AZ-104 Certification Notes

Chapter 8.14 - Azure Files Use Cases

Azure Files - Use Cases

• Use Cases
  • Completely replace or supplement on-premises file servers Network Attach Storage (NAS) devices
  • Lift-and-Shift your on-premise storage to the cloud via Classic Lift or Hybrid Lift
    • "Lift-and-Shift" means when you move workloads without rearchitecting, e.g. importing local VMs to the cloud
    • Classic Lift - Where both the application and its data are moved to Azure
    • Hybrid Lift - Where the application is moved to Azure Files, and the application continues to run on-premises
  • Simplify cloud development
    • Shared application settings - Multiple VMs and developer workstations need to access the same config files
    • Diagnostic share - All VMs log to the file share, developers can mount and debug all logs in a centralized place
    • Dev/Test/Debug - Quickly share tools for developer needed for local environments
  • Containerization
    • You can use Azure Files to persist volumes for stateful containers

Why use Azure files instead of setting up your own File Share server?

• Shared Access - Already setup to work with standard networking protocols SMB and NFS
• Fully managed - It's kept up to date with security patches, designed to scale
• Scripting and Tooling - You can automate the management and creation of file shared with Azure API and PowerShell
• Resiliency - Build to be durable and always working

Practice Quiz

• Which Azure File Use Case is where both the application and its data are moved to Azure?

  • Diagnostic share
  • Classic Lift
  • Fully managed
  • Containerization

• Which Azure File Use Case is when multiple VMs and developer workstations need to access the same config files?

  • Containerization
  • Classic Lift
  • Shared application settings
  • Dev/Test/Debug

• Which advantage of Azure files over setting up your own File Share server is its already setup to work with standard networking protocols SMB and NFS?

  • Shared Access
  • Resiliency
  • Scripting and Tooling
  • Fully managed

• What is Lift-and-Shift (Azure Files)?

  • A Lift-and-Shift is when you move workloads without rearchitecting, eg. importing local VMs to the cloud.

• In Azure Files, what is the process where the application data is moved to Azure Files, and the application continues to run on-premises?

  • Hybrid Lift