File sync between multiple sync groups

Question

A customer has a common share for 3 regions.

Each region has a sync group in a separate subscription with a separate storage account and fileshare.The front-end access to users is a DFS N path.

When a user from one region uses the share, he gets that region specific DFS server and path (as configured from AD sites/services). The updates made by the user in one eregion is not reflected in other regions and vice versa.

What is a possible setup for this scenario so the customer can get the files in sync between the 3 regions? Is there any possibility to have file synchronization between the 3 sync groups?

Answer 1

Hi Otilia Zverchea,

Thanks for the interesting question. I would certainly recommend you to have Azure File Sync. In a scenario, since you have distributed file shares across multiple regions and want to keep them in sync, Azure File Sync is a suitable solution. Azure File Sync allows you to sync file shares across multiple servers and locations.

You can try out these below steps:

Ensure you are Setting up Azure File Sync for each region. This involves installing the Azure File Sync agent on servers in each region. Create a sync group for each region in the Azure portal. By that Each region has its own Azure Storage Account and Azure File Share.

Post these steps, Configure DFS Namespace to provide a single, unified namespace for users. DFS can be set up to use multiple targets (one for each region) where DFS Namespace ensures that users are directed to the appropriate region based on their location.

Ensure that AD Sites and Services are correctly configured to associate each DFS target with the appropriate AD site. This will make sure that users are directed to the closest DFS target based on their location.

Once all these steps are done, Configure Azure File Sync to replicate changes between the on-premises file servers and Azure File Shares. Make sure that it is set up in bi-directional sync for each sync group, so that the changes made in one region are propagated to the other regions.

You can find more in-detail steps of how to deploy the Azure File Sync as below link

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/file-sync/file-sync-deployment-guide?tabs=azure-portal%2Cproactive-portal

Please refer the below link to know more about the Azure File sync

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/file-sync/file-sync-introduction.

I assume that your setup is not entirely in the cloud without on-premises servers as Azure File Sync is designed for scenarios where you have an on-premises file server infrastructure. If its the case, we need to explore on the different ways. Please comment below if that's the case and I would be happy to help.

Please try out these steps and check if there any solution to it. Hope this answer helps you with solution! Please comment below if you need any assistance on the same. Happy to help!

Regards,

Chakravarthi Rangarajan Bhargavi

-Please kindly accept the answer and vote 'Yes' if you feel helpful to support the community, thanks a lot.

Answer 2

@Otilia Zverchea Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Forum, Thank you for posting your query here!

To keep the files in sync between the three regions, you can use Azure File Sync to synchronize the files between the three sync groups.

Azure File Sync is a cloud-based file synchronization service that enables you to synchronize files between multiple locations. With Azure File Sync, you can create a central cloud-based file share that is accessible from multiple locations, and you can synchronize the files between the cloud-based file share and the local file shares at each location.

To set up Azure File Sync for your scenario, you can follow these steps:

1. Create a new storage account and file share in the same region as your DFS server.
2. Install the Azure File Sync agent on each of the servers in the three regions.
3. Create a sync group for each region in the Azure portal, and add the local file share for each region to the corresponding sync group.
4. Configure the cloud endpoint for each sync group to point to the new storage account and file share that you created in step 1.
5. Enable cloud tiering for each sync group to reduce the amount of data stored locally.
6. Configure DFS to point to the cloud endpoint for each sync group.

With this setup, the files will be synchronized between the three regions using Azure File Sync. When a user in one region makes changes to a file, the changes will be synchronized to the cloud-based file share, and then to the local file shares in the other regions. This will ensure that the files are kept in sync between the three regions.

Note that Azure File Sync is a paid service, and you will be charged based on the amount of data stored and transferred. You can check the pricing details in the Azure portal or Billing and Subscription team would be the best to provide more insight and guidance on this scenario: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/support/options/ it's free, and it's the best choice for you.

Please let us know if you have any further queries. I’m happy to assist you further.     

---

Please do not forget to "Accept the answer” and “up-vote” wherever the information provided helps you, this can be beneficial to other community members.

Answer 3

Any answer for this multiple region file sync?