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Microsoft Azure File Storage vs NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP 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
4.0
Mixed experiences with Microsoft Azure File Storage highlight ROI benefits, integration ease, but variable efficacy for medium businesses.
Sentiment score
6.5
NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP delivers cost savings, increased efficiency, and improved performance, reducing storage, maintenance, and power expenses.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.3
Azure File Storage support varies by contract, location, and status; premium users enjoy faster response than standard users.
Sentiment score
7.0
NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP customer service is praised for expertise and responsiveness, with room for improvement in initial support.
I would rate the tech support and vendor support for Microsoft Azure File Storage nine or ten out of ten.
Senior Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The perspective documentation is good.
Database Architect at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Microsoft technical support is very prompt.
Senior System Administrator at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.6
Microsoft Azure File Storage is highly scalable, easily integrates, adapts to needs, and receives strong user ratings.
Sentiment score
7.2
NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP offers scalable growth, dynamic expansion, and flexibility, though large environments face data size limitations.
We successfully handled a huge transaction during an iPhone launch without any issues.
Senior Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
It wouldn't help with outages either; the scaling is manual, and there are no processes we've used to automate that for unexpected scenarios.
Principal Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.4
Microsoft Azure File Storage is reliable with high ratings, minor issues, and requires good internet for optimal performance.
Sentiment score
7.7
NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP offers high stability and reliability, with users valuing performance and responsive support despite occasional minor issues.
There are a few technical issues that need to be fixed within the Azure ecosystem.
Data & Analytics Practitioner (BI Dw, Big Data) at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I rate the stability of Microsoft Azure File Storage as a seven out of ten.
Database Architect at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
We sometimes encounter glitches with bigger files, but everything else works as expected.
Lead Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Azure File Storage needs better cost clarity, technical support, usability, security, performance, and diagnostics to enhance user experience.
NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP users seek improved scalability, integration, ease of use, and features like security, monitoring, and cloud compatibility.
There is a limitation on the storage capacity, like four terabytes.
Database Architect at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
The information is not readily available on the internet, so we have to double-check and understand everything.
Senior Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Some chunking logics need to be better to address issues with processing bigger files.
Lead Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
My opinion is that support is generally very good. There are instances where they take longer to respond or resolve issues, especially when customers have urgent needs, but ultimately, resolution is achieved.
Technical Specialist at Softcell Technologies Limited
It would be nice to see technology supporting the Elastic Fabric Adapter on Amazon AWS, therefore getting RDMA technology for more low-latency connections.
Principal Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Azure File Storage pricing is usage-based, often higher than competitors, with savings via long-term contracts and reservations.
Enterprise users enjoy NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP for its features despite higher costs, with discounts available for extended commitments.
I would rate it three or three and a half out of ten on the pricing scale.
Lead Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
I would rate the pricing of Microsoft Azure File Storage seven or eight, where one is high and ten is low.
Senior Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The pricing for Microsoft Azure File Storage is five out of ten, not so expensive and not so low.
Database Architect at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Azure File Storage excels in flexibility, integration, security, and cost-effectiveness, meeting diverse organizational file storage needs.
NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP offers reliable, flexible data protection, seamless integration, and optimized storage across diverse cloud environments.
It is satisfying our requirements with encryption and security features in place.
Senior Data Production Engineer at a wellness & fitness company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Existing tools might not integrate well, which might cause challenges if we go for another vendor.
Data & Analytics Practitioner (BI Dw, Big Data) at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
We recently handled a huge transaction during an iPhone launch without any problems.
Senior Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The granular ability to divide up the performance and the amount of storage you want is really fantastic.
Principal Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Azure File Storage
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
13th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
64
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Migration (2nd), Cloud Storage (3rd), Cloud Backup (27th), Cloud Software Defined Storage (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure File Storage is 8.6%, down from 12.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP is 6.6%, up from 6.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Public Cloud Storage Services Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Azure File Storage8.6%
NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP6.6%
Other84.8%
Public Cloud Storage Services
 

Featured Reviews

Karthik-A - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Has simplified customer data management and improved file transfer workflows
We are using AWS as well, and the main difference is that Microsoft Azure File Storage is more user-friendly for configuration-related and admin-related activities. We do not have to perform many complex activities, making it simpler compared to AWS. Security-wise, there are some concerns because it is in the cloud. The customers need to double-check, and they are not giving complete approval when it comes to security. I would rate Microsoft Azure File Storage's security compliance features seven or eight out of ten. It is secure, but since it is in the cloud, we have to convince customers when providing solutions. Many questions were raised while providing the architecture and solution for this file transfer management system. We convinced them because we have the feature and showed a demo, but it is still a prototype. We have to get approval before starting the work. The data redundancy options in Microsoft Azure File Storage are good. I am facing some challenges in convincing customers, and additional information would be helpful to address these challenges. Microsoft Azure File Storage saves time compared to AWS. We tried the prototype in AWS as well, but Azure is easier. Regarding cost, it is slightly less compared to AWS. The functionality of Microsoft Azure File Storage does not pose any issues, though basic users find it complex and require training. Regarding stability, I would rate Microsoft Azure File Storage 8.5 to 9. Scalability in Microsoft Azure File Storage is impressive. We recently handled a huge transaction during an iPhone launch without any problems.
Punit Waghela - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Specialist at Softcell Technologies Limited
Offers advanced features with notable emphasis on innovation
The best features of NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP include deduplication, compaction, and autonomous ransomware technology that native cloud storage solutions in AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud do not support. Moreover, NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP allows the use of multiple protocols including NFS, CIFS, and iSCSI, whereas native options may only support NFS and iSCSI. Customers already using on-premises NetApp storage such as FAS, AFF, or ASA can experience the same functionality on the cloud with NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP, which adds significant value. For data protection, customers can take advantage of the Snapshot technology available with NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP. This technology facilitates data recovery by allowing snapshots to be stored either on the same storage or on a disaster recovery (DR) storage. NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP helps us to take snapshots and store them on the same storage, with options for migration or replication of those snapshots to different storage, including on-premises DR storage or other cloud storage, providing excellent disaster recovery capabilities.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
5%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise25
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise53
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure File Storage?
The cost of Microsoft Azure File Storage depends on the storage account, whether it is premium or standard; there is a cost difference, with the cost being higher for premium and lower for standard...
What do you like most about NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP?
So a lot of these licenses are at the rate that is required for capacity. So they're they're able to reduce the license consumption and also the consumption of the underlying cloud storage.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP?
NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP is actually quite reasonable in price compared to other native cloud storage options. For example, a customer using 100 TB of AWS storage would not benefit from deduplica...
What needs improvement with NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP?
It would be nice to see technology supporting the Elastic Fabric Adapter on Amazon AWS, therefore getting RDMA technology for more low-latency connections.
 

Also Known As

MS Azure File Storage
ONTAP Cloud, CVO, NetApp CVO
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Talon, Camden
1. Accenture 2. Acer 3. Adidas 4. Aetna 5. AIG 6. Apple 7. Bank of America 8. Barclays 9. Bayer 10. Berkshire Hathaway 11. BNP Paribas 12. Cisco 13. Coca-Cola 14. Comcast 15.ConocoPhillips 16. CVS Health 17. Dell 18. Deutsche Bank 19. eBay 20. Eli Lilly 21. FedEx 22. Ford 23. Freescale Semiconductor 24. General Electric 25. Google 26. Honeywell 27. IBM 28. Intel 29. Intuit 30. JPMorgan Chase 31. Kellogg's 32. KeyCorp 33. Liberty Mutual 34. L'Oréal 35. Mastercard
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Azure File Storage vs. NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.