Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900)

Last Updated: 1/5/2023

Azure File Movement

  • Azure has tools designed to help you move individual files or small file groups.
  • Tools are AzCopy, Azure Storage Explorer, and Azure File Sync.

Azure 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.
  • Synchronizing blobs or files with AzCopy is one-direction synchronization.

Azure Storage Explorer

  • Azure Storage Explorer is UI app 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.
  • Azure File Sync additionally has the ability to transform Windows Server into a quick cache of your Azure file share.
  • Once you install Azure File Sync on your local Windows server, it will automatically stay bi-directionally synced with your files in Azure.
  • 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.