Merge pull request #302723 from khdownie/kendownie071425

consolidate migration articles

Author: denrea

articles/storage/files/storage-files-migration-overview.md

@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 ---
-title: Migration overview for SMB Azure file shares
+title: Migration Overview for SMB Azure File Shares
 description: Learn how to migrate to SMB Azure file shares and choose from a table of migration guides using Azure Storage Mover, Robocopy, Azure File Sync, and other tools.
 author: khdownie
 ms.service: azure-file-storage
 ms.topic: concept-article
-ms.date: 03/28/2025
+ms.date: 07/14/2025
 ms.author: kendownie
 # Customer intent: "As a system administrator, I want to understand the migration process to SMB Azure file shares, so that I can efficiently move our data with full fidelity and select the appropriate tools for a seamless transition to cloud storage."
 ---
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ This article covers the basic aspects of a migration to SMB Azure file shares an
 
 ## Migration basics
 
+The goal is to move the data from existing file share locations to Azure. In Azure, you'll store your data in native Azure file shares you can use without a need for a Windows Server. This migration needs to be done in a way that guarantees the integrity of the production data and availability during the migration. The latter requires keeping downtime to a minimum, so that it can fit into or only slightly exceed regular maintenance windows.
+
 Azure offers different types of cloud storage. A fundamental aspect of file migrations to Azure is determining which Azure storage option is right for your data.
 
 [Azure file shares](storage-files-introduction.md) are suitable for general-purpose file data. This data includes anything you use an on-premises SMB share for. With [Azure File Sync](../file-sync/file-sync-planning.md), you can cache the contents of several Azure file shares on servers running Windows Server on-premises.
@@ -31,12 +33,14 @@ For an app that currently runs on an on-premises server, storing files in an Azu
 
 Some cloud apps don't depend on SMB or on machine-local data access or shared access. For those apps, object storage like [Azure blobs](../blobs/storage-blobs-overview.md) is often the best choice.
 
-The key in any migration is to capture all the applicable file fidelity when moving your files from their current storage location to Azure. How much fidelity the Azure storage option supports and how much your scenario requires also helps you pick the right Azure storage.
+## Preserving file fidelity
+
+A key aspect in any file share migration is capturing as much file fidelity as possible when moving your files from their current storage location to Azure.
 
 Here are the two basic components of a file:
 
 - **Data stream**: The data stream of a file stores the file content.
-- **File metadata**: Unlike object storage in Azure blobs, an Azure file share can natively store file metadata. General-purpose file data traditionally depends on file metadata. App data might not. The file metadata has these subcomponents:
+- **File metadata**: Unlike object storage in Azure blobs, an Azure file share can natively store [supported file metadata](#supported-metadata). General-purpose file data traditionally depends on file metadata. App data might not. The file metadata has these subcomponents:
   - File attributes like read-only
   - File permissions, which are often referred to as *NTFS permissions* or *file and folder ACLs*
   - Timestamps, most notably the creation and last-modified timestamps
@@ -48,7 +52,7 @@ File fidelity in a migration can be defined as the ability to:
 - Transfer files with the migration tool.
 - Store files in the target storage of the migration. </br> The target for migration guides in this article is one or more Azure file shares. Consider this [list of features that SMB Azure file shares don't support](files-smb-protocol.md#limitations).
 
-To ensure your migration proceeds smoothly, identify [the best copy tool for your needs](#migration-toolbox) and match a storage target to your source.
+To ensure your migration proceeds smoothly, identify [the best copy tool for your needs](#migration-guides) and match a storage target to your source.
 
 > [!IMPORTANT]
 > If you're migrating on-premises file servers to Azure Files, set the ACLs for the root directory of the file share **before** copying a large number of files, as changes to permissions for root ACLs can take a long time to propagate if done after a large file migration.
@@ -57,7 +61,7 @@ Users that leverage Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) as their on-premise
 
 Learn more about [identity-based authentication for Azure Files over SMB](storage-files-active-directory-overview.md).
 
-## Supported metadata
+### Supported metadata
 
 The following table lists supported metadata for Azure Files.
 
@@ -73,9 +77,68 @@ The following table lists supported metadata for Azure Files.
 | Modified timestamp | The original modified timestamp of the source file can be preserved on the target share. |
 | File attributes | Common attributes such as read-only, hidden, and archive flags can be preserved on the target share. |
 
+## Discovery phase
+
+The first phase of a migration is the discovery phase, in which you determine all the existing SMB file shares that need to be migrated, including their size, number, and any dependencies. This can be a difficult and time consuming task, especially for organizations with large, distributed environments. For customers with more than 100 TiB of file data, we recommend using Komprise, a third-party tool that can help you discover and analyze your file shares. For more information, see [Komprise File Migration](https://www.komprise.com/azure-file-migration/).
+
+Keep in mind that your existing SMB file shares might not be limited to on-premises Windows Servers. They could be on Linux servers, in the cloud, or on external NAS devices.
+
+## Assessment phase
+
+After discovery comes the assessment phase, which involves understanding available options for file storage, deploying the Azure resources you'll need, and preparing to use Azure file shares.
+
+### Deploy Azure storage resources
+
+As part of the assessment phase, you'll provision the Azure storage accounts and the SMB Azure file shares within them.
+
+An Azure file share is deployed in the cloud in an Azure storage account. For standard file shares, that arrangement makes the storage account a scale target for performance numbers like IOPS and throughput. If you place multiple file shares in a single storage account, you're creating a shared pool of IOPS and throughput for these shares.
+
+As a general rule, you can pool multiple Azure file shares into the same storage account if you have archival shares or you expect low day-to-day activity in them. However, if you have highly active shares (shares used by many users and/or applications), you'll want to deploy storage accounts with one file share each. These limitations don't apply to FileStorage (premium) storage accounts, where performance is explicitly provisioned and guaranteed for each share.
+
+For more information about performance and cost, see [Understand performance](understand-performance.md) and [Understand billing](understanding-billing.md).
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> There's a limit of 250 storage accounts per subscription per Azure region. With a quota increase, you can create up to 500 storage accounts per region. For more information, see [Increase Azure Storage account quotas](/azure/quotas/storage-account-quota-requests).
+
+Another consideration when you're deploying a storage account is redundancy. See [Azure Files redundancy](files-redundancy.md).
+
+If you've made a list of your shares, you should map each share to the storage account it will be created in.
+
+The names of your resources are also important. For example, if you group multiple shares for the HR department into an Azure storage account, you should name the storage account appropriately. Similarly, when you name your Azure file shares, you should use names similar to the ones used for their on-premises counterparts.
+
+Now deploy the appropriate number of Azure storage accounts with the appropriate number of Azure file shares in them, following the instructions in [Create an SMB file share](storage-how-to-create-file-share.md). In most cases, you'll want to make sure the region of each of your storage accounts is the same.
+
+### Prepare to use Azure file shares
+
+You'll also need to decide how your servers and users in Azure and outside of Azure will be enabled to utilize your Azure file shares. The most critical decisions are:
+
+- **Networking:** Enable your networks to route SMB traffic. See [Networking overview for Azure file shares](storage-files-networking-overview.md) for more information. You can use public endpoints, private endpoints, or a combination of both.
+- **Authentication:** Configure the Azure storage account for identity-based authentication and join the storage account to your AD domain. This will allow your apps and users to use their AD identity for authentication.
+- **Authorization:** Share-level ACLs for each Azure file share will allow AD users and groups to access a given share. Within an Azure file share, native NTFS ACLs will take over. Authorization based on file and folder ACLs then works like it does for on-premises SMB shares.
+- **Business continuity:** Integrating Azure file shares into an existing environment often entails preserving existing share addresses. If you aren't already using [DFS-Namespaces](files-manage-namespaces.md), consider establishing that in your environment. You'll be able to keep share addresses your users and scripts use, unchanged. DFS-N provides a namespace routing service for SMB by redirecting clients to Azure file shares.
+
+:::row:::
+    :::column:::
+        > [!VIDEO https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/jd49W33DxkQ]
+    :::column-end:::
+    :::column:::
+        This video is a guide and demo for how to securely expose Azure file shares directly to information workers and apps in five simple steps.</br>
+        The video references dedicated documentation for the following topics. Note that Azure Active Directory is now Microsoft Entra ID. For more information, see [New name for Azure AD](https://aka.ms/azureadnewname).
+
+* [Identity-based authentication overview](storage-files-active-directory-overview.md)
+* [Networking overview for Azure file shares](storage-files-networking-overview.md)
+* [How to configure public and private endpoints](storage-files-networking-endpoints.md)
+* [How to configure a S2S VPN](storage-files-configure-s2s-vpn.md)
+* [How to configure a Windows P2S VPN](storage-files-configure-p2s-vpn-windows.md)
+* [How to configure a Linux P2S VPN](storage-files-configure-p2s-vpn-linux.md)
+* [How to configure DNS forwarding](storage-files-networking-dns.md)
+* [Configure DFS-N](files-manage-namespaces.md)
+   :::column-end:::
+:::row-end:::
+
 ## Migration guides
 
-The following table lists suggested tool combinations for migrating to SMB Azure file shares.
+Selecting the right tools for your migration scenario is crucial. The following table lists suggested tool combinations for migrating to SMB Azure file shares.
 
 How to use the table:
 
@@ -88,9 +151,9 @@ How to use the table:
 
    Select the target column that matches your choice.
 
-1. Within the intersection of source and target, a table cell lists available migration scenarios. Select one to directly link to the migration guide.
+1. Within the intersection of source and target, a table cell lists available migration scenarios. Select one to view the migration guide.
 
-A scenario without a link doesn't yet have a published migration guide. Check this table occasionally for updates. New guides will be published when they're available.
+A scenario without a link doesn't yet have a published migration guide. Check this table occasionally for updates.
 
 | Source | Target: </br>Hybrid deployment </br>(Azure Files + Azure File Sync) | Target: </br>Cloud-only deployment </br>(Azure Files)|
 |:---|:--|:--|
@@ -100,11 +163,9 @@ A scenario without a link doesn't yet have a published migration guide. Check th
 | Linux (SMB) | <ul><li>NA</li></ul> | <ul><li>Via [Azure Storage Mover](migrate-files-storage-mover.md)</li></ul> |
 | Network-attached storage (NAS) | <ul><li>Via [Storage Mover upload](migrate-files-storage-mover.md) + [Azure File Sync](../file-sync/file-sync-deployment-guide.md)</li><li>[Via Azure File Sync upload](storage-files-migration-nas-hybrid.md)</li><li>[Via DataBox + Azure File Sync](storage-files-migration-nas-hybrid-databox.md)</li></ul> | <ul><li>Via [Azure Storage Mover](migrate-files-storage-mover.md)</li><li>[Via DataBox](storage-files-migration-nas-cloud-databox.md)</li><li>[Via RoboCopy to a mounted Azure file share](storage-files-migration-robocopy.md)</li></ul> |
 
-## Migration toolbox
-
 ### File-copy tools
 
-There are several file-copy tools available from Microsoft and others. To select the right tool for your migration scenario, consider these fundamental questions:
+To select the right tool for your migration scenario, consider these fundamental questions:
 
 - Does the tool support the source and target locations for your file copy?
 
@@ -152,7 +213,7 @@ Azure Storage Mover is a relatively new, fully managed migration service that en
 
 #### RoboCopy
 
-Included in Windows, RoboCopy is one of the tools most applicable to SMB file migrations. The main [RoboCopy documentation](/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/robocopy) is a helpful resource for this tool's many options.
+Included in Windows, RoboCopy is very useful for SMB file migrations. The [RoboCopy documentation](/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/robocopy) is a helpful resource for this tool's many options.
 
 #### Azure Storage Migration Program
 
@@ -173,12 +234,7 @@ You can use the tool to create a perspective before an [Azure File Sync deployme
 
 The tested version of the tool is version 4.4.1. It's compatible with cloud-tiered files. The tool won't cause recall of tiered files during its normal operation.
 
-## Next steps
-
-1. Create a plan for which deployment of Azure file shares (cloud-only or hybrid) you want.
-1. Review the list of available migration guides to find the guide that matches your source and deployment of Azure file shares.
-
-More information about the Azure Files technologies mentioned in this article:
+## See also
 
 - [Azure file share overview](storage-files-introduction.md)
 - [Planning for an Azure File Sync deployment](../file-sync/file-sync-planning.md)