It is a fully managed file share on the cloud. The files are stored in containers called Shares
It is a centralized location for storing data that allows connection using multiple connections
Protocols: Server Message Block (SMB) and Network File System (NFS)
When we connect to the file share the specific directory is mounted into its own directory tree
It can also be accessed from anywhere in the world using a URI and SAS key
Uses Cases
Completely replace or supplement on-premises file servers like NAS
Lift-and-Shift on-premise storage to the cloud
- Classic Lift: Move both application and data to the cloud
- Hybrid Lift: Application data is moved to Azure Files and application runs on-premises
Allows to store common configs, logs that are used by multiple VMs
Azure Files can be used to persist volumes of stateful containers