Do you have an old file server that is gathering dust in your office and you’re thinking ‘this old dust wreck is storing all our critical business documents? Margaret the company secretary is moaning because it is so slow and unreliable. Then one fine day your hard drive goes bang and you have to recover your data from backups. We have all been there where the backups are not as good as they are cracked up to be because along the line someone has done something wrong. You’ve completely had enough! Meet Azure File Shares…
IT Consultants may suggest we could look at SharePoint and that’s great. What if you’re not ready for the SharePoint investment – not really interested in version control, content types, and all the good stuff it provides? You just want a file share that is completely off-site. Out of sight – out of mind!
We have had a few companies recently asking me how we would do this and what is the quickest way. Well, I replied with Microsoft Azure file shares.
Microsoft Azure is a leading enterprise cloud solution from Microsoft. This product is too vast for this brief blog but it has changed the game for many years. Big thumbs up from us!
Within a little time, we have re-created their file shares on the cloud, we have set up all the permissions and now we are going to go through the migration process. Then within days, we can look forward to getting their cranky old server moved away to the recycling centre.
In this screenshot, I am using a Windows 10 machine, and the file share just looks identical to an original on premise one.

Like normal you can create folders and add files etc – nothing changes besides being better for the environment. We can also create a backup schedule (a proper one this time). For the costs of Azure – it’s pretty good value and there is plenty of discounts around. Plus as Azure is an OPEX model – it keeps the number crunchers in your business happy.
Contact us today for more information on how we can help your business.