Azure Files and Queue Storage
Mount cloud-based file shares using SMB or NFS protocols with Azure Files, and decouple application components using durable message queues with Queue Storage.
Azure Files: Cloud File Shares
Azure Files provides fully managed cloud-based file shares accessible over the industry-standard SMB (Server Message Block) and NFS (Network File System) protocols. This means you can mount an Azure file share on Windows, Linux, or macOS machines using the same mechanisms you use for network file shares on a local corporate network. Unlike Blob Storage, which requires a specific API or SDK to access, Azure Files works seamlessly with any application that can read from a mapped drive or UNC path.
# Mount an Azure file share on Linux using SMB
sudo mount -t cifs \
//mystorageacct.file.core.windows.net/myshare \
/mnt/myshare \
-o username=mystorageacct,password=<KEY>,dir_mode=0755Azure Files Use Cases
Azure Files is designed for several common enterprise scenarios: Lift-and-shift shared storage — migrate applications that rely on on-premises file servers to use Azure Files instead, with no application code changes. Hybrid access — on-premises servers and Azure VMs can both mount the same share simultaneously using Azure File Sync. Configuration and settings shares — store config files in a share and mount them from multiple App Service instances or containers. Developer tool shares — share IDE plugins, build tools, and scripts across a development team.
All lessons in this course
- Azure Storage Accounts
- Blob Storage: Object Storage for the Cloud
- Azure Files and Queue Storage
- Disk Storage and Storage Security