in the market. We are the premium service provider for AWS, so we have that inclination toward cloud computing. From the experience that we had during the pandemic, we are looking for some kind of hybrid solution for our environment. NetApp should focus on a hybrid cloud solution because none of the media houses are opting for cloud storage. The files are quite heavy, and it becomes quite difficult to maintain them on the cloud. If NetApp can provide such technology and fill the gap of storing media files in the cloud, it would give them an advantage.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Azure NetApp Files has been stable."

"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."

"This solution definitely makes us more efficient in being able to provide storage quickly to our customers in the Azure Cloud."

"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."

"One aspect of Azure NetApp Files that I truly appreciate is its remarkable performance capabilities."

"I think the easiest part is, when you do a comparison, it is the throughput versus the cost. And it's much easier to set up."

"Its security and ease of use are most valuable."

More Azure NetApp Files pros

"We've seen return on investment for ONTAP specifically on the performance recently. Where we had our file storage solution sitting on a hybrid storage solution and we were having continuous performance issues, as our workloads went up we were able to put in an 8300 all-flash array. Since we've put that in, we've been under one-millisecond latency, and that's allowed us to not have delays in some of our EDI transactions. Our end customer integrates and interfaces with that technology. Fewer outages equal more business, more profit, more revenue, and immediate ROI. We've been really happy with the new All Flash hardware solutions."

"They have very good tech support who always answers our questions and troubleshoots our issues. They're great."

"The whole point of our project and the team I lead is that we wanted to be able to move data from a ship back to shore. With ONTAP, we are able to do that extremely fast, especially based on the way we were doing it before."

"If we want to change things in models, such as add, replace, and adjust to another client, it is very easy."

"Our organization is short-staffed, and ONTAP's ease of storage management is well-suited to our small team."

"You can add storage capacity on the fly with Clustered ONTAP. You can add nodes and increase the entire horsepower of ONTAP."

"SnapMirror is a good solution, because we can take our production data and replicate it over to our DR data center with minimal administrative effort, which is huge."

"The stability of our ONTAP system has been awesome over the last four to five years, particularly with the software. The controls have been excellent as well. We recently went through a view of all of our systems and found a number of them had been up, over three years without any sort of reboots or downtime. We have been very happy with the stability of the systems."

More NetApp ONTAP pros

Cons

"The solution needs to improve it's ABS environment."

"This solution would be improved with more innovation."

"We would like to have backup functionality built-in so that we don't run into the issue where the replication process makes a copy of the corrupted data."

"We would like for the files which are coming in that we can version them. So, if a file is accidentally deleted, there should have a recycle bin option where we can go back, and at least once, clean it up."

"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."

"I have a hunch that storage could be now the most expensive portion of our monthly bill. So I can imagine that, not this year, but next year we will be talking about looking deeper into ways how we can optimize the cost."

"We would like to see more paired regions for the replication."

"The main area for improvement is in the support ticket system. Since it's a SaaS platform, support tickets are managed by Microsoft or NetApp backend. This can sometimes lead to cross-functional challenges for organizations."

More Azure NetApp Files cons

"cDot only scales to 24 notes so scalability should be better, bigger, but we are one of the only customers that are facing this problem."

"I believe that the next release should be a bit cheaper."

"I would like to see volume efficiency come closer to what Dell EMC can do with, for instance, their XtremIO platform."

"For administration, there is no user interface present for NetApp ONTAP, so I have to rely on the ONTAP CLI."

"We would like to be able to provide feedback immediately after receiving technical support."

"The older UI is not ideal."

"It should be easier to put in tech support cases. They should streamline the online support and chat."

"It should release more cloud-centric products as compared to some of its competitors. We would like it to have the ability to run or manage a solution in the cloud. This would allow us to migrate our data on-premise to off-premise in cloud solutions."

More NetApp ONTAP cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"The pricing depends on your scaling and consumption."

"NetApp is a premium offering, so it's not a cheap product, but it is well-priced. It combines a couple of properties which customers like us are willing to pay. Could it be cheaper? Yes, but if you combine fully supported, fully managed, easily provisioned, scalable, and quick all in one product, it's a good selling point. You can ask a lot of money for all these. If you have a use case like we do, it's a perfect match. It's like the Porsche of storage solutions in the cloud. It is totally worth the cost."

"The performance has improved by about 30 percent."

"Its price is double the price of the premium disks, which is the main reason why customers don't go for this solution in the end."

"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 price of Azure NetApp Files could be better."

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

More Azure NetApp Files pricing and cost advice

"It's very expensive."

"In the past, you didn't have to buy separate products. They were mostly included with the purchase. In the end, it's more expensive to buy it separate than together. If you are going to need it, one package at the beginning is cheaper."

"We have a wholesale contract with NetApp. We also have NetApp ONTAP On-Demand activation for certain things. We also have some preferential pricing for licenses. The licensing that I see here doesn't apply to other clients in the field. NetApp is expensive, but so are the competitors, making it hard to ascertain precise retail value. However, based on my perspective, NetApp pricing appears competitive."

"We receive the best support for a lower price point."

"Because of the dedupe technologies and Data ONTAP servers, we have saved 20% on hardware. This is a lot of money for us."

"It helps us save money using compression and deduplication."

"We received a super deal for our new machine, so we were happy with the price."

"NetApp ONTAP is moderately priced."

More NetApp ONTAP pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

22%

Computer Software Company

15%

University

Transportation Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	13

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	13
Large Enterprise	66

Questions from the Community

How does Azure NetApp Files compare to NetApp ONTAP?

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

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

It is expensive, especially with NetApp Ultra Storage.

See all answers

What do you like most about NetApp ONTAP?

We do not face any glitches or downtime.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp ONTAP?

The pricing is high. That said, we received favorable pricing at Intel due to the company's large NetApp ONTAP deployment across different organizations. While we're not in the IT department (we're...

See all answers

What needs improvement with NetApp ONTAP?

They could expand what is possible to do with automation as there are gaps in the Ansible module coverage they have. There is certain functionality that NetApp ONTAP offers that these modules are i...

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Azure File Storage vs Azure NetApp Files

Compared 27% of the time

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP vs Azure NetApp Files

Compared 24% of the time

Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) vs Azure NetApp Files

Compared 8% of the time

Nasuni vs Azure NetApp Files

Compared 7% of the time

Rackspace Cloud Block Storage vs Azure NetApp Files

Compared 3% of the time

More Azure NetApp Files Competitors

DataCore SANsymphony vs NetApp ONTAP

Compared 39% of the time

Dell PowerPath vs NetApp ONTAP

Compared 32% of the time

StorONE Storage-as-a-Service vs NetApp ONTAP

Compared 12% of the time

More NetApp ONTAP Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Azure NetApp Files

September 2025

Download Azure NetApp Files product report

Buyer's Guide

NetApp ONTAP

September 2025

Download NetApp ONTAP product report

Also Known As

NetApp ANF, ANF

No data available

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 is the data authority for hybrid cloud. We provide a full range of hybrid cloud data services that simplify management of applications and data across cloud and on-premises environments to accelerate digital transformation. Together with our partners, we empower global organizations to unleash the full potential of their data to expand customer touchpoints, foster greater innovation and optimize their operations.

NetApp

Sample Customers

SAP, Restaurant Magic

1&1 IONOS, Acıbadem Healthcare Group, Adder Technologies, Aero Vodochody Aerospace

Find out what your peers are saying about Hewlett Packard Enterprise, NetApp, CTERA and others in Cloud Migration. Updated: August 2025.

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