1. Providing reliable SMB shares in Microsoft Azure
5/26/2018 5:50 PM
Providing reliable SMB shares in Microsoft Azure
Sam Cogan
Cloud Solutions Architect
Willis Towers Watson
Microsoft Azure MVP
samcogan.com
© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

2. The Challenge Legacy applications requiring SMB shares
Azure SLA Requirement for High Availability
Operational Requirement for High Availability
Disaster Recovery
No Shared Storage

3. SMB Services In Azure Azure Files Standalone File Server
Storage Spaces Direct
Storage Replica
DFSR

4. Azure Files Benefits PaaS Service Highly Available & Redundant
Platform as a Service (PaaS) offering within Azure storage providing SMB shares accessible using Windows and Linux.
Benefits
PaaS Service
Highly Available & Redundant
Encrypted
Cheap
New – File Sync
Limitations
Security - Use of Storage Key
External Access
Performance
5TB Size Limit
1TB File Limit
Backup & Recovery

5. Standalone File Server
Single instance of an Azure virtual machine acting as a Windows file server.
Benefits
99.9% SLA
No performance hit for replication
Simple Backup
Reduced Cost
Simple Management
Limitations
Single Point of Failure
Reduced SLA
Maintenance = Downtime
Reliance on Backup

6. Storage Spaces Direct Benefits True Active/Active Cluster
New Server 2016 feature for creating a “no shared storage” cluster using storage spaces.
Benefits
True Active/Active Cluster
Instant Failover
Highly Available
99.95% SLA
Supports Cloud Witness
Limitations
Limited supported workloads
Performance Concerns
Additional Cost
Backup Limitations
Requires Server 2016

7. Storage Replica Benefits Block level replication
New Server 2016 feature that allows replication of data from one server (or cluster) to another for DR.
Benefits
Block level replication
Choice of sync or async
Simpler Backup
Can combine with S2D
Works with DFSR Namespaces
Limitations
Intended for DR
Failover not automated
One to One Replication
No access to data on non active node
PowerShell Management Only
Requires Server 2016

8. DFSR Benefits Multi Server Replication Automated Failover
Time tested solution for replication of data between multiple nodes.
Benefits
Multi Server Replication
Automated Failover
Simple Backup
99.95% SLA
Limitations
Failover not Instant
No replication of open files
Not Synchronous
Performance
Prone to issues and maintenance
Difficult to manage

9. Summary None of the solutions are perfect
Future updates may change things
Appropriateness will vary by project
Pick the solution with the least downsides for you
Ensure you understand the limitations and build them into your operations plans
Test!

10. Cloud Solutions Architect Willis Towers Watson Microsoft Azure MVP
5/26/2018 5:50 PM
Sam Cogan
Cloud Solutions Architect
Willis Towers Watson
Microsoft Azure MVP
samcogan.com
© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

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5/26/2018 5:50 PM
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© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

12. 5/26/2018 5:50 PM
© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.