Can I have a shared drive between Azure Virtual Machines

+1 vote
I have just moved my web site to an Azure Virtual Machine and have been up and running since last weekend. So far I'm very happy with the results and looking forward to taking advantage of Azure further in due course.

I do have what would seem to be a pretty common scenario - and, to my surprise, I can't find an obvious solution. I have a couple of VMs - one my primary server and the other which will be suspended and ready to kick in (manually is fine) if the first one has an issue. I backup my web site to Azure Storage (my backup utility supports saving to an Azure blob). That's the good news.

I had assumed that I could somehow mount the storage blob as a drive, therefore effectively having shared storage across the two VMs. However, to my surprise, I haven't found an obvious way to do that. I have found a third party utility (Gladinet Cloud Desktop) but it seems painfully slow. As I say, I admit I just assumed this would be an easy thing to do.

So, stepping back, what is the most straightforward way to access a storage blob from multiple VMs? I really don't want to set up a private network and then set up network file sharing - that seems so old school :) and places a specific dependency on one specific VM.

Please do suggest a way if any. TIA
Jul 26, 2018 in Azure by null_void
• 3,220 points
7,931 views

1 answer to this question.

+1 vote
Best answer

In Azure Resource Manager "Storage Account" you can create a Network File Share that can be Mounted as a Drive to multiple VM's or to computers and devices not on Azure for both Unix, Linux and Windows.

In General, go to your Storage Account ➡ Files ➡ Create FileShare ➡ Name the Share and the Disk Space Quota ➡ Click Connect to obtain the command or windows or linux to mount the share to the respective devices. Note this ONLY WORKS for Local Redundant Storage, not Zone, not Geo Redundant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGPJZMaSlis

The video tutorial above shows you step by step how to do this. The only restriction is needed is OS support of the SMB 3.0 protocol which Windows 8 or above does and Windows 2012 or above does. Requires Firewall Port 445 to be opened.

Hope it helped!

If you need to know more about Azure, then you should join Azure training course online today.

Thank you!!

answered Jul 26, 2018 by cloudie_crank
• 1,610 points

selected Jul 27, 2018 by Priyaj

Related Questions In Azure

0 votes
1 answer
0 votes
4 answers

How can I rename a SQL Azure database?

This command serves the purpose ALTER DATABASE [oldname] ...READ MORE

answered Nov 30, 2018 in Azure by Abhinav
2,252 views
+1 vote
1 answer

Can I rename a Azure Storage Blob?

Though the approach I'm about to share ...READ MORE

answered May 11, 2018 in Azure by club_seesharp
• 3,450 points
11,125 views
0 votes
2 answers

How can I download a .vhd image to my local machine from azure and upload the same to a different azure account?

From the Windows Azure Portal you can ...READ MORE

answered Aug 20, 2018 in Azure by Priyaj
• 58,100 points
13,937 views
0 votes
1 answer

How can I replicate an Azure Virtual Machine?

To create a managed image of a ...READ MORE

answered May 23, 2018 in Azure by club_seesharp
• 3,450 points
697 views
0 votes
1 answer

How can i upload to Azure Blob storage with Shared Access key?

For GetBlobReferenceFromServer to work, the blob must be present ...READ MORE

answered Jun 12, 2018 in Azure by club_seesharp
• 3,450 points
3,545 views
0 votes
1 answer

How can I copy SQL Azure database to a local development server?

There are certain ways to do this: Using SSIS ...READ MORE

answered Jun 26, 2018 in Azure by null_void
• 3,220 points
1,140 views
0 votes
1 answer

Can we have a custom login page for Azure Active Directory?

Hey there! Feel Lucky. Custom company branding is ...READ MORE

answered Aug 9, 2018 in Azure by null_void
• 3,220 points
3,839 views
0 votes
2 answers

How can I enable Ping(ICMP) on Azure?

I had a similar problem. Needed to ...READ MORE

answered Aug 17, 2018 in Azure by Priyaj
• 58,100 points
8,128 views
0 votes
2 answers

How to process a file using Azure Function?

You don't really need a http trigger ...READ MORE

answered Jun 18, 2018 in Azure by club_seesharp
• 3,450 points
7,234 views
webinar REGISTER FOR FREE WEBINAR X
REGISTER NOW
webinar_success Thank you for registering Join Edureka Meetup community for 100+ Free Webinars each month JOIN MEETUP GROUP