We are excited to announce the public preview of faster server onboarding and disaster recovery. This will significantly accelerate customer onramp and scaling with Azure File Sync for hybrid access as well as disaster recovery. With this update (v18), we are expediting the time taken for a newly provisioned server endpoint ready to use.

This change is especially impactful for users with millions of files & folders as part of their Azure File share. At this scale, previously, provisioning a new server endpoint with millions of items in its associated Azure File Share could be a lengthy process. It would take hours or even days for users to access the data on the new server endpoint. With this new feature, we’ve drastically cut down the time it takes for the user to access the data on the new server endpoint.

The improvement applies to the following scenarios, when the server endpoint location is empty (no files or directories).:

Creating the first server endpoint of new sync topology after data is copied to the Azure File Share.
Adding a new empty server endpoint to an existing sync topology.

It’s important to note that this enhancement is applicable to scenarios where the Server Path of the new server endpoint is empty, meaning all the data resides in the cloud share.

Furthermore, to enhance the management experience, we have introduced Provisioning Steps tab in the portal which allows you to easily determine when the server endpoint is ready for use. For more details on Provisioning Steps, please refer to the Azure Files documentation.

Performance Improvements:
This enhancement makes it quicker for users to access data on a newly provisioned server endpoint.

Users can now access data even before the sync is fully operational on the server endpoint.
As users navigate to a location, the system prioritizes and populates the items of interest, enabling faster access of data. Previously, users had to wait for all the data to be downloaded on the server, which is no longer the case.

This feature is designed for file shares with a large number of files and directories, but the benefits are applicable for file shares of all sizes, ensuring a more efficient and user-friendly experience. The final performance improvements experienced will be a function of the AFS server resources (CPU & Memory), disk throughput and network bandwidth.

Note: All operations under a folder will be blocked until the root folder is populated. When the user is accessing data before sync is fully functional certain operations (rename and delete folder) are temporarily restricted until sync is fully functional. Future versions of Azure File Sync Agent will remove the rename & delete operation limitations.

Getting Started
To get started register here for public preview and we will reach out to you to enabled for your subscription.

Feedback
If you have questions or feedback, please reach out to us at azfilespreview@microsoft.com or complete this feedback form.

​Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More