Flexible Service Level (Public Preview): A New Era in Azure NetApp Files
Last week Microsoft introduced Azure NetApp Files Flexible service level—an innovative approach to storage designed to meet the diverse needs of demanding applications such as HPC, Oracle, SQL, SAP, AVD and AVS. With the Flexible service level, you gain the ability to adjust throughput and size limits independently, giving you unparalleled flexibility for your workloads. Let’s explore the key features and benefits of this preview offering.
Tailored Storage for Unique Needs
The Flexible service level empowers you to:
- Create high-capacity volumes with low throughput requirements
- Design low-capacity volumes with high throughput demands
This adaptability makes it an ideal choice for a wide range of applications, providing performance and efficiency tailored to your specific requirements.
Throughput: Baseline and Beyond
Here’s how throughput works in a Flexible capacity pool:
- Baseline Throughput: The first 128 MiB/second of throughput is included in the service level. This applies regardless of the pool quota.
- Maximum Throughput: The maximum throughput is calculated as 5 x 128 x the size of the capacity pool (in TiB). For detailed calculations and examples, see the official documentation.
This flexibility allows you to allocate resources efficiently while ensuring optimal performance for your workloads.
Key Considerations
While the Flexible service level offers immense benefits, there are some points to note:
- Cool Access Limitation: Cool access is currently not supported with the Flexible service level.
- Exclusive for New Manual QoS Capacity Pools: This service level is only supported for new manual QoS capacity pools. Existing pools cannot leverage this offering.
For more details, including the list of regions where the Flexible service level is available, refer to the Azure NetApp Files documentation .
Flexibility Meets Simplicity
The process of assigning throughput and capacity to volumes in a Flexible capacity pool is as straightforward as it is for volumes in manual QoS capacity pools of other service levels. This seamless integration ensures you can adopt the Flexible service level with minimal disruptions to your workflow.
Creating a Flexible Service Level Capacity Pool
- In the Azuew Portal, brwose for Azure NetApp Files
- In the lefhand menu choose Capacity Pools
- Select Add Pool
- Name your capacity pool
- Under Service Level choose Flexible
- In the size option, add the amount for store you require
- Under throughput, add the mount of throughput you require
- Click Create
The image below shows an example of a Flexible Service Level capacity being created. In this example, the size is 1 TiB and has 640 MiB/s of throughput allocated.
Summary
Azure NetApp Files continues to push boundaries with the Flexible service level, delivering unmatched adaptability and performance for even the most demanding applications.
This update underscores Azure NetApp Files’ commitment to providing innovative and user-centric solutions. By enabling no-downtime upgrades for network features, Microsoft empowers businesses to achieve greater agility and resilience in their cloud operations. Ready to embrace the future of flexible storage?
For more information on the Azure NetApp Files service, check out the What’s new in Azure NetApp Files page.
For more information, visit the official Azure NetApp Files page.