Identify Azure file movement options

  • 3 minutes

In addition to large scale migration using services like Azure Migrate and Azure Data Box, Azure also has tools designed to help you move or interact with individual files or small file groups. Among those tools are AzCopy, Azure Storage Explorer, and Azure File Sync.

AzCopy

AzCopy is a command-line utility that you can use to copy blobs or files to or from your storage account. With AzCopy, you can upload files, download files, copy files between storage accounts, and even synchronize files. AzCopy can even be configured to work with other cloud providers to help move files back and forth between clouds.

Important

Synchronizing blobs or files with AzCopy is one-direction synchronization. When you synchronize, you designated the source and destination, and AzCopy will copy files or blobs in that direction. It doesn't synchronize bi-directionally based on timestamps or other metadata.

Azure Storage Explorer

Azure Storage Explorer is a standalone app that provides a graphical interface to manage files and blobs in your Azure Storage Account. It works on Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems and uses AzCopy on the backend to perform all of the file and blob management tasks. With Storage Explorer, you can upload to Azure, download from Azure, or move between storage accounts.

Azure File Sync

Azure File Sync is a tool that lets you centralize your file shares in Azure Files and keep the flexibility, performance, and compatibility of a Windows file server. It’s almost like turning your Windows file server into a miniature content delivery network. Once you install Azure File Sync on your local Windows server, it will automatically stay bi-directionally synced with your files in Azure.

With Azure File Sync, you can:

  • Use any protocol that's available on Windows Server to access your data locally, including SMB, NFS, and FTPS.
  • Have as many caches as you need across the world.
  • Replace a failed local server by installing Azure File Sync on a new server in the same datacenter.
  • Configure cloud tiering so the most frequently accessed files are replicated locally, while infrequently accessed files are kept in the cloud until requested.