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 | @samcogan © Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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 | @samcogan © Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

Please evaluate this session Your feedback is important to us! 5/26/2018 5:50 PM Please evaluate this session Your feedback is important to us! The slide will be replaced onsite through Silver Fox Productions with an updated QR code. This slide is required. Do NOT delete or alter the slide. From your PC or Tablet visit MyIgnite at http://myignite.microsoft.com From your phone download and use the Ignite Mobile App by scanning the QR code above or visiting https://aka.ms/ignite.mobileapp © 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

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.