Storage Account Tiers for Blob and File Shares

Question

Dear Experts,

I have an existing storage account with files under containers and file shares. To check the configured tiers, I went to the overview section of the storage account. The performance is listed as Standard, and the account kind is StorageV2. In the properties, the blob service default access tier is Hot.

To confirm the file shares, I navigated to the storage account (storage account name | File shares) and selected the existing file share . The access tier shows as Hot. When I clicked on the file share, it took me to the overview page, where the properties section also shows the access tier as Hot under the size section. However, I did not see the performance tiers (Standard or Premium) for the file shares.

Could you please help confirm what tiers are configured for both blob and file shares in this case?

Answer 1

Hi MJ-1983,

When comparing costs and considering your need for quick retrieval on demand, I suggest few points to consider, SMB File Share in Standard Tier.

Storage Cost: The cost for standard tier file shares is based on the amount of storage used, with additional costs for transactions and data transfer.

Performance: Standard file shares are backed by HDDs, providing cost-effective storage for general-purpose use.

Access: SMB file shares can be accessed directly via Azure Storage Explorer Azure Storage Explorer, making it convenient for quick retrieval.

Blob Storage in Cool Tier

Storage Cost: The cool tier has lower storage costs compared to the hot tier but higher access costs. For example, the storage.cost for the cool tier is approximately $0.01 per GB per month

Performance: The cool tier is optimized for data that is infrequently accessed but still needs to be available for quick retrieval.

Access: You can use Azure Storage Explorer to access blobs directly, which provides a similar convenience for quick retrieval.

Cost Comparison

Storage Cost: The cool tier generally offers lower storage costs compared to the standard tier for file shares. However, the cool tier has higher access costs, which can add up if you frequently retrieve data.

Access Cost: If your access patterns involve frequent retrievals, the higher access costs of the cool tier might offset the savings from lower storage costs.

Given your requirement for quick retrieval on demand, it might be more cost-effective to keep the SMB file share in the standard tier if your access frequency is moderate to high. If your access frequency is low and you can tolerate the higher access costs, moving to the Blob cool tier could save on storage costs.

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