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Azure File Sync is a service for centralizing an organization's file shares in Azure Files while keeping the flexibility, performance, and compatibility of a Windows file server.
Although you can opt to keep a full copy of your data locally, Azure File Sync can transform Windows Server into a quick cache of an Azure file share. You can use any protocol that's available on Windows Server to access your data locally, including Server Message Block (SMB), Network File System (NFS), and File Transfer Protocol over SSL/TLS (FTPS). You can have as many caches as you need across the world.
Benefits of Azure File Sync
Cloud tiering
When you enable cloud tiering, the files that you access most frequently are cached on your local server. The files that you access least frequently are tiered to the cloud. You can control how much local disk space is used for caching, and you can quickly recall tiered files on demand.
Cloud tiering can help you cut costs, because you need to store only a fraction of your data on-premises. For more information, see Cloud tiering overview.
Multiple-site access and sync
Azure File Sync is ideal for distributed access scenarios. For each of your offices, you can provision a local Windows Server instance as part of your Azure File Sync deployment. Changes made to a server in one office automatically sync to the servers in all other offices.
Business continuity and disaster recovery
Azure File Sync is backed by Azure Files, which offers several redundancy options for highly available storage. Because Azure contains resilient copies of your data, your local server becomes a disposable caching device.
You can recover from a failed server by adding a new server to your Azure File Sync deployment. Rather than restoring from a local backup, you provision another Windows Server instance, install the Azure File Sync agent on it, and then add it to your Azure File Sync deployment.
Azure File Sync downloads your file namespace before downloading data, so that your server can be up and running as soon as possible. For even faster recovery, you can have a warm standby server as part of your deployment, or you can use Azure File Sync with Windows clustering.
Cloud-side backup
Reduce your on-premises backup spending by taking centralized backups in the cloud via Azure Backup. SMB Azure file shares have native snapshot capabilities. You can automate the process by using Azure Backup to schedule your backups and manage their retention.
Azure Backup also integrates with your on-premises servers. When you restore to the cloud, the changes are automatically downloaded on your Windows Server instance.
Migration
Azure File Sync enables seamless migration of your on-premises file data to Azure Files. By syncing your existing file servers with Azure Files in the background, you can move data without disrupting users or changing access patterns. Your file structure and permissions remain intact, and applications continue to operate as expected.
This ability can help you modernize infrastructure, consolidate storage, or retire aging hardware while ensuring continuous availability.