IT consultant at a sports company with 201-500 employees
Consultant
Top 20
Great gearing feature and sufficiently scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution has a valuable gearing feature."
  • "Customer support could be improved, it can be difficult getting appropriate support."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case is for long-term backup. We are customers of Microsoft.

What is most valuable?

Gearing is a very useful feature and the most valuable one for us. 

What needs improvement?

The technical support could be improved and the price could be more flexible for clients. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for 10 years. 

Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure Block Storage
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Azure Block Storage. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
769,976 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable enough for our needs. We have around 200 users and are a small to medium-sized company. 

How are customer service and support?

When I get hold of the right person in customer support, the service is good. But it's sometimes difficult to get to that because there are so many departments and different support teams that it's difficult to find the right queue. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is simple for me because I have a lot of experience. There are some frustrating elements with the solution that require the updating of PowerShell modules each day and that requires a lot of work. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Moving from a lower tier to a higher tier license requires additional payment and is expensive. When you have some Block Store in the archive tier and you want to get it back to the hot or cold tier, it's too expensive.

What other advice do I have?

I rate this solution eight out of 10. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
System & Security Engineer at Connex Information Technologies
Real User
Provides backup storage on our on-premise backup
Pros and Cons
  • "We use this solution for backup storage on our on-premise backup."
  • "There are capacity limitations that could be expanded."

What is our primary use case?

This solution is integrated to the backup console, so there's no user interaction. We're using Azure Block Storage as our second copy storage.

We're working as a distributor.

What is most valuable?

We use this solution for backup storage on our on-premise backup.

What needs improvement?

There are capacity limitations that could be expanded.

When freeing the backup capacity on our disk, we have to create another block storage and integrate with that. The limitations may be an issue with the customer.

It should be more flexible for customers. For example, if a customer needs 10TB of capacity, it should be flexible for the customer to expand to that capacity.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There are some limitations when it comes to the capacity and scalability.

How was the initial setup?

Installation is simple. You don't need an integrator or consultant for setup.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We compared this solution with AWS S3. It mostly works like object storage.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution 9 out of 10.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure Block Storage
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Azure Block Storage. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
769,976 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Software Engineer
Real User
Stable storage solution with excellent support
Pros and Cons
  • "This is a very stable solution."
  • "I would like for the next release to replace the CDN being used for content delivery, there is currently a rather long delay."

What is our primary use case?

We have Azure Block Storage because we heavily use image and video files in our application for our data. We are able to store and download them from our web application to view images and stream/playback videos.

What is most valuable?

This is a very stable solution.

What needs improvement?

I would like for the next release to replace the CDN being used for content delivery, there is currently a rather long delay.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for more than four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have not had any issues regarding the stability thus far.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This is a scalable solution. We have twelve people using Azure at our company with over four thousand end users

How are customer service and support?

Microsoft support is really amazing. We got feedback quickly, almost within twenty four hours.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was easy. All I needed to do was create an account and begin configuration.

What about the implementation team?

I was able to complete the setup myself and it took all but thirty minutes.

What other advice do I have?

Note that if you plan to use Azure, you will need to create an account with AWS.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Chief System Architect at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
Real User
Top 5
Flexible, useful action triggers, and easy implementation
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features of Microsoft Azure Block Storage are flexibility and the possibility to trigger actions."
  • "The stability of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is good but could improve."

What is our primary use case?

Microsoft Azure Block Storage is used for data storage.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of Microsoft Azure Block Storage are flexibility and the possibility to trigger actions.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Azure Block Storage for approximately one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is good but could improve.

I rate the stability of Microsoft Azure Block Storage an eight out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Microsoft Azure Block Storage is scalable. The scalability is based on the subscription parameters.

We have a few hundred users using this solution in my organization.

How are customer service and support?

I have not used the support from Microsoft Azure Block Storage. However, I know others who have and they are good.

I rate the support from Microsoft Azure Block Storage a four out of five.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is easy.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is less expensive than other solutions on the market, such as Cloud Storage from GCP.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated other solutions before purchasing Microsoft Azure Block Storage, such as Cloud Storage from GCP. Based on our experience and our project, the solution is very similar.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Microsoft Azure Block Storage an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Consultant
Easily accessible and good for archiving data, but expensive to use
Pros and Cons
  • "You can easily access your data whenever you need it."
  • "Uploading of data could be improved. Currently, the only way you can upload your data is by using their storage explorer. You need to use a command line to do that. Then, maybe you can go online and you can use their explorer to check to see if it's there. If they had a third-party application to handle the upload, it would be better. Many people aren't familiar with command lines for uploading data. It makes it more difficult for many users."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for migration to restore data and to help us migrate to other systems. I do occasionally also use it as a backup, but not very often. Mostly, it's used for migration and we installed Microsoft on it. We store it in the cloud and migrate everything over.

What is most valuable?

The solution offers tiers of storage, depending on what we want to do. 

If I want to store my data for a very long period of time and I know that I'm going to archive it, I just do the archive.

You can easily access your data whenever you need it.

What needs improvement?

Uploading of data could be improved. Currently, the only way you can upload your data is by using their storage explorer. You need to use a command line to do that. Then, maybe you can go online and you can use their explorer to check to see if it's there. If they had a third-party application to handle the upload, it would be better. Many people aren't familiar with command lines for uploading data. It makes it more difficult for many users.

The pricing is a bit high.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for a year or two.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable. I'd say it's 99.9% stable. Microsoft is very good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I believe it is possible to scale the solution, although I haven't tried to yet personally.

How are customer service and technical support?

It's been a long time since I've contacted technical support, but I did reach out once when I was having latency issues. I contacted them and they were able to resolve the issue. When you reach out to them for assistance, they call you immediately.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I didn't previously use a different solution. My email was hosted on Microsoft, so I moved to Azure.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. It's not very complicated. We handled the deployment in stages. It took, at maximum, just over a week.

What about the implementation team?

We handled the implementation ourselves.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is pay-as-you-go, so it runs on credit. The more storage a company has, the more they pay. If you are putting data into an archive, it doesn't cost too much, but if you need to access it, the price may be a bit high.

What other advice do I have?

I'm a Microsoft partner and I deploy the solution for other customers.

Currently, I'm the only user on the solution. I don't use it every day; I use it only when I need to.

The solution is quite good and is easy to integrate with other systems, You can also integrate it as a backup for your recordings.

It's also easily accessible and, because it's on the cloud, it doesn't matter where your current location is. It allows for easy replication of data on different levels. 

For these reasons, I'd recommend the product. I'd rate the solution seven out of ten. It's a bit expensive. If it was more reasonably priced I'd rate it higher.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Database Administrator at a pharma/biotech company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
It's a reasonable price for what we're getting
Pros and Cons
  • "We can use Azure Block Storage for some of our bigger files."
  • "Azure Block Storage could use more capacity."

What is our primary use case?

We use Azure Block Storage as the secure backup destination for data from on-premise sources and also from cloud services. I backup files from SQL to Azure Block Storage and restore from Azure when needed.

What is most valuable?

We can use Azure Block Storage for some of our bigger files. 

What needs improvement?

Azure Block Storage could use more capacity.

For how long have I used the solution?

We started using Azure Block Storage in 2020.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

So far, so good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Azure Block Storage is scalable enough to meet the needs of our company of 1,000 employees.

How are customer service and support?

We had a minor issue with Block Storage, but we never opened a ticket with Microsoft support.

How was the initial setup?

Setting up Block Storage is simple. We handled it ourselves, and it only took around an hour. After deployment, all the maintenance is done by the provider.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I think Azure Block Storage is a reasonable price for the amount of storage we're getting. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate Azure Block Storage eight out of 10. I like that I don't need much technical experience. I always recommend Azure Block Storage to other companies that already used Azure. -

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Information Systems Manager at a non-tech company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Good scaling and very good management features but very expensive
Pros and Cons
  • "The scalability of the solution is good."
  • "Technical support needs improvement."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for backup and replication.

What is most valuable?

The solution's most valuable features are its usability, scalability, and management, which is really easy. It is not a heavy product either. 

What needs improvement?

The biggest problem with Azure is the price. It's cost too high.

Technical support needs improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution since 2014.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of the solution is good.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is not really excellent. It's not easy to speak with the right level of engineer directly. We need to wait for a first level and then wait again to be moved to a higher level. The tiered system they use slows down the responsiveness.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Above licensing, Azure does have extra costs, which makes the solution rather pricey.

What other advice do I have?

We use the cloud deployment model.

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Co-Founder at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Real User
The data lake is invaluable and it has a smooth setup
Pros and Cons
  • "The data lake is invaluable. We also use Microsoft SQL in terms of structuring the data and getting into a position where it could be useful to support reporting. We Databricks for data science. We incorporated Databricks with that as well."
  • "In terms of improvement, it could use better integration with non-propriety tools. Azure pushes you down a data factory road for integrations but data factory isn't always a scalable, viable solution, particularly when using large numbers ofconnections to IoT solutions."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case is for the creation of a data lake, which was looking at unstructured predominantly in big data storage, it is looking at an economical solution. This was then used in conjunction with an SAP BW solution pulling and using SAP data hub to thencreate a single ecosystem of data.

What is most valuable?

The data lake is invaluable. We also use Microsoft SQL in terms of structuring the data and getting into a position where it could be useful to support reporting. We use Databricks for data science. We incorporated Databricks with that as well.

What needs improvement?

In terms of improvement, it could use better integration with non-propriety tools. Azure pushes you down a data factory road for integrations but data factory isn't always a scalable, viable solution, particularly when using large numbers ofconnections to IoT solutions. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Azure Block Storage for around a year. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We don't have any issues with stability. 

How are customer service and technical support?

I haven't needed to contact customer support. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was smooth and straightforward. The deployment took very little time. The main time frame taken was on the SAP side. We put SAP on the Azure cloud which took some time. 

What other advice do I have?

I would rate it an eight out of ten. 

Think about your file structure to make sure you get it right. Management of the business is important because if the business starts pushing data into it in can turn into a data swamp.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Azure Block Storage Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Azure Block Storage Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.