This article introduces the Azure NetApp Files Object REST API, a transformative solution for enterprises seeking seamless, real-time integration between their data and Azure's advanced analytics and AI services. By enabling direct, secure access to enterprise data—without costly transfers or duplication—the Object REST API accelerates innovation, streamlines workflows, and enhances operational efficiency. With S3-compatible object storage support, it empowers organizations to make faster, data-driven decisions while maintaining compliance and data security. Discover how this new capability unlocks business potential and drives a new era of productivity in the cloud.
Table of Contents
Unlocking Business Potential with Azure NetApp Files Object REST API
Direct path (Object REST API, NFS, SMB)
Abstract
This article introduces the Azure NetApp Files Object REST API, a transformative solution for enterprises seeking seamless, real-time integration between their data and Azure's advanced analytics and AI services. By enabling direct, secure access to enterprise data—without costly transfers or duplication—the Object REST API accelerates innovation, streamlines workflows, and enhances operational efficiency. With S3-compatible object storage support, it empowers organizations to make faster, data-driven decisions while maintaining compliance and data security. Discover how this new capability unlocks business potential and drives a new era of productivity in the cloud.
Co-authors:
- Sean Luce, Azure NetApp Files Product Manager
- Asutosh Panda, Azure NetApp Files Technical Marketing Engineer
- Thomas Willingham, Azure NetApp Files Technical Marketing Engineer
Introduction
Today we’re thrilled to introduce the Azure NetApp Files Object REST API—a groundbreaking leap forward for data-driven organizations! With this powerful new feature, you can instantly unlock seamless, real-time integration between your enterprise data and Azure Data and AI services, supercharging how you access, analyze, and utilize your information.
No more waiting on time-consuming transfers or costly data duplication. Instead, experience direct connectivity to Azure’s advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and next-generation cloud applications. The Object REST API delivers effortless, secure access to your data, empowering your teams to innovate faster, drive insights deeper, and achieve operational excellence.
Get ready to elevate your business with unmatched agility, efficiency, and intelligence—all while your data stays right where it belongs. Discover a new era of productivity and opportunity with Azure NetApp Files Object REST API!
Unlocking Business Potential with Azure NetApp Files Object REST API
The new Azure NetApp Files Object REST API – now in preview – offers transformative value for businesses by enabling seamless data integration without the need for costly and time-consuming data replication or transfers. This feature is designed to empower enterprises to access and process their data in real-time, directly from Azure NetApp Files, enhancing operational efficiency and accelerating innovation.
By providing S3-compatible object storage access, the Object REST API simplifies workflows, allowing organizations to leverage Azure's powerful AI, analytics, and machine learning services effortlessly. This capability ensures that businesses can extract actionable insights and make data-driven decisions faster, giving them a competitive edge in an increasingly data-centric world.
Enterprises can now eliminate the bottleneck of data movement, reduce operational overhead while boosting productivity. Adding S3/object support via Object REST API – besides the existing NFS and SMB file protocols – removes the need to move or copy data, enhancing versatility for AI, data analytics, and machine learning.
The Object REST API also reinforces data security, ensuring that sensitive information remains within the confines of Azure NetApp Files' robust and compliant storage framework. This not only safeguards business data but also helps organizations maintain compliance with critical regulations like GDPR and HIPAA, making it indispensable for enterprises prioritizing both innovation and security.
The Azure NetApp Files Object REST API helps enterprises optimize cloud operations, make quicker decisions, and leverage Azure's AI ecosystem. It delivers exceptional business value by enabling secure, efficient, and scalable storage solutions tailored to the evolving needs of modern organizations.
Why is matters
In today's data-driven world, the ability to seamlessly integrate data stored on Azure NetApp Files with Azure AI and Data services is a game-changer for enterprises. This connection empowers organizations to unlock the full potential of their data, enabling real-time access for analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning workflows on their Azure NetApp Files hosted unstructured enterprise data. By leveraging these capabilities, businesses can extract actionable insights, make data-driven decisions faster, and gain a competitive edge in an increasingly data-centric world.
Most of these services are designed to work with object-based storage, and in Azure, this is usually accessed via the Azure Data Lake Storage (ADLS) and Blob APIs and SDKs, unified via OneLake and Microsoft Fabric.
OneLake is Azure's single, unified, logical data lake. The data lake processes large volumes of data from various sources. Like OneDrive, OneLake comes automatically with every Microsoft Fabric tenant and is designed to be the single place for all analytics data. Microsoft Fabric is an enterprise-ready, end-to-end analytics platform:
- It unifies data movement, data processing, ingestion, transformation, real-time event routing, and report building.
- It supports these capabilities with integrated services like Data Engineering, Data Factory, Data Science, Real-Time Intelligence, Data Warehouse, and Databases. Fabric provides a seamless, user-friendly SaaS experience.
- It integrates separate components into a cohesive stack.
- It centralizes data storage with OneLake and embeds AI capabilities, eliminating the need for manual integration.
How it works
This exciting integration is achieved via the new Azure NetApp Files Object REST API. This innovative feature allows customers to expose unstructured file data via an S3-compatible REST API and integrate with the likes of Microsoft Fabric with OneLake, as well as perform direct object and file read operations.
OneLake shortcuts
OneLake shortcuts supports the Object REST API, which virtualize Azure NetApp Files volumes into Microsoft Fabric’s unified data lake. This enables Azure AI Search to index and retrieve data directly from Azure NetApp Files, supporting semantic search and vector-based retrieval for intelligent applications. Additionally, the API facilitates Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) workflows, allowing Azure AI services to vectorize documents stored in Azure NetApp Files and combine them with Azure OpenAI models to deliver context-rich responses.
These services can now connect to data stored on Azure NetApp Files providing the following benefits:
Unified Access and Simplified Integration: The Object REST API connects Azure NetApp Files with Azure's AI and data analytics services without requiring data replication or transfers to other storage solutions. This streamlined integration reduces overhead and accelerates workflows, making it easier for enterprises to derive insights and drive innovation. This capability is particularly beneficial for AI, data analytics, and machine learning workloads, ensuring faster decision-making and improved efficiency.
Improved Data Security: The Object REST API leverages Azure NetApp Files' robust security measures to protect sensitive information. By keeping data within the secure confines of Azure NetApp Files, enterprises can maintain compliance with security standards and regulations, such as GDPR and HIPAA, while accessing powerful Azure AI and analytics services.
Versatility for Various Protocols: The support for additional protocol combinations (NFS/SMB and dual-protocol) and read-write operations further expands Azure NetApp Files' storage capabilities. This flexibility allows Azure NetApp Files to cater to a wide range of end-to-end use cases, making it a versatile storage solution for enterprises with diverse needs.
Direct path (Object REST API, NFS, SMB)
Azure NetApp Files volumes with Object REST API enable native S3 applications to directly access volume data. This allows applications for Analytics, AI, and ML, such as Azure Databricks, to connect seamlessly through Object REST API/S3 to enterprise data stored on Azure NetApp Files. When the S3 protocol is enabled via the Object REST API in multiprotocol NAS volumes, client applications can read and write data using S3, NFS, and SMB, opening up a variety of additional use cases.
What are we enabling?
We are enabling a variety of use cases through the Azure NetApp Files Object REST API. These include:
- OneLake & Microsoft Fabric: The API allows Azure NetApp Files data to be treated as part of Azure Data Lake, enabling scalable analytics and machine learning. Within Microsoft Fabric, Azure NetApp Files volumes can be accessed as lakehouse files or tables, supporting real-time data processing and governance.
- Azure OpenAI & Azure AI Foundry: With access via OneLake, Azure OpenAI and AI Foundry can train and deploy models using enterprise-grade Azure NetApp Files datasets. This supports use cases like document summarization, anomaly detection, and intelligent agents.
- Azure Databricks & Azure ML: The Object REST API enables Azure Databricks and Azure Machine Learning to read and write data to Azure NetApp Files volumes, supporting end-to-end data science workflows from ingestion to model deployment.
- Power BI: Through Fabric and OneLake integration, Power BI can visualize Azure NetApp Files-hosted data in real time, enabling dynamic dashboards and business intelligence reporting.
- Direct Path (Native S3, NFS, SMB): Azure NetApp Files volumes with Object REST API enable file and native S3 applications to directly access volume data. This allows Azure and ISV applications for Analytics, AI, and ML, such as NVIDIA Enterprise AI and Azure Databricks, to connect seamlessly through SMB/NFS and Object REST API/S3 to enterprise data stored on Azure NetApp Files.
By leveraging the Azure NetApp Files Object REST API, enterprises can optimize cloud operations, gain insights faster, and leverage Azure's AI ecosystem to do so. This feature delivers exceptional business value by enabling secure, efficient, and scalable storage solutions tailored to the evolving needs of modern organizations.
The diagram below shows a sample architecture which highlights a variety of Azure services all connected to an enterprise dataset on Azure NetApp Files without the need to make any copies.
Use Cases
The Azure NetApp Files Object REST API will provide tremendous value in various scenarios. Here are some examples of how customers can leverage this feature.
- Manufacturing Knowledge Discovery – Azure AI Search
Customers can use Agentic AI to cut engineering and design spec search time by 96%, saving millions with 99.9% precision - Unified Healthcare Analytics – Azure Databricks
Azure Databricks Lakehouse powers real-time analytics, improving care while cutting cost while accessing vast amounts of healthcare data hosted on Azure NetApp Files - Accelerating EDA Workflows – Microsoft Discovery
Agentic AI provisioning of HPC VMs and storage instantly, run simulations faster and analyzing log outputs – accelerating simulation and debug cycles by up to 90% - Real-Time Financial Insights – NVIDIA Enterprise AI
Customer can use NVIDIA NIMs to accelerate SEC filing analysis—15× faster extraction with 50% fewer errors while accessing vast amounts of financial file data hosted on Azure NetApp Files
This list is by no means exhaustive, but it offers a solid overview of Azure NetApp Files’ versatility and the diverse ways enterprises can harness the Object REST API for transformative outcomes. The potential for integration extends far beyond these examples, unlocking innovative opportunities across many domains:
- Media and entertainment workflows—streamlining video editing, rendering, and content distribution pipelines
- Genomics and life sciences—accelerating research by managing and analyzing large-scale genomic datasets
- Legal and compliance data management—simplifying secure archiving and rapid retrieval for audits and e-discovery
- Retail analytics—enabling real-time inventory analysis, personalized recommendations, and demand forecasting
- Energy and geospatial analytics—providing scalable storage for seismic data, IoT telemetry, and satellite imagery
Summary
The Azure NetApp Files Object REST API is set to revolutionize the way enterprises integrate and manage their data. With simplified integration, enhanced productivity, improved data security, and unparalleled versatility, this feature offers a compelling competitive advantage, making Azure NetApp Files the preferred storage solution for modern enterprises.
Learn more
- What's new in Azure NetApp Files
- Understand Azure NetApp Files object REST API access
- Configure object REST API access in Azure NetApp Files
- Connect Azure Databricks to an Azure NetApp Files object REST API-enabled volume
- Connect OneLake to an Azure NetApp Files volume using object REST API
- Connect an S3 browser to an Azure NetApp Files object REST API-enabled volume
Microsoft