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Azure Data Lake Storage vs Panzura CloudFS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 12, 2025

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

Azure Data Lake Storage
Ranking in Cloud Storage
11th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Panzura CloudFS
Ranking in Cloud Storage
13th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
File System Software (4th), NAS (11th), Cloud Storage Gateways (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Cloud Storage category, the mindshare of Azure Data Lake Storage is 1.0%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Panzura CloudFS is 5.7%, up from 5.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud Storage
 

Featured Reviews

Chetan Jayatheertha - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides valuable features such as access keys, container strings, lifecycle management, audit logs, and the soft delete option
Data Lake Storage provides valuable features such as access keys, container strings, lifecycle management, audit logs, and the soft delete option. These features help in cost-saving and provide an excellent mechanism for backing up data. Furthermore, Data Lake Storage can interact with any other Azure resources, providing seamless integration and connectivity.
Andy Knauf - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable file management and disaster recovery with minimal overwrites
For me, it is the stability aspect. It is a lot more stable now than it ever has been, but just keeping that stability is important. Previously, a new update would come out, and there might be something wrong with it, or it may not sync up as well as it should, or it may cause something to lose access to the server. We have had some problems in the past, but in the last couple of years, we have not had any issues like we had early on. There could be a slightly better dashboard or a better pane of glass. When something goes wrong somewhere, there should be a little bit better alerting with issues before they become a big problem.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Microsoft is quite good when it comes to integration. They have multiple connectors available and different ingestion and integration processes available."
"The solution's most valuable feature is its simplicity of configuration and setup."
"Offers high scalability for data storage"
"Data Lake Storage provides valuable features such as access keys, container strings, lifecycle management, audit logs, and the soft delete option."
"The most valuable feature is the scalability due to the blob, which allows us to scale our data effectively."
"Azure Data Lake Storage is user-friendly and easy to use."
"The tool's best feature is that it can store different types of data - structured, unstructured, and semi-structured—in one lake. We can use the required data for analytics and dashboard design."
"It's a cloud-based tool within the Microsoft ecosystem, offering many benefits for data handling."
"Primarily, it is the way Panzura CloudFS handles the file locks and the way these filers, along with the authoritative copy of all our data, which is about 27 terabytes located in an AWS bucket in the cloud, operate."
"Panzura has not increased its data storage costs."
"What I appreciate most about Panzura CloudFS is that it really solves the problem we had when we moved all our server workloads to Azure, reducing our on-prem data center footprint sizably."
"The assistance of support has been excellent."
"It is a very solid product. We keep all of our older files on their system. It is easy to restore if a file gets deleted. We have good disaster recovery. It is very reliable and very quick, and we do not have files that get overwritten because it locks the file."
"Panzura is a hundred percent better than what we had before."
"What I appreciate most about Panzura CloudFS is that it really solves the problem we had when we moved all our server workloads to Azure, reducing our on-prem data center footprint sizably. We don't have to maintain a huge on-prem storage array, which is nice. It just works, and we haven't had any issues this whole time."
"The core function of Panzura CloudFS, with its synchronizing of files across multiple servers, provides us with a much more efficient workflow for our production staff."
 

Cons

"I suggest enhancing the connectors for improvement. Some software, like HubSpot and Xero, has connectors, but they're limited to a few fields. That's why we use REST API calls instead. It would be better if the connectors could retrieve all data."
"Improvement is needed in the migration process from Lakehouse to Enterprise Data Lake (EDL). Currently, migration is only one-way possible, and it would be beneficial if this aspect could be improved."
"When you store your files manually, you can't ensure complete data integrity, which can impact data security."
"It would be beneficial if some AI features were added."
"Improvement is needed in the migration process from Lakehouse to Enterprise Data Lake (EDL)."
"Microsoft Fabric costs more since we are charged for all the components."
"Simple migrations from one data lake to another take too much time and could be improved."
"The documentation could be more user-friendly with better tutorials."
"One area for improvement regarding Panzura CloudFS is moving away from on-prem or local Active Directory. We're exploring a transition to Azure AD or Entra ID, aiming to keep the product functional without heavy reliance on the local Active Directory."
"There are a few file types that do not work well with Panzura CloudFS."
"There could be a slightly better dashboard or a better pane of glass. When something goes wrong somewhere, there should be a little bit better alerting with issues before they become a big problem."
"It would be nice if Panzura offered data in increments instead of 25 terabytes per license."
"Master Snapshot feature is the only exceptional feature, but the rest of the features are similar to other storage solutions."
"One area for improvement regarding Panzura CloudFS is moving away from on-prem or local Active Directory. We're exploring a transition to Azure AD or Entra ID, aiming to keep the product functional without heavy reliance on the local Active Directory."
"It has not reduced the data storage cost."
"Previously, a new update would come out, and there might be something wrong with it, or it may not sync up as well as it should, or it may cause something to lose access to the server."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"From one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the product price as five."
"The tool is cheap, depending on the services and requirements you need."
"I rate the product price as two or three, where one is high, and ten is low. The product's price is really high."
"One of the most affordable products from the vendor"
"Compared to other options we've explored, I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten, with ten being expensive."
"It's a pay-as-you-go model. Your charges are based on the amount of data you store."
"It costs just a few dollars per terabyte per month."
"The tool's licensing model is pay-as-you-go. Regarding pricing, there's always competition between Azure Data Lake Storage and AWS. They're quite similar, but to attract more customers, Azure Data Lake Storage could consider adjusting its pricing to be more competitive with AWS. This might make Azure Data Lake Storage a more appealing option for users."
"It's competitive. I don't know what competitors are charging, but they have been very transparent, which is nice, and we've negotiated to avoid percentage increases."
"The pricing seems high on certain products and features, such as the audit feature of Panzura Data Services. They should consider more attractive pricing for companies of our size. The renewals are yearly, but the pricing is a little high for us."
"The solution's pricing is on the expensive side."
"It is not bad. It is like everything else. Pricing has gone up quite over the last couple of years, but everybody's pricing has gone up. For what they deliver, it is right in line with what everybody else has."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
16%
Construction Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Azure Data Lake Storage?
The tool's most valuable feature is security access policies.
What needs improvement with Azure Data Lake Storage?
The speed of support response needs to improve, especially for critical, high-priority issues. Having a quick SLA response time is crucial.
What are the products that Panzura provides?
Panzura offers four main products: CloudFS, data services, smart apps, and global services. They call this "all-in-one solution" and it's for end-to-end cloud data management. Why is it called that...
What kind of industries does Panzura serve?
Hello, I think businesses from all industries that have their data on a cloud can benefit from Panzura. Especially if you have offices in various locations or your employees are working from home a...
Why was Panzura acquired? Is the acquisition going to cause a change?
I think Panzura may change in a positive direction now that it's been bought by Profile Capital. That's a very big investment company for technology businesses and I think it's an opportunity for ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Panzura Freedom
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Petrofac, Komatsu, HCA Healthcare, Vanguard, Disney, Pokemon, US Department of Justice, Gensler, Fluor, AFRY, Milwaukee Tool, Navy Federal Credit Union, TechTarget
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Data Lake Storage vs. Panzura CloudFS and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,963 professionals have used our research since 2012.