Create an Azure file share

Creating an Azure file share is an essential task for cloud administrators and is covered within the scope of the AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator exam. An Azure file share is a service that allows you to create a Server Message Block (SMB) file share in Azure. This is extremely useful for providing scalable and accessible file storage to Azure virtual machines, on-premises, or cloud-native applications.

Step 1: Create an Azure Storage Account

The first step to creating a file share is to set up a storage account, which provides a namespace where you can access your Azure file share.

1. Go to the Azure portal.
2. Click on “Create a resource” (+ icon) and search for “Storage account.”
3. Select “Storage account” and click on “Create.”
4. Fill out the required fields:
   • Subscription: Choose your Azure subscription.
   • Resource group: Create or select an existing resource group.
   • Storage account name: Enter a unique name.
   • Location: Choose the Azure region where you want to store your data.
   • Performance: Select from Standard (HDD-backed) or Premium (SSD-backed).
   • Account kind: Choose “StorageV2 (general-purpose v2)”.
   • Replication: Choose the replication strategy that fits your requirement, like LRS, GRS, or ZRS.
   • Access tier: Choose between Hot or Cool depending on how frequently you expect to access the files.

Click on “Review + create” and then “Create” to provision your storage account. It may take a couple of minutes for your storage account to be created.

Step 2: Create a File Share

Once your storage account is ready, you can proceed to create a file share within it.

1. In the Azure portal, navigate to your newly created storage account.
2. On the storage account blade, select “File shares” under the “File service” section.
3. Click on “+ File share” to create a new share. Here you’ll need to provide:
   • Name: A unique name for your file share.
   • Quota: Optionally, set a limit on the size of the file share.

Click on “Create” to provision your Azure file share.

Step 3: Mounting the File Share

To leverage the file share, you need to mount it on your systems. Here’s how to do it on Windows and Linux systems:

Windows Systems:

1. Open File Explorer.
2. Right-click on “This PC” and choose “Map network drive.”
3. In the “Folder” field, enter the URL of the file share which you can obtain from the Azure portal in the format \\storageaccountname.file.core.windows.net\filesharename.
4. Provide your Azure storage account’s access key when prompted for credentials.

Linux Systems:

Mount the file share using the cifs-utils package—for example:

sudo mount -t cifs //storageaccountname.file.core.windows.net/filesharename /mnt/myshare -o vers=3.0,username=storageaccountname,password=storageaccountkey,dir_mode=0777,file_mode=0777,serverino

Replace storageaccountname, filesharename, and storageaccountkey with your specific details.

Step 4: Managing Access

Access to the file share is controlled using Shared Access Signature (SAS) tokens or Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) authentication.

• With SAS, you can generate tokens that grant specific permissions for a finite time.
• Azure AD Domain Services enables Azure AD authentication, which allows for seamless integration with on-premises Active Directory credentials.

Best Practices

When creating Azure file shares, consider the following best practices:

• Use a naming convention for storage accounts and file shares for easier identification and management.
• Apply quotas to manage capacity and costs.
• Use Azure Backup for file shares to protect against accidental deletion or corruption.
• Implement proper access controls using Azure role-based access control (RBAC) and network security like private endpoints and firewalls.

Summary

In recap, creating and using an Azure file share involves setting up a storage account, creating a file share within that storage account, mounting the file share to your systems, and managing access efficiently. By following the outlined steps, you can set up a durable and scalable file storage solution in Azure to serve the needs of your applications.