Item: Azure NetApp Files
Rating: 8
Author: HARDIK CHUDASAMA

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We wanted on-premises-like performance for our pharmaceutical drugs software data solutions and also wanted a simple but efficient solution for workloads to be moved and deployed in Microsoft Azure through storage and data management. As of now, Azure NetApp Files is being used by the IT and infrastructure departments, but we are planning to expand it to other areas within the organization.

Pros and Cons

It has

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)

The solution is amazing. It scales up and down, which is quite unique for a cloud solution and also it is billed to you on a per-hour basis, which provides a great opportunity to save the cost when you don't need it. Compared to others, we really liked that option for Azure NetApp Files.

Also, it's a 100% Microsoft-supported solution, so it's not a marketplace offering; the tools and APIs are 100% part of Microsoft Azure.

Key Insights

Do you think Azure NetApp Files delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Azure NetApp Files's feature set?

Yes

Did Azure NetApp Files live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Azure NetApp Files go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Azure NetApp Files again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Microsoft Azure Active Directory, NetApp SaaS Backup for Microsoft Office 365 and Salesforce, Google Cloud AI

Likelihood to Recommend

For us, with Azure NetApp Files, the ease of use has been big. We have an operations organization where ease of use is key--also it simplifies migration to the cloud. Azure NetApp Files eliminates a common cloud-first barrier by creating the right infrastructure environment for agencies' resources, budgets, and skillsets.

We would like to be able to version the files that are coming in. 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. They could probably improve the versioning and other advanced features. The replication is not available in all the Azure Availability Zones.

Faster deployment and better cost saving with Azure NetApp Files

Overall Satisfaction with Azure NetApp Files