AZ-305 Design data storage solutions Practice Question
A company wants to migrate its on-premises file server to Azure with minimal application changes. The application accesses files over the SMB protocol and requires identity-based access using the existing on-premises Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). They need the solution to be fully managed with low latency. Which Azure storage solution should they choose?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse Azure NetApp Files with Azure Files, assuming that because NetApp Files supports SMB and AD DS, it is the best choice, but they overlook the 'fully managed' requirement and the fact that Azure Files is the simpler, more cost-effective PaaS solution for standard file server migrations.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Azure Files
Azure Files is the correct choice because it provides fully managed SMB file shares that can be accessed over the SMB protocol with identity-based authentication using on-premises AD DS via Azure Files AD DS integration. This allows the application to connect with minimal changes, as it continues to use SMB and existing domain credentials, while Azure Files offers low-latency access when deployed in the same region as the application.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Azure Files
Why this is correct
Azure Files is the correct choice because it delivers fully managed SMB file shares natively in Azure, allowing the on-premises file server to be lifted and shifted without any application changes. It supports authentication with existing on-premises Active Directory Domain Services identity, so users and permissions map directly, and being a PaaS service, it requires no dedicated network infrastructure like delegated subnets or capacity pools to maintain.
- ✗
Azure NetApp Files
Why it's wrong here
Azure NetApp Files requires provisioning a delegated subnet and a minimum-sized capacity pool as underlying infrastructure you manage, whereas Azure Files is a native PaaS SMB share requiring no dedicated network infrastructure — for a straightforward lift-and-shift, Azure Files meets the identity-based SMB requirement without that extra infrastructure.
- ✗
Azure Blob Storage with NFS 3.0
Why it's wrong here
Azure Blob Storage with NFS 3.0 is not a suitable replacement because Blob Storage only exposes the NFS protocol, not SMB, and the existing file server uses SMB for client access. Migrating to Blob would require modifying client configurations or application code to use NFS instead, and NFS 3.0 lacks native Windows AD authentication and ACL support, breaking the current identity-based access model.
- ✗
Azure Disk Storage
Why it's wrong here
Azure Disk Storage is designed as raw block-level storage that must be attached to a single virtual machine; it does not provide a shared file share accessible via SMB from multiple clients. To use disk storage as a file server, you would need to deploy a Windows VM, attach the disk, and configure the VM to share folders over SMB, which means you still have to manage the operating system and share permissions, so it is not a PaaS file share solution and adds unnecessary infrastructure.
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