#1 most frequent
United States of America
59.5%100 installations of 168
What is Azure NetApp Files?
Azure NetApp Files is a Microsoft Azure file storage service built on NetApp technology, giving users the file capabilities in Azure that core business applications require, with pricing plans for different performance tiers.
Categories & Use Cases
Videos
Top Performing Features
Service-level Agreement (SLA) uptime
The service uptime as a percentage defined in the SLA
Category average: 8.6
Elastic load balancing
Automatic balancing and distribution of resources across multiple virtual computers
Category average: 8.5
Operating system support
Range of operating systems available as pre-configured images
Category average: 7.9
Areas for Improvement
Dynamic scaling
Ease of scaling up or down in response to customer needs
Category average: 8.1
Monitoring tools
Monitoring tools provide alerts when problems are detected
Category average: 7.8
Security controls
Compliance with security protocols like SSL and AES
Category average: 8.1
Who Buys & Uses Azure NetApp Files
#2 most frequent
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
7.1%12 installations of 168
#3 most frequent
India
6.0%10 installations of 168
Faster deployment and better cost saving with Azure NetApp Files
Pros
- It has <1ms latency, so very responsive. This is great for demanding environments or where application responsiveness is a high priority.
- Global file caching--Azure NetApp Files comes with entitlement to Global File Caching--ideal for keeping a cached copy of frequently accessed files at remote offices whilst automatically managing conflicts and global file locking.
- Cloud compliance is included with Azure NetApp Files--automatically report on the data you keep and be alerted to any GDPR or PCI (and more) information.
- Instant restores via native Azure API too!
- It’s 100% Microsoft (almost worth forgetting the name NetApp in it). That means it’s not a marketplace offering and the APIs and tools are all native to Microsoft Azure.
Cons
- It does not support file locking although its available as an add-on
- Design is far from native and has a learning curve
- 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.
Return on Investment
- We realized significantly improved query performance, flexibility, and cost optimization following migration.
- It’s scale up and down--this is truly unique in the cloud storage space, and as you’re billed per hour, it presents significant opportunities to save money at times you don’t need storage performance.
- Our performance increased by 20% during the first year of using it.
Alternatives Considered
NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP, Igloo and Amazon Elastic File System (EFS)
Other Software Used
Microsoft Azure Active Directory, NetApp SaaS Backup for Microsoft Office 365 and Salesforce, Google Cloud AI
High-Volume Cloud Capabilities
Pros
- Handles high volume very well
- Cloud service enables for endless growth and scalability
- Easy to use for both professionals and end users
Cons
- The backup functions could be improved on, maybe integrated somehow
Return on Investment
- Gives clients cloud access anywhere
- Strong, high level security
- Easy to use, with solid access to cloud storage and high speeds
- Restore time is much faster
Alternatives Considered
Azure Backup and Microsoft Azure Active Directory
Other Software Used
Microsoft Azure Active Directory, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Barracuda Managed Workplace RMM, WatchGuard Network Security
Azure NetApp Files is a great product
Pros
- User friendly in my opinion
- Seemless transition
- Lots of storage available
- Helps us meet our audit controls
Cons
- Connection issues at times
- Recovering of files
- Support
- Initial or introductory training
Return on Investment
- Ease of access
- Lots of storage
- More cost effective than maintaining our own servers
Alternatives Considered
OneDrive and Microsoft Teams
Other Software Used
ADP ezLaborManager, Jobvite, SAP Analytics Cloud
My experience with Azure NetApp Files
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We use it for virtualized SAP systems in Azure, running our SAP systems in Azure. It does extremely fast backup and restore processes. For our customers, it has the benefit that we don't influence their running of SAP systems while taking backups, so we can do backups more often. They also benefit from very fast resources, if they need something. In the end, it is an end customer benefit, not directly for us, as we are a service provider.
Pros
- Provisioning in the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) environment.
- Agility in enterprise performance management (EPM).
- Efficient API connections.
Cons
- Reserved Instances for Azure NetApp Files would improve more use cases, making them more valuable in Azure as the cost would be reduced.
- Azure NetApp Files could improve by being more diverse to integrate better with other solutions, such as Splunk and the on-premise version.
- The main hurdle in promoting this solution is the price. Its price definitely requires an improvement.
Return on Investment
- 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.
- Its security and ease of use are most valuable.
- It is stable and scalable.
Alternatives Considered
Attribution in Google Analytics (Adometry), Acoustic Content (formerly IBM Watson Content Hub) and Amazon Augmented AI (Amazon A2I)
Other Software Used
Flutter, by Google, Amazon API Gateway, Acoustic Analytics (formerly IBM Watson Customer Experience Analytics)
Reliable and robust solution, suitable to very specific use cases
Pros
- Highly scalable, as many 'Cloud ready' solutions
- Easy to implement, with only a few clicks
- Performance, we were positivelly surprised by its performance
- Deep integration with Azure products, like scripting/CLI/Shell
- High availability, reaching the 'four nines' if correctly implemented
Cons
- Backup/files versioning still needs to be improved
- Netapp/Storage administrators may need some time to adapt managing it through Azure Portal interface, it can be really confusing sometimes
- Reporting/data intelligence solutions would be a great addition
Return on Investment
- Immediate return, as we implemented it to not expand our on-prem storage
Alternatives Considered
Azure Blob Storage, NetApp FAS series and Komprise
Other Software Used
Commvault HyperScale, Veeam Backup & Replication, Komprise, NetApp FAS series, Nutanix AOS, VMware ESXi, vCenter Operations Manager, Microsoft Azure, VMware vCenter Server, Veritas Enterprise Vault, Zabbix, Varonis Data Security Platform, Oracle VM Server, ManageEngine Password Manager Pro, CyberArk Privileged Account Security, Citrix Virtual Apps (formerly XenApp), Citrix Gateway (formerly NetScaler Unified Gateway), Citrix ADC (formerly NetScaler ADC)
