Azure Files is a fully managed file share in the cloud supporting Windows, Linux, and MacOS. Azure Files uses the industry standard Server Message Block protocol (SMB) making it a great alternative to on-premises file shares. Microsoft has announced now in preview are “Larger, more powerful standard file shares for Azure Files”. Here is a look at the recently released changes to the service.
Azure Files standard storage scale limits:
| Azure Files | Before (Standard Tier) | New (Standard Tier) |
| Capacity per share | 5 TiB | 100 TiB (20x increase) |
| Max IOPS per share | 1,000 IOPS | 10,000 IOPS (10x increase) |
| Max throughput per share | Up to 60 MiB/s | Up to 300 MiB/s (5x increase) |
Note: Performance limits for a single file remain the same at 1 TiB, 1000 IOPS, and 60 MiB/s.
Azure Files standard tier are using Hard Disk drives on the backend whereas the premium tier uses SSDs and offers additional performance at an increased price.
Azure Files standard tier pricing:
Pricing for the standard tier storage is subject to change but at the time of this writing it runs $.06 per used GB for Locally Redundant Storage and $.10 per used GB for Geo-Redundant Storage.
Price everything out here: Azure Files Pricing Calculator.
