Whether you're an enterprise IT administrator or a cloud-native developer, ensuring data protection and resiliency is non-negotiable, especially when running mission-critical workload on Azure Files Premium (SSD) shares.
We’re thrilled to announce the General Availability of vaulted backup support with Azure Backup for Azure Files Premium (SSD) shares. This new capability brings enterprise-grade data protection to production scale workloads running on Azure Files SSD. IT professionals and decision-makers can now leverage Azure Backup to safeguard SSD premium file shares with the same ease and robustness previously available for standard (HDD) shares, closing a key gap in Azure’s data protection offerings.
This release of Azure Backup introduces support for Premium SMB file shares, providing immutable and offsite backups designed to defend against ransomware, accidental deletion, and regional outages. This solution offers long-term retention, granular restores, and geo-redundant storage vault for cross region backup and restore, all of which can be centrally managed via Azure Backup. Some customers have utilized this capability since its preview. Below is a statement from Swisscom regarding this integration.
Implementing Azure Backup for our premium file shares has significantly enhanced our data protection strategy. With nearly 7 TB of critical data securely backed up, we now have peace of mind knowing our information is resilient against accidental deletion and ransomware threats. The seamless integration and scalability of Azure Backup make it an essential part of our cloud infrastructure.
--Swisscom
Azure Backup capabilities enabled for Premium File share
- Cross-Region Recovery for Resilience Across Azure Regions
One of the standout features of using Azure Backup with a Recovery Services vault is the ability to leverage Geo-Redundant Storage (GRS) for your backups. Cross-Region Recovery refers to the capability to restore your data in an alternate Azure region if the primary region becomes unavailable. This is an essential part of disaster recovery planning, especially for scenarios like region-wide outages or natural disasters
- Built-In Resiliency with 3-2-1 Backup Rule
Azure Backup’s approach to protecting Premium Files inherently aligns with the industry-standard “3-2-1” backup rule, a best practice for ensuring data durability and recoverability. By configuring a Geo-Redundant Storage (GRS) vault, Azure Backup ensures, 3 copies of your data are maintained and stored across 2 different types of storage locations with at least 1 copy offsite, in a remote Azure region
- Security, Ransomware Protection, and Compliance
Imagine an organization’s file share is hit with ransomware, with Azure Backup you have an untouched copy in the recovery services vault isolated from primary and snapshots in case malware dint delete them. In such a scenario, Azure Backup enables you to restore the last clean recovery point of the file share (either overriding the share or to a new location for analysis), and resume operations without paying any ransom. This has saved organizations millions of dollars and is a fundamental pillar of a good cyber recovery strategy
Let’s now look at few scenarios where this integration may be applied.
- Profile data storage in VDI setups Azure Files SSD (Premium) is the recommended storage backend for FSLogix profiles in Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), Citrix, and VMware Horizon environments. It enables persistent user profile storage and supports dynamic application delivery via App Attach. Vaulted backups ensure profile data is protected against accidental deletion and ransomware threats
- Application Storage Premium SMB shares are used to support Windows-based applications such as SQL Server, ERP systems, and custom line-of-business apps that rely on Win32 or .NET file system APIs. Azure Backup provides secure, off-site protection for these critical workload
- Cloud-Native Workloads Customers migrating from legacy NAS solutions to Azure Files benefit from cloud-native storage with built-in backup and DR capabilities. This is especially valuable for SMB workloads running in containerized environments like Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
- Hybrid Scenarios with Azure File Sync Azure File Sync enables caching and syncing between on-premises servers and cloud shares. Vaulted backups extend protection to such hybrid environments, ensuring data durability and compliance across distributed infrastructures
Getting started
Here are three simple steps to help you get started with configuring vaulted backup for Azure File shares:
- Create a Recovery services vault: A vault is a management entity that stores backups and allows you to access and manage them.
- Create a backup policy: Backup policy enables you to configure the frequency and retention of backups based on your business requirements.
- Select the storage account and File shares to backup: You can choose to back up all File shares or select specific File shares from the selected storage account depending on the criticality of the data they contain.
Go ahead and select vault tier in your backup policy to improve the security posture of Azure Files data in these regions with a native, managed and secure offsite backup solution, strengthening business continuity and disaster recovery strategy for mission critical applications. Learn more about vaulted backup for Azure file share here.
Resources for further reading
Azure Files documentation | Microsoft Learn, secure, and serverless enterprise-grade cloud file shares.
Backup Support Matrix: Lists supported scenarios and limits for Azure Files backup.
Microsoft