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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 boosts performance, eases deployment, reduces downtime, and optimizes costs, despite higher initial expenses than on-premises.
Sentiment score
7.5
Organizations reduced costs significantly using Azure Block Storage, enhancing data protection, reliability, and ROI with promising long-term benefits.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.4
Azure NetApp Files receives mixed feedback on support, praised for integration and ease, but some users seek more specialized assistance.
Sentiment score
5.2
Microsoft Azure Block Storage support is variable, with response times and quality depending on support tiers and payment levels.
They have top-notch people.
The response time for enterprise support needs improvement.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Azure NetApp Files is scalable, flexible, and cost-effective for large setups, but pricing concerns exist for smaller setups.
Sentiment score
7.7
Microsoft Azure Block Storage is highly scalable and flexible, automatically adjusting to data increases, though some report capacity limits.
The ability to scale is well-supported.
It is a significant advantage of the product.
Block Storage allows for extensive scaling, and I can scale it to as much as I want.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.4
Azure NetApp Files is rated highly for stability due to its reliability and consistency under increased workloads and migrations.
Sentiment score
7.9
Many users praise Microsoft Azure Block Storage's stability, though some larger customers report occasional availability and regional reliability issues.
Overall, the stability is very good.
The stability of block storage could be rated as nine out of ten.
I rate the stability as ten out of ten.
 

Room For Improvement

Azure NetApp Files needs improved features, cost efficiency, easier deployment, regional integration, and strengthened security to meet user demands.
Microsoft Azure Block Storage needs better pricing transparency, user support, integration, documentation, and improvements in performance, scalability, and security.
I would like for them to have more compression so that it can avoid using more storage.
Its compatibility with various platforms could be enhanced to allow for a seamless operation across different cloud environments.
Some alternatives are cheaper and available for long trial periods before the payment.
Support is an area where improvements can be made, particularly in response time for enterprise support.
 

Setup Cost

Azure NetApp Files pricing is premium yet justified by features like management, scalability, and flexible licensing options.
Microsoft Azure Block Storage offers scalable, moderately priced solutions with pay-as-you-go pricing influenced by tier and data access frequency.
It is expensive, especially with NetApp Ultra Storage.
For medium-sized companies, especially when discussing cost and scalability, it can be quite expensive.
It is reasonable, however, it can be cheaper.
It is pay-as-you-go, related to the size and usage of the storage.
 

Valuable Features

Azure NetApp Files enhances performance, scalability, and management with integrated features for backup, recovery, and seamless Azure integration.
Azure Block Storage provides scalable, secure, and cost-effective storage with seamless integration, redundancy, easy management, and flexible APIs.
The most valuable feature is that the sixty-terabyte database snapshot can be done in less than two to three minutes.
The tool allows me to download to my device, control access, and manage data with ease.
I can store data, use the storage account as a queue, and the pricing is also quite economical.
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.
 

Categories and Ranking

Azure NetApp Files
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Migration (2nd), Cloud Storage (7th)
Microsoft Azure Block Storage
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
11th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of Azure NetApp Files is 7.2%, up from 7.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is 0.8%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Public Cloud Storage Services
 

Featured Reviews

AjayKumar13 - PeerSpot reviewer
Fast, reliable, and helps meet our SLAs
The most valuable feature is that the sixty-terabyte database snapshot can be done in less than two to three minutes. It is faster. It is quicker. It is reliable. You don't need to take the snapshot. Snapshots are compressed. It doesn't take storage from the back end. It takes three minutes to do sixty terabytes of the database. You don't have to go to the tape and store it outside, which takes hours and hours. It also uses a lot less of the storage. It's very easy to restore or copy the snapshots to other locations for disaster recovery. There are a lot of benefits. In terms of the snapshot's rapid restore capability, we were testing the load of performance testing, and we needed to rebuild the DR site. If I need to rebuild the DR for a standby database, it takes sixty terabytes to copy onto the another site, which will take at least a day. Now, the snapshot is easy. We just copy the snapshots, and then we do the cross-region application. The snapshots came along with that, and that's where we were able to build the DR site within a few hours rather than days. All together, instead of a four-day process, instead of a day.
MatsHagberg Olsson2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Empowers secure data management with affordable tools and minimal hassle
The most valuable feature is that it's very affordable in comparison to competitors. The absolute best feature is the Azure Storage Explorer tool. The tool allows me to download to my device, control access, and manage data with ease. Additionally, the joint use of Azure portal further facilitates management depending on my location.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
30%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 do you like most about Azure NetApp Files?
The availability is good, meaning downtime or network issues rarely occur. The system also offers flexibility, allowing for increases in data volume, IOPS, and other capabilities without requiring ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure NetApp Files?
The solution's competitors like Oracle or Amazon are not cheap either. I think we're paying two million dollars for Azure NetApp Files. On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is exp...
What do you like most about Microsoft Azure Block Storage?
We use the solution to develop SaaS platforms on Azure. We utilize various Microsoft components like block storage and databases for this purpose.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Block Storage?
Pricing could be rated as eight out of ten. It is reasonable, however, it can be cheaper.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Block Storage?
At the moment, I do not have anything specific in mind for improvements. The most important thing for me is accessibility and easy provisioning to multiple servers with different vendors.
 

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: March 2025.
847,772 professionals have used our research since 2012.