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

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

August 2024

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Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score

3.7

Amazon EFS offers scalable, cost-effective storage with minimal maintenance, enhancing productivity and benefiting businesses through pay-as-you-go pricing.

Sentiment score

4.0

Mixed experiences with Microsoft Azure File Storage highlight ROI benefits, integration ease, but variable efficacy for medium businesses.

No quotes available

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No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Azure File Storage report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

5.5

Customers find Amazon EFS support reliable, though resolution times may vary based on the complexity and support plan.

Sentiment score

6.3

Azure File Storage support varies by contract, location, and status; premium users enjoy faster response than standard users.

While the time to respond was good, the time to resolve was not optimal, as it took more than a week.

Amaratunga Arachchige Vimukthi Amaratunga

Regional Manager at Aspire Lifestyles

Amazon's support model is consistent across services.

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) report

AWS Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Training and support depend on the plan you have, with centralized support being very helpful in case issues arise.

ChanchalSingh1

Head of Engineering - Data and Machine Learning at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

The perspective documentation is good.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Azure File Storage report

Database Architect at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Microsoft technical support is very prompt.

Arijit Chatterjee

Senior System Administrator at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees

As and when we require, they are able to provide solutions or guide us toward solutions.

Beniton Fernando

Senior Technical Architect at Volante

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

6.6

Amazon EFS offers scalable and cost-effective file storage, but users occasionally face challenges with scalability, latency, and connections.

Sentiment score

6.6

Microsoft Azure File Storage is highly scalable, easily integrates, adapts to needs, and receives strong user ratings.

Its auto-scaling feature is a crucial point, providing high scalability that I would rate at ten out of ten.

Senior DevOps Engineer at Alibaba Group

Elastic File Systems allow me to scale up or down easily.

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Data Engineer at Softtech Cloud Technologies

It is very cost-effective, and there's no need for initial charges.

ChanchalSingh1

Head of Engineering - Data and Machine Learning at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

We successfully handled a huge transaction during an iPhone launch without any issues.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Azure File Storage report

Senior Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.1

Amazon EFS is generally stable, with users praising reliability, though some report minor issues mitigated by strong support.

Sentiment score

6.4

Microsoft Azure File Storage is reliable with high ratings, minor issues, and requires good internet for optimal performance.

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

Senior DevOps Engineer at Alibaba Group

While I experienced an EFS mount dropping, it was related to server issues rather than EFS itself.

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AWS Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

I rate the stability of Microsoft Azure File Storage as a seven out of ten.

Database Architect at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees

There are a few technical issues that need to be fixed within the Azure ecosystem.

Mohammad-Huda

Data & Analytics Practitioner (BI Dw, Big Data) at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

We sometimes encounter glitches with bigger files, but everything else works as expected.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Azure File Storage report

Lead Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Room For Improvement

Amazon EFS needs improved connectivity, Windows integration, cost transparency, and one-click setup for enhanced user experience and support.

Microsoft Azure File Storage needs better cost clarity, technical support, usability, security, performance, and diagnostics to enhance user experience.

Database-type workloads do not run properly on Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) because at the end of the day, it is a network file system and requests must travel from one place to another and then return.

reviewer2784675

Sr. Technical Account Manager at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees

Enabling AI-driven or automatic features would be beneficial for new or nontechnical users.

Senior DevOps Engineer at Alibaba Group

In my project, there are challenges related to AWS, such as ensuring proper security measures with IMS code and encryption.

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Data Engineer at Softtech Cloud Technologies

Some chunking logics need to be better to address issues with processing bigger files.

Lead Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

There is a limitation on the storage capacity, like four terabytes.

Database Architect at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees

The information is not readily available on the internet, so we have to double-check and understand everything.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Azure File Storage report

Senior Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Setup Cost

Amazon EFS charges based on usage with higher costs compared to S3, making it less budget-friendly.

Microsoft Azure File Storage pricing is usage-based, often higher than competitors, with savings via long-term contracts and reservations.

EFS could cost around $30 to $50 per month for similar usage.

Senior DevOps Engineer at Alibaba Group

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

AWS Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Elastic File Systems can be expensive due to the nature of data transfer costs.

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) report

Data Engineer at Softtech Cloud Technologies

I would rate it three or three and a half out of ten on the pricing scale.

Lead Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

I would rate the pricing of Microsoft Azure File Storage seven or eight, where one is high and ten is low.

Senior Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

The pricing for Microsoft Azure File Storage is five out of ten, not so expensive and not so low.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Azure File Storage report

Database Architect at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Valuable Features

Amazon EFS provides scalable, secure, and flexible storage with fast data access, auto-scaling, and seamless AWS integration for dynamic workloads.

Microsoft Azure File Storage excels in flexibility, integration, security, and cost-effectiveness, meeting diverse organizational file storage needs.

Its ease of integration with other AWS services enhances our infrastructure, while the shared storage access improves reliability and processing continuity for our applications.

AWS Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

They help me process data while maintaining low latency, which is crucial for efficient data processing.

Data Engineer at Softtech Cloud Technologies

The most valuable feature of Amazon EFS is its auto-scaling capability.

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Senior DevOps Engineer at Alibaba Group

It is satisfying our requirements with encryption and security features in place.

reviewer1707861

Senior Data Production Engineer at a wellness & fitness company with 5,001-10,000 employees

File storage is complemented by OCR with Azure Cognitive Service.

Lead Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Microsoft Azure File Storage saves time compared to AWS.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Azure File Storage report

Senior Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Categories and Ranking

Amazon EFS (Elastic File Sy...

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Storage (10th), File and Object Storage (11th)

Microsoft Azure File Storage

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Public Cloud Storage Services (5th)

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 2.9%, down 8.0% compared to last year.
Microsoft Azure File Storage, on the other hand, focuses on Public Cloud Storage Services, holds 7.9% mindshare, down 10.8% since last year.

Cloud Storage Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)	2.9%
Dropbox Business - Enterprise	6.8%
NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP	5.5%
Other	84.8%

Cloud Storage

Public Cloud Storage Services Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Azure File Storage	7.9%
Amazon S3	14.3%
Amazon S3 Glacier	10.1%
Other	67.69999999999999%

Public Cloud Storage Services

Q&A Highlights

Netanya Carmi

Content Manager at PeerSpot

Nov 21, 2021

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 solution can scale up or down as needed (as files are added or removed). It is pay-per-use - you will only pay for the storage you are using. This eliminates storage administration tasks and is a real time-saver. There is no minimum fee and no setup cost. You do need to have some programming knowledge to use Amazon EFS. You need to closely monitor the time constraints in relation to the amount of data you are backing up with or your process may fail. You most likely need to manually pause applications and processes backing up, and only backups can be stored on Amazon EFS. With Azure File Storage you can easily share data across cloud and on-premises servers. Azure File Storage can help simplify hosting for high availability workload data and migrate file share-based applications to the cloud, with no code changes. You can access what you need anytime, anywhere, using any device. Setup and deployment with Azure File Storage can be quite complex. We believe this solution should support more legacy storage systems and have better overall integration with other solutions. Azure File Storage has some scalability limitations, which could be problematic for some. The pricing should be more transparent so that you have a better idea of what your incurred costs will be. Conclusion Using either of these solutions, one does need to be a bit tech-savvy. They are not for the complete novice. We like Amazon EFS best. The easy and flexible scale up and down protocol that it has in place is perfect for our ever-changing business organizational needs. For us, Amazon EFS is very cost-effective and time-efficient. We like that.

Amaratunga Arachchige Vimukthi Amaratunga

Featured Reviews

Regional Manager at Aspire Lifestyles

Security features impress while response times need improvement

We use cloud storage security, which is a virus scanner for their infrastructure, as a new addition. Other than that, it focuses on serverless features, such as Lambda and Aurora SQL server databases. CSS cloud storage security, which is offered by AWS, is integrated into our system. It functions as a virus scanner that monitors whenever any incoming file arrives. The AWS service is excellent security-wise, and I have seen some other features besides security, such as automatic scaling that helped us significantly. Regarding integration, it provides us with the benefit that our data is kept within our account only.

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Has simplified customer data management and improved file transfer workflows

Senior Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

We are using AWS as well, and the main difference is that Microsoft Azure File Storage is more user-friendly for configuration-related and admin-related activities. We do not have to perform many complex activities, making it simpler compared to AWS. Security-wise, there are some concerns because it is in the cloud. The customers need to double-check, and they are not giving complete approval when it comes to security. I would rate Microsoft Azure File Storage's security compliance features seven or eight out of ten. It is secure, but since it is in the cloud, we have to convince customers when providing solutions. Many questions were raised while providing the architecture and solution for this file transfer management system. We convinced them because we have the feature and showed a demo, but it is still a prototype. We have to get approval before starting the work. The data redundancy options in Microsoft Azure File Storage are good. I am facing some challenges in convincing customers, and additional information would be helpful to address these challenges. Microsoft Azure File Storage saves time compared to AWS. We tried the prototype in AWS as well, but Azure is easier. Regarding cost, it is slightly less compared to AWS. The functionality of Microsoft Azure File Storage does not pose any issues, though basic users find it complex and require training. Regarding stability, I would rate Microsoft Azure File Storage 8.5 to 9. Scalability in Microsoft Azure File Storage is impressive. We recently handled a huge transaction during an iPhone launch without any problems.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Marketing Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	8

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	18
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	25

Questions from the Community

Which file storage system is better - Amazon EFS (elastic file storage) or Azure File Storage?

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

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

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

We don't need to purchase it; we are just using it and paying Amazon as per the utilization. We make direct payments to Amazon based on our usage.

What do you like most about Microsoft Azure File Storage?

The product is a reliable cloud solution.

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

The cost of Microsoft Azure File Storage depends on the storage account, whether it is premium or standard; there is a cost difference, with the cost being higher for premium and lower for standard...

What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure File Storage?

In my opinion, Microsoft can improve Microsoft Azure File Storage by closing the open questions that a lot of customers have raised. There were previously some issues that I cannot recall exactly. ...

Google Cloud Storage vs Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)

Comparisons

Compared 3% of the time

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

Compared 2% of the time

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)

Compared 2% of the time

Azure NetApp Files vs Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)

Compared 2% of the time

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

Compared 1% of the time

More Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) Competitors

Amazon S3 vs Microsoft Azure File Storage

Compared 4% of the time

Amazon S3 Glacier vs Microsoft Azure File Storage

Compared 3% of the time

Azure NetApp Files vs Microsoft Azure File Storage

Compared 3% of the time

Wasabi vs Microsoft Azure File Storage

Compared 3% of the time

Oracle Cloud Software Appliance vs Microsoft Azure File Storage

Compared 2% of the time

More Microsoft Azure File Storage Competitors

Product Reports

Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)

April 2026

Download Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) product report

Microsoft Azure File Storage

April 2026

Download Microsoft Azure File Storage product report

Also Known As

No data available

MS Azure File Storage

Overview

Amazon EFS provides elastic file storage in the cloud, offering unlimited storage and seamless integration with AWS services for dynamic workloads.

Amazon EFS serves as a scalable, shareable file storage across Linux servers, seamlessly integrating with AWS for data-intensive applications. Its auto-scaling capability handles shifting data demands in real time, ensuring cost-effective storage management. Offering high availability and support for NFS version 4, Amazon EFS optimizes performance and data integrity for cloud and serverless environments. While its strengths lie in scalability and Linux support, further enhancements in cost transparency, Windows compatibility, and deployment simplicity can broaden its applicability.

What are the key features of Amazon EFS?

Flexible Scaling: Automatically adjusts storage capacity to meet dynamic workload demands.
Usage-based Pricing: Only charges for storage used, optimizing cost efficiency.
Integration with AWS: Seamlessly connects with services like EC2 for enhanced application support.
Auto-scaling: Efficiently allocates resources for fluctuating data needs.
Shared Access: Facilitates collaborative data use across various applications.

What benefits should users expect from Amazon EFS reviews?

Enhanced Efficiency: Streamlined configuration and easy scaling of resources.
Cost Management: Reduced storage expenses through usage-based pricing.
Reliable Performance: Consistent data availability and stable system operations.
Improved Data Management: Simplified processes for handling extensive datasets.
Integration Capabilities: Smooth interoperability with AWS services enhances functionality.

Amazon EFS is widely implemented in industries needing robust cloud-based storage solutions, facilitating scalable storage for applications like web serving, content management, and data analytics. Its compatibility with EC2 and Linux optimizes resource management, supporting complex access needs and enhancing operational efficiency in technology-focused sectors.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Microsoft Azure File Storage offers seamless integration within Azure, delivering scalable, user-friendly, and secure file storage solutions. It features excellent data redundancy, lifecycle management, and integration with Microsoft tools, catering to diverse environments efficiently.

Azure File Storage provides robust file server capabilities and is highly valued for its integration with Active Directory and cloud applications. Its scalability and strong security features, including private endpoints, cater to modern organizational storage needs, while its flexible pricing and ease of connectivity with existing Microsoft tools enhance data redundancy and lifecycle management. Azure supports extensive use cases like backup storage, file migration, log management, CRM, IoT, and analytics, providing businesses with seamless data transfer and integration, thus improving accessibility and scalability.

What are the key features of Microsoft Azure File Storage?

Seamless Integration: Easily connects with Azure and existing Microsoft tools.
Scalability: Accommodates expanding data with ease.
Data Redundancy: Provides robust storage options.
Security Features: Includes private endpoints and permissions management.
Lifecycle Management: Efficiently manages data across its lifecycle.

What should users look for in reviews?

Cost-Effectiveness: Offers a flexible pricing structure.
Flexibility and Connectivity: Enhances connectivity with tools and applications.
Performance: Delivers high-performance capabilities.
Accessibility: Makes data accessible across platforms.

Organizations implement Azure File Storage across multiple industries to support file servers, backup storage, and cloud-based file sharing. With support for log and data management, customers in tech, healthcare, finance, and retail benefit from improved scalability and security, enhancing operational efficiencies.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Arcesium, Atlassian, Seeking Alpha, Zend

Talon, Camden