Alternative for Azure file sync to save the cost

Hi N Wakchaure, Jagdish ,
Greetings! Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Forum. Thanks for posting you query here!
managing costs while ensuring reliable data storage and access is crucial. I suggest some alternatives and strategies to help lower your costs for SMB file share storage:
Consider using Azure Blob Storage with Azure File Sync. Blob Storage is generally more cost-effective than Azure Files, especially for large amounts of data. You can use Azure Blob Storage with Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 for hierarchical namespace and better performance.

1. Standard Storage Redundancy: Instead of using Read-access geo-zone-redundant storage (RA-GZRS), you might opt for less expensive redundancy options like Locally Redundant Storage (LRS) or Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS), depending on your disaster recovery requirements.
2. Azure NetApp Files: This service provides high-performance file storage and can be more cost-effective for certain workloads. It supports SMB and NFS protocols and offers different performance tiers.

Use Azure's storage tiers (Hot, Cool, and Archive) to optimize costs based on your data access patterns. Frequently accessed data can be stored in the Hot tier, while infrequently accessed data can be moved to the Cool or Archive tiers.

If you have any other questions or are still running into more issues, let me know in the "comments" and I would be happy to help you

I think Azure File Sync is designed to work exclusively with Azure Files and does not connect to Blob Storage, also how we will manage the identify based access in blob storage for files? i also went through some article where in Azure netapp files is more costly than Azure files and Az files is more easier.

Storage account option (RA-GZRS), we cannot change as we need the data in the event of DR scenario.

access tier option we can try that but not sure how much cost it will reduce.

@ N Wakchaure, Jagdish ,
You're correct that Azure File Sync is designed to work exclusively with Azure Files and doesn't directly connect to Blob Storage, you can use tools like AzCopy to synchronize data between your on-premises storage and Azure Blob Storage

For identity-based access in Blob Storage, you can use Microsoft Entra ID to manage access. This allows you to use Azure role-based access control to grant permissions to users, groups, or applications

This method provides a secure and manageable way to control access to your blob data.

Regarding the cost comparison between Azure Files and Azure NetApp Files, you're right that Azure NetApp Files can be more expensive. Azure Files is generally easier to manage and more cost-effective for many uses cases

Since you need to keep RA-GZRS for disaster recovery, focusing on optimizing your storage tiers could still help reduce costs. Moving infrequently accessed data to the Cool or Archive tiers can lead to significant savings
The exact cost reduction will depend on your data access patterns, but it's worth evaluating.

Identity-Based Access: While identity-based access is essential for security, ensure that it's configured efficiently to avoid unnecessary costs. Review and optimize access policies and permissions
Consider using third-party solutions like Komprise for intelligent data tiering and lifecycle management. These tools can help analyze your data and move cold data to more cost-effective storage options
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/azurestorageblog/leverage-the-cloud-to-cut-file-data-costs-comparison-of-alternatives/3799614
See Understanding Azure Files billing for more information.

• Please look at the Azure Files Pricing page for various cost components, which typically includes – Storage, Transactions (RW), Bandwidth (BW), any other related services like Azure File Sync/Azure Backup (optional). Standard and Premium tiers have different pricing model. Standard is Used storage + Transactions Premium is provisioned storage + no transactions. BW cost always apply.

Transactions/BW cost varies based on the workload patterns. For example, for a low end general purpose file server with 5-10% churn, we have seen that transactions typically cost < 5-10% of bill. For a high transaction, low latency, consistent performance workload, performance tier might work better e.g. Databases. For a low transaction workload that need reliable performance, standard tier will be suffice e.g. general purpose file servers.

• Storage capacity is billed in units of the average daily amount of data stored, in gigabytes (GB), over a monthly period. For example, if you consistently used 10 GB of storage for the first half of the month and none for the second half of the month, you would be billed for your average usage of 5 GB of storage. However, using the Cool (GPv2 accounts only) or Archive tier for less than 30 and 180 days respectively will incur an additional charge.

Data storage prices and you can also calculate using Azure Pricing calculator

For more information:
https://zcusa.951200.xyz/en-us/azure/storage/files/storage-files-netapp-comparison
https://zcusa.951200.xyz/en-us/azure/storage/common/storage-use-azcopy-blobs-synchronize

If you have any other questions or are still running into more issues, let me know in the "comments" and I would be happy to help you