Amazon EFS vs Azure Files
Pick EFS when you need POSIX-compliant storage mounted read-write across dozens-to-thousands of EC2/ECS/EKS/Lambda instances at once — shared CMS uploads, or training data mounted by an autoscaling GPU fleet meets developers should use azure files when building applications that need shared file storage accessible from multiple azure virtual machines, on-premises servers, or cloud services, particularly for lift-and-shift migrations of legacy applications relying on file shares. Here's our take.
Amazon EFS
Pick EFS when you need POSIX-compliant storage mounted read-write across dozens-to-thousands of EC2/ECS/EKS/Lambda instances at once — shared CMS uploads, or training data mounted by an autoscaling GPU fleet
Amazon EFS
Nice PickPick EFS when you need POSIX-compliant storage mounted read-write across dozens-to-thousands of EC2/ECS/EKS/Lambda instances at once — shared CMS uploads, or training data mounted by an autoscaling GPU fleet
Pros
- +Skip it for Windows-native shares: Azure Files' SMB + Active Directory integration beats EFS's NFS-only model, and for raw HPC throughput, FSx for Lustre or Google Filestore Zonal (up to 26 GiBps, 920K IOPS) outrun EFS's 20-60 GiBps ceiling
- +Related to: amazon-ec2, amazon-eks
Cons
- -Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case
Azure Files
Developers should use Azure Files when building applications that need shared file storage accessible from multiple Azure virtual machines, on-premises servers, or cloud services, particularly for lift-and-shift migrations of legacy applications relying on file shares
Pros
- +It is ideal for hybrid environments where consistent file access is required across cloud and on-premises infrastructure, and for scenarios like content management, user profile storage, or shared configuration files in containerized applications
- +Related to: azure-blob-storage, azure-active-directory
Cons
- -Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case
The Verdict
Use Amazon EFS if: You want skip it for windows-native shares: azure files' smb + active directory integration beats efs's nfs-only model, and for raw hpc throughput, fsx for lustre or google filestore zonal (up to 26 gibps, 920k iops) outrun efs's 20-60 gibps ceiling and can live with specific tradeoffs depend on your use case.
Use Azure Files if: You prioritize it is ideal for hybrid environments where consistent file access is required across cloud and on-premises infrastructure, and for scenarios like content management, user profile storage, or shared configuration files in containerized applications over what Amazon EFS offers.
Pick EFS when you need POSIX-compliant storage mounted read-write across dozens-to-thousands of EC2/ECS/EKS/Lambda instances at once — shared CMS uploads, or training data mounted by an autoscaling GPU fleet
Disagree with our pick? nice@nicepick.dev