Azure NetApp Files: The Premier Cloud-Based File Storage Solution for Enterprise Workloads

Authors

Venkata Raman Immidisetti

Abstract

In the evolving landscape of cloud storage, organizations seek high-performance, scalable, and secure file storage solutions that integrate with enterprise workloads. Microsoft Azure offers multiple storage services, including Azure NetApp Files (ANF) and Azure Files. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of Azure NetApp Files, examining its architecture, performance benchmarks, security features, and enterprise integration capabilities. By comparing ANF with Azure Files and Azure Blob Storage, this study highlights ANF's advantages in handling latency-sensitive, high-throughput workloads such as SAP HANA, High-Performance Computing (HPC), AI/ML applications, and large-scale database workloads. The study explores ANF's key attributes, including sub-millisecond latency, dynamic scalability, cross-region replication, data encryption, and support for multi-protocol access (NFSv3, NFSv4.1, and SMB). Unlike Azure Files, optimized for general-purpose workloads, file sharing, and application logs, ANF is tailored for mission-critical applications demanding enterprise-grade performance and data protection. The comparative evaluation illustrates ANF's superior input/output operations per second (IOPS), higher throughput, and advanced management capabilities, making it the preferred choice for businesses requiring low-latency and high-availability storage solutions. This paper assesses ANF's cost-effectiveness, demonstrating how its performance-oriented pricing model benefits organizations needing dynamic resource allocation and optimized storage efficiency. Through an extensive discussion of ANF's real-world applicability, security compliance (HIPAA, GDPR, FedRAMP), and integration with Azure services, this paper establishes Azure NetApp Files as the premier storage solution for enterprises aiming to modernize their IT infrastructure with resilient, cloud-based file storage.

Keywords

Azure NetApp Files: The Premier Cloud-Based File Storage Solution for Enterprise Workloads. Venkata Raman Immidisetti. 2023. IJIRCT, Volume 9, Issue 2. Pages 1-7. https://www.ijirct.org/viewPaper.php?paperId=2503034