Azure File Sync question around compatibility

Question

Hi guys, first time poster here. I'm hoping to get some advice.

I work with an MSP, and we have a client that wants to migrate their current file server data into Azure. They'd like to use Azure File Sync for this. However, I know Azure File Sync is only compatible with Windows Server 2012 R2 and onwards. That's fine.

Currently they have 2008 R2 boxes hosting the files.

One of the file servers are utilising Windows Server 2008 mode, and the other Windows Server 2000 mode for their shares.

The client is willing to create a VM on-premises to migrate the current data, then move using Azure File Sync. However, my question is, will the modes (2000 + 2008) need to be upgraded for File Sync to work?

I can't find any documentation around it. Just the OS of the file server itself.

Thanks in advance all.

Answer 1

Hello

Thank you for your question and reaching out.

Azure File Sync will be only working with Operating systems 2012 R2 and above which means it will not work with lower version due to issue with Legacy protocol and compatibility.

Below FAQ mentioned the same : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/files/storage-files-faq

Currently, Azure File Sync supports only Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, and Windows Server 2012 R2. At this time, we don't have any other plans we can share, but we're open to supporting additional platforms based on customer demand. Let us know at Azure Files UserVoice what platforms you would like us to support.

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

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Answer 2

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

The agent is supported only on Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, and Windows Server 2022. The agent is not supported on Nano Server deployment option.

Additional information: Windows Server 2008 R2 is supported in Azure File Share, You can mount on Azure VM: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/files/storage-how-to-use-files-windows

Generally, the recommended way to do this kind of migration is with Storage Migration Service, a feature of Windows Server 2019. Storage Migration Service will ensure all ACLs, timestamps, etc. are copied as part of the migration. It also has really nice features for ensuring no downtime. Azure File Sync has basic integration with Storage Migration Service, with a lot more sophisticated integration coming within the next couple of months.

At a high level, this means that you'll copy data from your old Windows Server 2008 R2 server to a new Windows Server 2019 server with Azure File Sync installed. Azure File Sync will upload the data and tier it, leading to a new file server deployment with just a small cache of the most recently stored data on-premises. This means that your new file server can actually be significantly smaller than your old one.

If your ultimate objective is to replace your on-premises server with a directly mounted Azure file share, that is, you actually don't want to cache data on-premises with Azure File Sync, this is also possible

If this is something you'd like to see, You may leave your feedback here. All the feedback you share in these forums will be monitored and reviewed by the Microsoft engineering teams responsible for building Azure. Azure Files https://feedback.azure.com/d365community/forum/a8bb4a47-3525-ec11-b6e6-000d3a4f0f84

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

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