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Azure Data Lake Storage vs Azure NetApp Files comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 17, 2024

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
1.0
Azure Data Lake Storage reduces costs, enhances processing speed, and improves data management, analytics, and integration for better decision-making.
Sentiment score
7.4
Azure NetApp Files provides high performance and flexibility, enabling significant cost savings and improved IT management despite initial costs.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.7
Azure Data Lake Storage support varies, with premium customers enjoying better responsiveness, while others rely on documentation and forums.
Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft and NetApp provide Azure NetApp Files with varying support quality, appreciated for complex issues despite regional inconsistencies.
The support team is very supportive, and most issues are resolved quickly once we get in touch with them.
DevOps Manager at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
A good support experience is marked by the speed of reply and the relevancy of resolution tips.
EPM Practice Manager at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
You can't expect her to know everything about Azure, but she knows who does know, so things can get handled by who knows about the topic the best, and that's usually the best way to handle anything anyway.
Vice President, Technology at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
Microsoft has limitations with Azure Files, which do not support disaster recovery, so they approached NetApp for help based on their experience in on-premises and cloud storage.
Cloud Architect at IBM
They have top-notch people.
Cloud/Data/Database Manager at a government with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Azure Data Lake Storage is scalable and flexible, ideal for medium to large enterprises needing efficient data management.
Sentiment score
7.6
Azure NetApp Files offers flexible scaling and cost efficiency for large deployments, despite regional and minimum storage limitations.
If you have a lot of cross-region needs, then you might have to do more work because it doesn't natively store data in various regions; you have to pick a region.
Vice President, Technology at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
For performance and scalability, we have never faced any issues even though we handle at least a TB of data every day without any performance problems.
Solution Architect at Mercedes-Benz AG
For scalability, I rate Data Lake Storage around eight to nine on a scale of one to ten.
DevOps Manager at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Scalability is high. I would say it's probably around nine because it's quite a robust solution that can scale up to maybe even five hundred terabytes of data.
Cloud Architect at IBM
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
Azure Data Lake Storage is highly stable and reliable, with 99.99% uptime, minor issues usually configuration-related.
Sentiment score
8.4
Azure NetApp Files is highly stable, offering reliable performance, seamless migrations, and no downtime, even under increased loads.
Stability is rated around eight to nine out of ten.
DevOps Manager at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
I find the stability of Azure Data Lake Storage to be excellent and would rate it as an eight out of ten.
EPM Practice Manager at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
In terms of storage stability, I believe it's robust and stable, with a high level of redundancy in the cloud backend.
Cloud Architect at IBM
 

Room For Improvement

Azure Data Lake Storage needs pricing transparency, better API accessibility, multi-vendor compatibility, enhanced features, and improved support.
Azure NetApp Files needs enhanced disaster recovery, cost-effective pricing, improved support, and broader regional availability to boost user adoption.
Currently, migration is only one-way possible, and it would be beneficial if this aspect could be improved.
DevOps Manager at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Compliance departments and IT departments love that type of feature, so people will blanket enable that, but then that racks up tons of bills because it's reading massive files constantly that should be excluded from that type of scan because it's not a type of file capable of having malware; it's the backend database.
Vice President, Technology at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
With the emergence of AI technology, it would be convenient for storing vector indexes, essential for AI solutions.
Data Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
If they bring the cost a little bit closer to what Azure Files offers, it can be a great product in the market and bring a lot of business to NetApp.
Cloud Architect at IBM
I would like for them to have more compression so that it can avoid using more storage.
Cloud/Data/Database Manager at a government with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

Azure Data Lake Storage offers flexible, generally cheaper pricing than AWS, though complexity and tier choice can affect costs.
Azure NetApp Files is costly with a four-terabyte minimum, but its premium features compete with Oracle and Amazon.
Both are the cheapest compared to Palantir and everything else.
Solution Architect at Mercedes-Benz AG
In Azure Data Lake Storage or any cloud, either it is AWS or Azure, it is a pay as you go, or you can set a fixed capacity for the next three years, which enables around thirty-five to forty percent discount from Microsoft, depending on how customers prefer their subscription.
Data Architect at cmc
The pricing for Data Lake Storage depends on several factors, like the configuration for multiple or single locations and if it uses geo-redundancy storage, which is beneficial but consumes higher costs.
DevOps Manager at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
It is expensive, especially with NetApp Ultra Storage.
Cloud/Data/Database Manager at a government with 10,001+ employees
It's highly priced, and there's no cost reservation option available compared to Azure Files.
Cloud Architect at IBM
 

Valuable Features

Azure Data Lake Storage offers robust security, scalability, cost-effective options, and seamless integration within Microsoft's ecosystem for enhanced analytics.
Azure NetApp Files excels in performance, integration, and scalability, providing high redundancy, data protection, and efficient storage solutions.
Data Lake Storage can interact with any other Azure resources, providing seamless integration and connectivity.
DevOps Manager at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Allows for automated configuration of data operations such as deletion and transfer between repositories.
Data Architecture and Engineering Specialist at coprocenva
It's essentially the blob storage but with more features that are analytics focused because usually that's what people are going to do with the Data Lake, which is ingest data for analytics.
Vice President, Technology at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
The most valuable feature is that the sixty-terabyte database snapshot can be done in less than two to three minutes.
Cloud/Data/Database Manager at a government with 10,001+ employees
I think the most valuable feature is using the cross-region replication because this feature was not available in Azure Files, and this was the differentiator.
Cloud Architect at IBM
 

Categories and Ranking

Azure Data Lake Storage
Ranking in Cloud Storage
8th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Azure NetApp Files
Ranking in Cloud Storage
12th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Migration (9th), Public Cloud Storage Services (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Cloud Storage category, the mindshare of Azure Data Lake Storage is 1.7%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Azure NetApp Files is 3.0%, down from 8.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud Storage Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Azure Data Lake Storage1.7%
Azure NetApp Files3.0%
Other95.3%
Cloud Storage
 

Featured Reviews

Rama Subba Reddy Thavva - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Architect at Mercedes-Benz AG
Unified data lake has supported daily terabyte workloads and delivers secure automotive analytics
I would rate Azure Data Lake Storage around a nine out of ten. To give Azure Data Lake Storage a ten out of ten, they need to optimize the cost. The cost factor is the only thing I would identify for all my use cases, as they are very well equipped in other areas. Even though the cost is reasonable, if they reduce it, we would benefit significantly. Additionally, there is no data lineage and no ontology tools available on Azure Data Lake Storage. I understand it is blob-based, but if they maintain some ontology tools or data cataloging and data lineage, that would be great. However, those features are currently covered under Databricks, so we are not much concerned.
Rajat Wadhwa - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Architect at IBM
Cross-region replication has delivered seamless disaster recovery for enterprise storage needs
In terms of improvement, I would say cost reservation; the cost is a bit high. If we compare Azure Files and Azure NetApp Files, I know that customers are using less of Azure NetApp due to the cost. If they bring the cost a little bit closer to what Azure Files offers, it can be a great product in the market and bring a lot of business to NetApp. Backup is quite critical. As of now, Azure NetApp Files requires you to use Azure NetApp Backup solution, which is in public preview at the moment. I would definitely expect NetApp to come up with that solution so that customers can start using it because they do not have confidence in backup as it is still in preview. They are still doing some testing and research on that product, which is not officially released for use by multiple customers.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Marketing Services Firm
8%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Educational Organization
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Data Lake Storage?
Azure Data Lake Storage is very less priced because the difference when I compare on-premise to cloud is significant. On-premise, you need to have from day one the entire capacity, and you own that...
What needs improvement with Azure Data Lake Storage?
It definitely supports my needs performance-wise. The only challenge depends on what type of storage we are using for the data lake. Is it a hot tier or archive tier? Performance will depend on tha...
What is your primary use case for Azure Data Lake Storage?
My main use cases for Azure Data Lake Storage involve building these solutions, designing these solutions, and evaluating this solution. Once this solution is paid, HRD, LDR in place, I go on the e...
How does Azure NetApp Files compare to NetApp ONTAP?
Azure NetApp Files is a Microsoft Azure file storage service built on NetApp technology. The platform combines the file capabilities of Azure and NetApp to move critical file-based applications to ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure NetApp Files?
On pricing, I would rate it around eight. It's highly priced, and there's no cost reservation option available compared to Azure Files. If NetApp could bring that kind of model for customers to sav...
What needs improvement with Azure NetApp Files?
In terms of improvement, I would say cost reservation; the cost is a bit high. If we compare Azure Files and Azure NetApp Files, I know that customers are using less of Azure NetApp due to the cost...
 

Also Known As

No data available
NetApp ANF, ANF
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
SAP, Restaurant Magic
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Data Lake Storage vs. Azure NetApp Files and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.