Best way to transfer large data from Azure Storage to Azure VM — is FTP recommended?

Question

Best way to transfer large data from Azure Storage to Azure VM — is FTP recommended?

Osama AlGhamdi 0

Hi,

I have a database server (VM) hosted on Azure, and I need to transfer a large data from the backup to my computer.

Many people have suggested using the FTP protocol for the transfer, but I'm not sure about the best way to implement this.

Could you please advise on the recommended approach and how to do it properly?

Thanks.

1 answer

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Answer 1

Abiola Akinbade 27,530 Moderator

No, this is not recommended. FTP lacks encryption by default, and it doesn’t scale well for large transfers or automation.

Have you considered azCopy? https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/common/storage-use-azcopy-v10?tabs=dnf

It's built to handle large files and large numbers of files efficiently. With Azcopy you can use SAS tokens or entra for authentication

If the large backup file is only on the VM's attached disk and not already in Azure Storage, then azcopy is not the direct tool to get it from the VM disk to your local computer. In this case, you would use standard file transfer methods from the VM maybe a fileshare first then you can then use azCopy

You can mark it 'Accept Answer' and 'Upvote' if this helped you

Regards,

Abiola

Osama AlGhamdi 0 Reputation points

2025-04-30T11:30:02.4933333+00:00

This tool can help transfer the VM data from Azure to my computer directly? "This is the point"
Smaran Thoomu 23,345 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-05-02T07:32:30.8366667+00:00
Hi @Osama AlGhamdi

To clarify your point: AzCopy does not transfer files directly from an Azure VM's local disk to your computer. Instead, it's designed to transfer data between Azure Storage and other locations, such as your local machine or another storage account.

Recommended Approach:

If your backup file currently resides on the VM's local disk, here's a recommended two-step approach:

From VM to Azure Storage:

Use a secure method like AzCopy or Azure File Sync to upload the data from your VM to an Azure Storage account (e.g., Blob or File storage).

Example:

azcopy copy "C:\Backups\mybackup.bak" "https://<storageaccount>.blob.core.windows.net/<container>?<SAS>" --recursive

From Azure Storage to Your Local Computer:

Use AzCopy again on your local machine to download the file from the storage account to your computer.

This method avoids exposing your VM directly over insecure protocols like FTP and leverages Azure-native tools optimized for large data transfers.
Hope this helps. Do let us know if you any further queries.

If this answers your query, do click Accept Answer and Yes for was this answer helpful. And, if you have any further query do let us know.
Krupal Bandari 420 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-05-05T01:00:10.3+00:00

Hi @Abiola Akinbade
Following up to see if the above answer was helpful. If this answers your query, do click Accept Answer and Yes for was this answer helpful. And, if you have any further query do let us know.
Krupal Bandari 420 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-05-06T00:31:02.6866667+00:00

Hi @Abiola Akinbade (Tek Experts)
Following up to see if the above answer was helpful. If this answers your query, do click Accept Answer and Yes for was this answer helpful. And, if you have any further query do let us know.

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Best way to transfer large data from Azure Storage to Azure VM — is FTP recommended?

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