Introduction
In today’s data-driven enterprise environment, the need for secure, scalable, and highly available file storage solutions is critical to supporting business operations across distributed teams. Microsoft Azure provides a robust platform for building such solutions through its managed storage services.
This guide walks through the end-to-end process of provisioning a premium file storage solution using Azure Storage Accounts, configuring file shares for organizational use, and implementing data protection through snapshots. It also demonstrates how to enhance security by restricting access to selected virtual networks, ensuring that corporate data remains protected while still being accessible to authorized resources.
- In the portal, search for and select Storage accounts.
- Select + Create.
- For Resource group select Create new. Give your resource group a name and select OK to save your changes.
- Provide a Storage account name. Ensure the name meets the naming requirements(It must be globally unique).
- Set the Performance to Premium.
- Set the Premium account type to File shares.
- Set the Redundancy to Zone-redundant storage.
- Select Review and then Create the storage account.
- Wait for the resource to deploy.
- Select Go to resource.
Create a file share for the corporate office.
- In the storage account, in the Data storage section, select the File shares blade.
- Select + File share and provide a Name.
- Review the other options, but take the defaults.
- Select Create
Add a directory to the file share for the finance department. For future testing, upload a file.
- Select your file share and select + Add directory.
- Name the new directory finance.
- Select Browse and then select the finance directory.
- Notice you can Add directory to further organize your file share.
- Upload a file of your choosing.
Similar to blob storage, you need to protect against accidental deletion of files. You decide to use snapshots.
- Select your file share.
- In the Operations section, select the Snapshots blade.
- Select + Add snapshot. The comment is optional. Select OK.
- Select your snapshot and verify your file directory and uploaded file are included.
Practice using snapshots to restore a file.
- Return to your file share.
- Browse to your file directory.
- Locate your uploaded file and in the Properties pane select Delete. Select Yes to confirm the deletion.
- Select the Snapshots blade and then select your snapshot.
- Navigate to the file you want to restore
- Select the file and the select Restore.
- Provide a Restored file name.
- Verify your file directory has the restored file.
Configure restricting storage access to selected virtual networks.:This tasks in this section require a virtual network with subnet. In a production environment these resources would already be created.
- Search for and select Virtual networks
- Select Create. Select your resource group. and give the virtual network a name.
- Take the defaults for other parameters, select Review + create, and then Create.
- Wait for the resource to deploy.
- Select Go to resource.
- In the Settings section, select the Subnets blade.
- Select the default subnet.
- In the Service endpoints section choose Microsoft.Storage in the Services drop-down.
- Do not make any other changes.
- Be sure to Save your changes.
The storage account should only be accessed from the virtual network you just created. Learn more about using private storage endpoints..
- Return to your files storage account.
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- In the Security + networking section, select the Networking blade.
- Change the Public network access to Enabled from selected virtual networks and IP addresses.
- In the Virtual networks section, select Add existing virtual network.
- Select your virtual network and subnet, select Add.
- Be sure to Save your changes.
- Select the Storage browser and navigate to your file share.
- Verify the message not authorized to perform this operation. You are not connecting from the virtual network.
Conclusion
By completing this deployment, a secure and enterprise-grade file storage infrastructure has been successfully established using Azure’s native capabilities. The implementation not only enables centralized file sharing for departments such as finance but also incorporates critical safeguards including snapshot-based recovery and network-level access controls.
This approach reflects best practices in cloud storage architecture—balancing performance, resilience, and security. As organizations continue to scale in the cloud, leveraging these capabilities within Azure ensures operational efficiency, data integrity, and controlled access across business units.
