Azure Files
Fully managed SMB and NFS file shares that can be mounted in the cloud or cached on-premises with Azure File Sync.
Readiness
0%
2h baseline
Exam memorization points
- Protocols: SMB 3.x for Windows, Linux and macOS, and NFS 4.1 for Linux. NFS is only available on premium file shares.
- SMB access is over TCP 445. NFS access requires network-level restrictions such as a private endpoint or a service endpoint.
- Identity-based SMB authentication options: on-premises AD DS, Microsoft Entra Domain Services, or Microsoft Entra Kerberos for hybrid identities.
- Standard file shares have tiers (transaction optimized, hot, cool); premium file shares are provisioned by size, IOPS and burst instead of by tier.
- Azure File Sync installs a cloud tiering agent on Windows Server to cache a share on-premises while the authoritative copy stays in Azure.
- Share snapshots give point-in-time recovery of an entire share; file-level restore can copy single files out of a snapshot.
Traps & distractors
- Creating an NFS share on a general-purpose v2 standard account. NFS requires a premium FileStorage account.
- Forgetting that port 445 is commonly blocked by consumer ISPs, which is why VPN or ExpressRoute may be required for on-premises access.
- Assuming Entra ID-only authentication works with the storage account key - domain-joined scenarios need AD DS or Entra Domain Services.
- Confusing Azure File Sync (caching and tiering, backup is separate) with Azure Backup for file shares.
- Expecting snapshots to be taken automatically - they must be scheduled (or taken by Azure Backup) externally.
Suggested lab
Publish a premium SMB share and snapshot it
Create shares with the right account kind and restore data from a snapshot.
- 1Create a premium FileStorage account and provision a 100 GiB file share.
- 2Mount the share from a Windows or Linux client using the portal-provided script and confirm read and write access.
- 3Write test files, take a share snapshot, then modify and delete a file.
- 4Restore the deleted file from the snapshot and confirm the content matches.
- 5Enable soft delete for file shares and delete the share, then attempt an undelete.
Microsoft Learn
- Introduction to Azure Filesdoc
- Search Microsoft Learn: Azure Files SMB NFS identity-based authentication Azure File Syncsearch
Live Microsoft Learn ingestion is a Sprint 2 item; until then links are curated and the search fallback always resolves.
Status
No time invested yet. Baseline assumptions only.
Self-assessed mastery
0%
High priority
Strong exam value. Schedule this week.
- Exam importance80% × 30% = 24.0
Learner-agnostic frequency on the real exam (4/5).
- Blueprint weight78% × 25% = 19.4
This topic's domain carries 17.5% of the exam objectives.
- Dependency leverage20% × 20% = 4.1
1 later topic depend on it.
- Current gap100% × 25% = 25.0
Readiness is 0%, so 100% of the topic is still uncovered.
Exam Priority Score = 30% importance + 25% blueprint + 20% dependency + 25% gap. Importance is exam frequency, blueprint is the domain's official exam weight, dependency is how many later topics this one unlocks, and gap is how far you currently are from ready.
Unlocks next
Baseline study time
2h
Complexity
3 / 5
Remaining to target
1h 42m
Status weight
0%
Topics: smb, nfs, file share, file sync, snapshot, mount, 445
Weak neighbours in Storage