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Azure NetApp Files vs Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) 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
6.6
Nutanix Unified Storage boosts financial efficiency with up to 50% cost savings through improved management, productivity, and centralized security.
For me, the biggest return on investment when using this solution is that we do not have to have much support staff to run it.
Senior Manager, IT Infrastructure & Support at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
The scalability challenge with previous systems is lessened with Nutanix since we can expand by adding new hardware without needing migrations.
Infrastructure Architect & Manager at a real estate/law firm with 201-500 employees
We are saving approximately 20% to 25% compared with the competition.
Global of Central Computing IT Operations Head at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
 

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
7.6
Nutanix Unified Storage support is highly praised for responsiveness and effectiveness, though complex scenarios may need improvement.
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
They come on the call, start troubleshooting immediately, and resolve issues effectively.
Senior System Administrator at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
They are very knowledgeable, and if they can't solve the problem, they find the answer within a day or so.
Manager, System Engineering at a mining and metals company with 10,001+ employees
I would give the customer service and technical support a ten out of ten.
PreSales at IKUSI
 

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
7.7
Nutanix Unified Storage offers seamless scalability and integration, allowing efficient management of enterprise workloads and storage expansion.
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
This means you don't have to buy everything upfront; you can buy what you need and add more as you grow, which is advantageous.
Sales engineer at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
These three components utilize scalability tools, enabling storage addition to nodes and supporting independent, linear performance growth.
System Engineer at Tata Consultancy
I find the scalability of Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) to be excellent, and I would rate it a ten based on my clients' requirements.
Technical Lead at Cognizant
 

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
8.0
Nutanix Unified Storage is highly stable and reliable, with minor bugs swiftly fixed and no major update disruptions.
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
We have not experienced these issues with Nutanix, which I attribute to the all-flash technology, the quality of their platform, and the responsiveness of the hyper-converged infrastructure.
System Administrator II at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) is very stable.
Senior System Administrator at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
It automatically triggers tasks, causing performance issues.
Nutanix Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

Azure NetApp Files needs enhanced disaster recovery, cost-effective pricing, improved support, and broader regional availability to boost user adoption.
Nutanix Unified Storage faces implementation challenges, needing interface, security, and integration improvements, with concerns over licensing and support.
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
The main concern is pricing, which could deter some customers; addressing this would enhance its appeal.
Senior Solution Software Engineer at Gigamon
The system should move towards AI-driven optimization and enhance S3 object storage capabilities.
Corporate Trainer at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
System downtime can disturb the entire ecosystem and impact all applications.
System Engineer at Tata Consultancy
 

Setup Cost

Azure NetApp Files is costly with a four-terabyte minimum, but its premium features compete with Oracle and Amazon.
Nutanix Unified Storage is cost-efficient, reducing operational costs, though setup can be complex and renewal costs high.
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
Compared to buying three or four vendor solutions, it is much cheaper.
Senior Manager, IT Infrastructure & Support at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
The cost has doubled for the same amount of data, which was a challenge when presenting use case justifications for the increased cost.
Infrastructure Architect & Manager at a real estate/law firm with 201-500 employees
Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) has definitely helped reduce our total cost of ownership.
Information Technology Managed Services Provider at SCE
 

Valuable Features

Azure NetApp Files excels in performance, integration, and scalability, providing high redundancy, data protection, and efficient storage solutions.
Nutanix Unified Storage simplifies management with AI, cybersecurity, high availability, cost-effectiveness, and improved performance across environments.
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
Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) is appreciated for its fault tolerance and redundancy at the cluster level, which ensures reliable storage of files, folders, and other information accessible on the client side.
Nutanix Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The cybersecurity features of Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) when dealing with unstructured data, such as ransomware threats, provide the ability to detect and back up block-based storage, allowing me to restore repositories or sets of block storage with one button click, which is automatic.
Network Engineer at Alabama A & M University
My experience with using Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) for data-intensive workloads is that we have many SQL Servers and they perform much better than they did when we used hybrid converged previously.
Senior Manager, IT Infrastructure & Support at a tech services company with 501-1,000 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)
Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS)
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
3rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
121
Ranking in other categories
All-Flash Storage (7th), Software Defined Storage (SDS) (2nd), File and Object Storage (3rd), NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays (4th)
 

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 Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) is 3.0%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Public Cloud Storage Services Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS)3.0%
Azure NetApp Files4.1%
Other92.9%
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.
Amarnath Charugundla - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at Tata Consultancy
Unified management and cost-effectiveness lead to positive experiences and future savings
Improvement is necessary wherein the memory or storage should not breach 90%, because if breached, it becomes unmanageable. We have to set alerts or CPU triggering for 95% for the first warning. Other activities on nodes or file systems should be properly maintained. We must monitor the dashboard for P1, P2 alerts in the Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) file share system including SMB, NFS, objects, and blocks. Attention should be maintained for any alerts such as CPU, memory, and RAM alerts, as exceeding these creates issues within teams. If triggered to 95% and forgotten, it crosses the SLA breach, causing disturbances to application, web, and platform teams. Continuous monitoring on the Nutanix dashboard is essential. Even a highly experienced person in Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) cannot provide a 10 rating out of 10 because it is a vast system. I would rate it eight from my perspective.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Educational Organization
6%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
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 Business32
Midsize Enterprise31
Large Enterprise69
 

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 Nutanix Unified Storage?
The pricing for Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) is subscription-based with capacity-based licensing and has moderate to high setup complexity depending on the size of the environment. Costs depend on...
What needs improvement with Nutanix Unified Storage?
One area for improvement I noticed while using Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) is expanding advanced analytics and predictive capacity planning capabilities to help administrators make even better lo...
What advice do you have for others considering Nutanix Unified Storage?
My advice for others looking into using Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) is to clearly understand your storage requirements before implementation and evaluate current and future needs for file, object...
 

Also Known As

NetApp ANF, ANF
Nutanix Files Storage, Nutanix Volumes Block Storage, Nutanix Objects Storage
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

SAP, Restaurant Magic
JetBlue, International Speedway Corporation, Volkswagen SAIC, Brighton and Hove City Council, Foresters Financial, Janus International Group, Cloud Comrade, Serco
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure NetApp Files vs. Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,838 professionals have used our research since 2012.