Update: Azure Net App Files is now generally available.

Enterprises are rapidly embracing public cloud to take advantage of the scale, agility and economic benefits. However, deploying file-based applications to the cloud has been challenging due to the limited availability of options for highly performant and scalable cloud file services that meet enterprise-grade requirements.



Microsoft has teamed up with NetApp to enable enterprises to overcome the challenge of deploying file-based workloads to the cloud. Today we're pleased to announce the public preview of Azure NetApp Files, an Azure native service powered by NetApp's leading ONTAP technology, which has been long trusted by enterprises to meet their requirements for performance, scalability, data management, security, and hybrid capability.

Over the next few months of the preview, you can expect:

Rich data management: Azure NetApp Files will support multiple protocols, protocol versions, and performance tiers, as well as offer built-in policy-based snapshot functionality, reducing the need for separate data protection solutions.

Azure NetApp Files will support multiple protocols, protocol versions, and performance tiers, as well as offer built-in policy-based snapshot functionality, reducing the need for separate data protection solutions. Security: All data in volumes is automatically encrypted at rest and will benefit from Azure’s industry-leading compliance portfolio.

All data in volumes is automatically encrypted at rest and will benefit from Azure’s industry-leading compliance portfolio. Ease of use: Azure NetApp Files is a fully integrated and managed Azure service, accessible through the Azure portal and manageable through Azure SDKs and command-line tools. It eliminates the provisioning and management overhead that is required for on-premises storage and empowers users without storage expertise to leverage NetApp’s powerful ONTAP technology

Getting started

To join the preview waitlist, visit the Azure NetApp Files Public Preview signup page. From the preview invitation, you can find a link to the preview portal to access the service (Figure 1) and within a few clicks, you'll be able to create your first Azure NetApp Files NFS v3 volume (Figure 2)!

Figure 1: Azure NetApp Files available in Azure portal



Figure 2: An NFS v3 volume listed in an Azure NetApp account.

Azure NetApp Files is available in East US and will soon be offered in West US 2. As with other previews, the service should not be used for production workloads until it reaches general availability (GA).

Pricing

During preview, Azure NetApp Files will be offered at a reduced price. Preview pricing information will be provided in the preview invitation.

Get it, use it and tell us about it

We look forward to hearing your feedback on the service! You can email us at feedback ANFFeedback@microsoft.com. Lastly , we love to hear all of your ideas and suggestions about Azure Storage, which you can post at Azure Storage feedback forum.