Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) vs Microsoft Azure Block Storage comparison

The compared Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft solutions aren't in the same category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #4 in CS , with an average rating of 8.0, and holds a 7.6% mindshare in the category. Microsoft is ranked #12 in PCSS , with an average rating of 8.4, and holds a 0.8% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Amazon EFS (Elastic File Sy...

Read 15 Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) reviews

1,159 Views
992 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Microsoft Azure Block Storage

Read 64 Microsoft Azure Block Storage reviews

265 Views
205 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Amazon EFS (Elastic File Sy...

Microsoft Azure Block Storage

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) and Microsoft Azure Block Storage based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Cloud Storage solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) vs. Microsoft Azure Block Storage Report (Updated: March 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) vs. Microsoft Azure Block Storage

March 2024

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Helped 851,371 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Amazon EFS (Elastic File Sy...

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Storage (4th), File and Object Storage (8th)

Microsoft Azure Block Storage

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Public Cloud Storage Services (12th)

Mindshare comparison

While both are Cloud Services solutions, they serve different purposes. Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) is designed for Cloud Storage and holds a mindshare of 7.6%, down 9.8% compared to last year.
Microsoft Azure Block Storage, on the other hand, focuses on Public Cloud Storage Services, holds 0.8% mindshare, down 1.3% since last year.

Cloud Storage

Public Cloud Storage Services

Featured Reviews

MuhammadAzhar Khan

Senior DevOps Engineer at Alibaba Group

Auto-scaling capabilities enhance file management while reducing downtime

The most valuable feature of Amazon EFS is its auto-scaling capability. It's really easy to configure EFS by just creating it and running a command to directly configure it with my servers. It supports unlimited use, and charges are applied based on the file usage at the end of the month. The solution offers reduced downtime and increased durability through its auto-scaling features.

Read full review

MatsHagberg Olsson2

Senior Solutions Architect at EQ2 Technology

Empowers secure data management with affordable tools and minimal hassle

The most valuable feature is that it's very affordable in comparison to competitors. The absolute best feature is the Azure Storage Explorer tool. The tool allows me to download to my device, control access, and manage data with ease. Additionally, the joint use of Azure portal further facilitates management depending on my location.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The product's initial setup phase is easy, as per the configurations."

"The initial setup was straightforward."

"The first valuable thing is it is scalable."

"Amazon EFS is extremely stable, as it is managed by AWS."

"The solution's technical support is good."

"Amazon EFS offers the flexibility of scaling as needed without requiring pre-provisioned storage."

"Amazon EFS is extremely stable, as it is managed by AWS."

"The platform is highly scalable."

More Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) pros

"We can use Azure Block Storage for some of our bigger files."

"You can easily access your data whenever you need it."

"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is the backing up of files."

"It's easy to deploy, easy to scale up, and pay-as-you-go."

"The most valuable features of Microsoft Azure Block Storage are it stores different types of data traditional data and connectivity through FTP. Additionally, we do not need a high-speed fetching system for operations and filesharing works well for us."

"The ability to increase and scale out is really easy, allowing us to manage a large amount of data with reduced dependency on scalability issues."

"The tool is most valuable for scenarios involving logs and monitoring. For example, logs are generated when using services like Front Door."

"The price is decent. I rate Azure Block Storage eight out of 10 for affordability."

More Microsoft Azure Block Storage pros

Cons

"There are challenges related to AWS, such as ensuring proper security measures with IMS code and encryption."

"The user activity needs to be more connected."

"The platform's connectivity could be improved to be more comparable to S3 buckets, which offer better API availability."

"It could be better in connecting with Windows Server instances."

"EFS could be improved by including a one-click setup."

"The main challenge with EFS is its cost, which is slightly higher compared to EBS or S3."

"It should be simplified. There are people who don't have cloud experience. It should be storage that we are able to just connect to."

"The product's stability has some shortcomings where improvements are required."

More Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) cons

"There is a drawback or limitation to the GRS storage feature because depending on the amount of data, it could take a lot of time."

"Improving the pricing structure would be beneficial."

"I would like for the next release to replace the CDN being used for content delivery, there is currently a rather long delay."

"The solution could have better archival policies and localization of data."

"One thing that needs improvement is authentication. They need to improve the integrated Azure Active Directory for the enterprise level. For single sign-on, we can try any authentication or portal for Block Azure Function AKS. For example, if you're an administrator or user contributor, you will generate a token, then your internal middleware connects to any Azure Cloud service. You need to generate different credentials for each service. We cannot use the same token."

"I want to see my region added to the data center. I'm in Africa, and if a data center is specifically added under Central Africa, that will reduce data latency when accessing data."

"Support is an area where improvements can be made, particularly in response time for enterprise support."

"The initial setup of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is more complex than Google Drive, but it is still not too difficult."

More Microsoft Azure Block Storage cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The main challenge with EFS is its cost, which is slightly higher compared to EBS or S3. For one GB or ten GB of data, S3 is much cheaper. EFS could cost around $30 to $50 per month for similar usage."

"The solution's price is mid-ranged."

"Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) offers a pay-as-you-go model, so whenever you use its services, you need to pay."

"It has flexible pricing. You are charged based on your storage."

"The product charges are based on the amount of data stored."

"The product's price depends on the services and the size and capacity at which it is used in a business environment."

"I would rate the pricing 7 out of 10."

"The pricing for Microsoft Azure Block Storage is high because of MSA and SBA contracts, where Microsoft takes care of the security aspects, apart from the maintenance, and Microsoft has service level agreements with the customers."

"The price of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is less expensive than other solutions on the market, such as Cloud Storage from GCP."

"I would rate the solution’s pricing a nine out of ten and it’s cheaper than Amazon S3."

"For the first 50DB, they cost around $50. It's an open solution for everybody. Anybody can go to the Microsoft website and they can get the pricing for it. But the first 50GB of data is a default rate and then it increases for the next 500GB or something like that. It is a pay as you go solution. The more you use, the more you pay. That's normally how you pay for any cloud solutions."

"The price of scaling the solution is not expensive."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a six or seven out of ten."

"The price could be more flexible, and it can be expensive."

"Microsoft Azure Block Storage is a pretty cheap and affordable product, so we have not seen any budget issues related to the solution in our company."

More Microsoft Azure Block Storage pricing and cost advice

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851,371 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

14%

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

17%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)?

The product's initial setup phase is easy, as per the configurations.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)?

Amazon EFS is more costly compared to other storage options available from AWS.

See all answers

What do you like most about Microsoft Azure Block Storage?

We use the solution to develop SaaS platforms on Azure. We utilize various Microsoft components like block storage and databases for this purpose.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Block Storage?

Our experience with pricing has been positive. The budget for Microsoft Azure services has been within expectations for the last couple of months. The cost for Azure Data Factory ( /products/azure-...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Block Storage?

We encountered an issue where enabling SFTP on Microsoft Azure Block Storage didn’t allow us to get the IP address, as Azure ( /products/microsoft-azure-reviews ) doesn’t support it. We had to set ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Azure File Storage vs Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)

Compared 53% of the time

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP vs Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)

Compared 12% of the time

Google Cloud Storage vs Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)

Compared 9% of the time

Amazon S3 Glacier vs Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)

Compared 8% of the time

Red Hat Ceph Storage vs Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)

Compared 6% of the time

More Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) Competitors

Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store) vs Microsoft Azure Block Storage

Compared 70% of the time

Azure NetApp Files vs Microsoft Azure Block Storage

Compared 30% of the time

More Microsoft Azure Block Storage Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)

May 2025

Download Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure Block Storage

April 2025

Download Microsoft Azure Block Storage product report

Also Known As

No data available

MS Azure Block Storage

Overview

Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) provides simple, scalable file storage for use with Amazon EC2 instances in the AWS Cloud. Amazon EFS is easy to use and offers a simple interface that allows you to create and configure file systems quickly and easily. With Amazon EFS, storage capacity is elastic, growing and shrinking automatically as you add and remove files, so your applications have the storage they need, when they need it.

When mounted to Amazon EC2 instances, an Amazon EFS file system provides a standard file system interface and file system access semantics, allowing you to seamlessly integrate Amazon EFS with your existing applications and tools. Multiple Amazon EC2 instances can access an Amazon EFS file system at the same time, allowing Amazon EFS to provide a common data source for workloads and applications running on more than one Amazon EC2 instance.

It’s designed for high availability and durability, and provides performance for a broad spectrum of workloads and applications, including Big Data and analytics, media processing workflows, content management, web serving, and home directories.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Massively scalable cloud storage for your applications

Store and help protect your data. Get durable, highly available data storage across the globe and pay only for what you use.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Arcesium, Atlassian, Seeking Alpha, Zend

Mazda, BlinkBox, Rakuten Showtime, Xbox One, Serko, ChronoDrive

Buyer's Guide

Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) vs. Microsoft Azure Block Storage

March 2024

Free Report: Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) vs. Microsoft Azure Block Storage

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