Archiving Files in Azure files

Question

Are there build in features in Azure Files to archive file or move file to another place for archiving purpose. for example, if a file is untouched for certain period of time, the file will be moved to blob storage for long term storage. It is cost saving and also improve Azure Files performance.

Answer 1

Azure Files itself doesn't have a built-in feature to archive files to Blob storage automatically

However, you can use Azure Blob storage lifecycle management policies

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/blobs/lifecycle-management-overview

To achieve this you can some workflow like this

start with azure function (you can run daily) to list files in Azure Files and check their last modified date and transfer those files to Blob Storage

then you can configure a lifecycle management policy to move archived files to a cooler storage tier

Answer 2

@Gary Zhou

Additional to lifecycle management policies as shared by Sedat above,

You can also use Azure Data Factory to create pipelines that move files from Azure Files to Blob Storage. This can be set up to run on a schedule or triggered by specific events.

You can provide your feedback/feature request here for the product team: https://feedback.azure.com/d365community/forum/a8bb4a47-3525-ec11-b6e6-000d3a4f0f84

Answer 3

Thanks for your answers.

I did research, somebody mentioned this feature online, does anybody know Microsoft is working on this feature?