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Azure NetApp Files vs Microsoft Azure Block Storage comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 1, 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
7.4
Azure NetApp Files provides high performance and flexibility, enabling significant cost savings and improved IT management despite initial costs.
Sentiment score
2.6
Microsoft Azure Block Storage optimizes expenses with 90% cost reduction, ease of management, and ensures data protection against issues.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft and NetApp provide Azure NetApp Files with varying support quality, appreciated for complex issues despite regional inconsistencies.
Sentiment score
5.5
Microsoft Azure Block Storage support varies; premium plans offer faster responses, while others face delays and inconsistent service.
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
Support quality is good, but the main issue is the delay in handling tickets.
Cloud Engineer at a financial services firm with 11-50 employees
I had contacted them before and they replied rapidly.
System vice president at a non-tech company with 51-200 employees
Ours is a government enterprise organization, so we have a premium support agreement with Microsoft, and they give us the best support.
Solution Architect at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Azure NetApp Files offers flexible scaling and cost efficiency for large deployments, despite regional and minimum storage limitations.
Sentiment score
5.8
Microsoft Azure Block Storage is scalable, user-friendly, and suitable for all businesses, though scaling can increase costs.
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
The ability to scale is well-supported.
Sr. Cloud Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
It is a significant advantage of the product.
Senior Consultant at a tech company with 501-1,000 employees
We are on a premium plan, which should handle scalability automatically.
Delivery Manager at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.4
Azure NetApp Files is highly stable, offering reliable performance, seamless migrations, and no downtime, even under increased loads.
Sentiment score
7.6
Microsoft Azure Block Storage is highly rated for stability, despite occasional regional downtime and minor improvement suggestions.
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
It isn't as stable as sound storage systems in a premise environment.
Information Technology Business Partner and Enterprise Architecture Lead at a construction company with 10,001+ employees
Overall, the stability is very good.
Sr. Cloud Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
None of the other storage vendors have all these features so easily manageable and fast to set up as Block Storage.
Senior Solutions Architect at EQ2 Technology
 

Room For Improvement

Azure NetApp Files needs enhanced disaster recovery, cost-effective pricing, improved support, and broader regional availability to boost user adoption.
Microsoft Azure Block Storage users face pricing, interface, and integration challenges, with additional needs for better security and scalability.
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
Its compatibility with various platforms could be enhanced to allow for a seamless operation across different cloud environments.
Information Technology Business Partner and Enterprise Architecture Lead at a construction company with 10,001+ employees
Some alternatives are cheaper and available for long trial periods before the payment.
Lead DevOps and Release Engineer-L2 at ITWORX
Enabling SFTP on Microsoft Azure Block Storage didn’t allow us to get the IP address, as Azure doesn’t support it.
Delivery Manager at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

Azure NetApp Files is costly with a four-terabyte minimum, but its premium features compete with Oracle and Amazon.
Microsoft Azure Block Storage pricing is generally higher than competitors, but offers discounted rates through enterprise agreements.
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
For medium-sized companies, especially when discussing cost and scalability, it can be quite expensive.
Information Technology Business Partner and Enterprise Architecture Lead at a construction company with 10,001+ employees
The cost for Azure Data Factory, utilized for intensive data migration, was high but expected, as it's a one-time activity.
Delivery Manager at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
It is reasonable, however, it can be cheaper.
Senior Consultant at a tech company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

Azure NetApp Files excels in performance, integration, and scalability, providing high redundancy, data protection, and efficient storage solutions.
Microsoft Azure Block Storage is reliable, scalable, secure, and affordable, with excellent data management and integration features.
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
The tool allows me to download to my device, control access, and manage data with ease.
Senior Solutions Architect at EQ2 Technology
The world is now directed toward a centralized data platform or Fabric to build a data lake house for data engineering, which keeps all data in a centralized place that's beneficial for the governance layer and unified governance.
System vice president at a non-tech company with 51-200 employees
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.
Information Technology Business Partner and Enterprise Architecture Lead at a construction company with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Azure NetApp Files
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Migration (9th), Cloud Storage (12th)
Microsoft Azure Block Storage
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
67
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of Azure NetApp Files is 4.1%, down from 7.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is 2.6%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Public Cloud Storage Services Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Azure Block Storage2.6%
Azure NetApp Files4.1%
Other93.3%
Public Cloud Storage Services
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Ajai Jayakumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Architect at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Has supported secure file sharing and data automation with minimal setup effort
The encryption feature in Microsoft Azure Block Storage is very good, and the security is excellent. It is easy to map the storage to the virtual servers and user desktops, which is also very beneficial. I can perform automations on the data, such as moving hot data and cold data, and I can select storage based on performance. The security provided by Microsoft around Microsoft Azure Block Storage is a very good function. The replication feature in Microsoft Azure Block Storage is a very good function. The analytic capabilities of Microsoft Azure Block Storage can help optimize resources. I usually work with a third-party tool; our data analytics team uses some custom-made tools for analytics data and dashboards, so we do not use the Microsoft dashboard; we are using a third-party dashboard. It is very easy to manage Microsoft Azure Block Storage. If you have good knowledge of it, it is very easy to manage. Microsoft Azure Block Storage service is a very good, 100% reliable service. It is highly scalable, and performance-wise and reliability-wise, it does not go down. It provides 99.9% uptime without downtime, so it is a very good feature. The backup and restoration efficiency of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is good.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Educational Organization
6%
Construction Company
17%
Marketing Services Firm
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise14
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise25
 

Questions from the Community

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...
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-...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Block Storage?
For improvement in Microsoft Azure Block Storage, they can provide tiered level storages, maybe low-cost storages for storing archive data, but it is already there. I do not think there is much to ...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Azure Block Storage?
I am using Microsoft Azure Block Storage for file sharing, automation accounts, data storage, and archiving, and those are the main use cases.
 

Also Known As

NetApp ANF, ANF
MS Azure Block Storage
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

SAP, Restaurant Magic
Mazda, BlinkBox, Rakuten Showtime, Xbox One, Serko, ChronoDrive
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure NetApp Files vs. Microsoft Azure Block Storage and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,644 professionals have used our research since 2012.