macOS using Azure Files - updated files are slow to show

Question

macOS using Azure Files - updated files are slow to show

Mark Simonds 1

We have a customer using storage account with files shares which are connecting to both macOS and Windows machines.

Users on macOS are reporting they do not see the latest version of folder share with files, windows users can see all files.

If windows users save file to share it shows... mac users may see the folder update 20 mins later while others have to force quit finder and reconnect.

Win10 machine
macOS 10.14 + 11.4

have tried different locations for mac users and same issue so not local network related.

Any suggestions on fixes?

Michael Dyrhauge 1 Reputation point

2022-08-10T14:23:31.207+00:00

Did any of you manage to solve this for MacOS? We're considering implementing Azure Files for a mixed OS environment (Windows AND MacOS). Would be helpful to know if you found a solution.

Thanks,
Michael
Mark Simonds 1 Reputation point

2022-08-10T14:33:14.123+00:00

Hi MichaelDyrhauge-2739,

We did, it was due to Apple OS Version below but also due to SMB Multichannel being enabled in error on the Share.

After speaking with the correct MS Support team and having them review many logs they found this was the cause.

·
Michael Dyrhauge 1 Reputation point

2022-08-10T14:43:29.537+00:00

Thank you very much for the quick reply. Much appreciated. We will proceed with proof of concept!
Deepika Sharma 0 Reputation points

2024-02-27T02:42:37.92+00:00

We too are trying to implement Azure files and have mixed OS (Windows and Mac). We are having issues with keeping the azure file share connected on mac OS (works fine with Windows). On Mac devices, the share disappears when the device is rebooted. We got in touch with MS support and they mentioned that Azure file share rely on SMB port in order to function, so it needs at least one SMB port enabled. How do we make it work without the SMB?

3 answers

Your answer

Michael Dyrhauge 1 Reputation point

2022-08-10T14:23:31.207+00:00

Did any of you manage to solve this for MacOS? We're considering implementing Azure Files for a mixed OS environment (Windows AND MacOS). Would be helpful to know if you found a solution.

Thanks,
Michael
Mark Simonds 1 Reputation point

2022-08-10T14:33:14.123+00:00

Hi MichaelDyrhauge-2739,

We did, it was due to Apple OS Version below but also due to SMB Multichannel being enabled in error on the Share.

After speaking with the correct MS Support team and having them review many logs they found this was the cause.

·
Michael Dyrhauge 1 Reputation point

2022-08-10T14:43:29.537+00:00

Thank you very much for the quick reply. Much appreciated. We will proceed with proof of concept!
Deepika Sharma 0 Reputation points

2024-02-27T02:42:37.92+00:00

We too are trying to implement Azure files and have mixed OS (Windows and Mac). We are having issues with keeping the azure file share connected on mac OS (works fine with Windows). On Mac devices, the share disappears when the device is rebooted. We got in touch with MS support and they mentioned that Azure file share rely on SMB port in order to function, so it needs at least one SMB port enabled. How do we make it work without the SMB?

Answer 1

Sumarigo-MSFT 47,466 Microsoft Employee Moderator

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

One possible cause of slow performance is disabled caching. Caching can be useful if you are accessing a file repeatedly, otherwise, it can be an overhead. Check if you are using the cache before disabling it. Slow performance on an Azure file share mounted on a Linux VM

This article lists some common problems related to Azure file shares. It provides potential causes and workarounds for when you encounter these problems: Troubleshoot Azure file shares performance issues

This problem occurs because the SMB client sometimes has the option to delay certain network operations to improve overall I/O performance by using cached results or cached handles to remote files. This includes caching handles to remote files after applications have closed their handles to the files.

In some scenarios that involve I/O-intensive workloads and that perform buffered I/O to many files, caching handles may cause Continuously Available SMB shares to take longer than usual to fail over the file server resources from one cluster node to another. This occurs after the application closes the caching handles.

Additional information: Azure File Sync performance metrics
For example, you can create a new throttle limit to ensure that Azure File Sync does not use more than 10 Mbps between 9 am and 5 pm (17:00h) during the work week:

Hope this helps!

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

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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.

Mark Simonds 1 Reputation point

2021-06-14T12:36:00.91+00:00

many thanks for the links but im more confused reading them....if it makes any different we have the file share registered within our active directory domain....
Sumarigo-MSFT 47,466 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2021-06-15T10:15:15.547+00:00

@Mark Simonds It may depend on the Network operations sometime! But from Microsoft Azure Storage side I can guarantee you we don't any latency or performance issue
Mark Simonds 1 Reputation point

2021-06-15T10:21:52.237+00:00

So what else can i check?

This is affecting all macOS devices across multiple sites to the same Azure Files Share
Sumarigo-MSFT 47,466 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2021-06-15T10:26:18.233+00:00

@Mark Simonds I wish to engage with you offline for a closer look and provide a quick and specialized assistance, please send an email with subject line “Attn:subm” to AzCommunity[at]Microsoft[dot]com referencing this thread and the Azure subscription ID, Storage account , File Sync details which causing the issue , I will follow-up with you. Once again, apologies for any inconvenience with this issue.

Thanks for your patience and co-operation.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.
Mark Simonds 1 Reputation point

2021-06-15T11:02:20.717+00:00

many thanks - have sent email with details
Mark Simonds 1 Reputation point

2021-06-17T12:29:36.373+00:00

have you seen my email yet?
Deepika Sharma 0 Reputation points

2024-03-03T23:56:49.45+00:00

Hi Sumarigo,We too are trying to implement Azure files and have mixed OS (Windows and Mac). We are having issues with keeping the azure file share connected on mac OS (works fine with Windows). On Mac devices, the share disappears when the device is rebooted. We are not keen on using the storage account access key to map the file shares on mac devices. What other option do we have?

Answer 2

Bennett, Dave 1

Hi MarkSimonds,

I have been scouring the net to find the best possible solution for a fileserver that our 15 Apple/Mac (all Catalina/Big Sur) users can use. There is no need to share with non-MacOS devices. They have a MacMini with DAS but that is not a good enterprise solution for so many reasons as you probably know. Is Azure File Storage the best option for this or is SMB with MacOS not wise? Thanks Dave

Mark Simonds 1 Reputation point

2021-09-09T16:03:24.443+00:00

Hi Dave,

When it worked it was great, we still have the issue with Azure files and macOS (Catalina/Big Sur) and waiting on Microsoft to fix....

Answer 3

Bennett, Dave 1

Thanks Mark. Appreciate the quick response.

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macOS using Azure Files - updated files are slow to show

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