File sync and On Prem Windows Server Storage Requirements

Question

With Azure Storage File Sync does the on premises server that it is synching with have to have direct attached storage or can it be iSCSI or even a network drive to a NAS?

Answer 1

Hi @James Bourne ,

Azure File Sync transforms Windows Server into a quick cache of your Azure file share. You can use any protocol that's available on Windows Server to access your data locally, including SMB, NFS, and FTPS.

Note: A server endpoint represents a specific location on a registered server, such as a folder on a server volume. A server endpoint must be a path on a registered server (rather than a mounted share), and to use cloud tiering, the path must be on a non-system volume. Network attached storage (NAS) is not supported.

For more information, see:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/files/storage-sync-files-deployment-guide?tabs=azure-portal

For migrating from NAS, refer to the documentation below:

Migrate from Network Attached Storage (NAS) to a hybrid cloud deployment with Azure File Sync
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/files/storage-files-migration-nas-hybrid

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Best regards,
Leon

Answer 2

@James Bourne Just for clarification: Have you referred to this article:https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/files/storage-sync-files-planning

Azure File Sync works on Direct Attached Storage (DAS) locations and does not support sync to Network Attached Storage (NAS) locations. This fact makes a migration of your files necessary and this article guides you through the planning and execution of such a migration. See here Migrate from Network Attached Storage (NAS) to a hybrid cloud deployment with Azure File Sync

Direct attached storage, or DAS, on Windows Server means that the Windows Server operating system owns the file system. DAS can be provided through physically attaching disks to the file server, attaching virtual disks to a file server VM (such as a VM hosted by Hyper-V), or even through ISCSI.

Only NTFS volumes are supported; ReFS, FAT, FAT32, and other file systems are not supported.

Hope this helps!

Kindly let us know if the above helps or you need further assistance on this issue.

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