What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Azure Storage Explorer is that it's a GUI tool provided by Microsoft, and it's very easy to use to move our resources locally. We can simply copy and move our blobs, files, queues, and tables from our systems to Azure storage with the help of this tool. It's a very easy and helpful tool rather than logging in on the Azure portal and uploading all those files and blobs into Azure storage.
Day-to-day, if I'm working on a project related to Azure Data Factory and I need to upload multiple files from my systems which are generated by some other tools, I simply drag and drop all those files from my system into the Azure Storage Explorer GUI, and it will upload those files and sync all those files from one place to another. I need not log in on my Azure portal and go to my Azure storage and move it in the bucket or in the files or in the tables.
Since we have started using Azure Storage Explorer, earlier we were using a tool called AZCopy which we needed to install on every system, then we would log in on the command prompt and use AZCopy to copy or move the files and folders from our systems to Azure. Since the introduction of this tool, we have asked all the application users and the users and clients to install this tool on their systems. It's a very easy drag and drop thing, so they are easily doing it from their own. They are not creating any tickets or work orders for the L1 team to upload those files. This was a very time-consuming task, but now it has been reduced.
What is most valuable?
The best features Azure Storage Explorer offers include that it's free and we can simply download it from the Microsoft site. We just need to log in once and select the subscription and then we can upload the files on the storage account or in a blob container or any ADLS Gen2 container, any file share, any queue, or table. I think it has removed or reduced the cost for manual labor for us to log in on the Azure portal and find all those things. Anyone who is not very much tech-savvy with Azure can also use this tool to just drag and drop all their important files or the project files into Azure storage.
The feature that stands out as the most valuable for my team is the drag and drop functionality, which reduces our time and efforts. We need not find all those folders in nested buckets in Azure storage and we need not go into the portal. We cannot give the access of the Azure portal to everyone, but with Azure Storage Explorer, we can simply ask anyone who wants to copy those folders or the files into Azure storage to simply use it. Azure Storage Explorer also provides an option of the proxy and it's platform-independent, as it can be used on Windows, macOS, or Linux. Anyone on any of the platforms can use it.
What needs improvement?
I think there are some additional features which can be added or enhanced in Azure Storage Explorer which will help us to directly use this tool rather than going on the Azure portal for other features.
When I try to do a search of those files in Azure Storage Explorer, it sometimes is very slow and sometimes it works well. I feel it's a very limited search and filtering functionality on this tool. Sometimes we feel that for so many subscriptions and so many Azure storage files or blobs, it has become really difficult to find out the exact file or the folder which we are trying to find. The search functionality can be a little faster.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Azure Storage Explorer for more than four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Azure Storage Explorer is stable, but sometimes we feel that every second or third day, we need to reset our authentication or re-verify our Azure credentials, which I feel makes it a little unstable. Other than that, once we verify ourselves, it works well.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Azure Storage Explorer's scalability is very good. We can upload a number of files and on the backend, it is using AZCopy, and it's very fast to copy or download the files. It has reduced a very good amount of time in downloading or copying the files.
How are customer service and support?
I never faced any kind of issue while using Azure Storage Explorer, so I haven't tried to get any customer support from Microsoft on this tool. It's a very straightforward tool, so there's nothing much to get support for or any issues with it.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously used a solution called AZCopy, which is also a Microsoft proprietary tool. The main problem with this tool is that it can only be used by technical people, whereas non-technical people cannot use it. We needed to download the AZCopy EXE file and then run those commands to copy or download from one location to another. With the help of this GUI tool, even the non-technical people can also complete their task of downloading or moving the files.
What other advice do I have?
If others are looking into using Azure Storage Explorer, I advise them to start using this tool to reduce time in manual tasks or their number of tickets for their L1 team. Just install this tool on everyone's system and give them a demo on how to use it. It's very easy to learn or understand this tool and they will start valuing it. I would give Azure Storage Explorer a rating of ten out of ten.
