Data Management in the Cloud: Creating and Restoring Azure File Shares with Snapshots

Azure File Shares with Snapshots is a feature provided by Azure Files that allows you to take point-in-time, read-only copies of your file shares^. These snapshots capture the state of the share when taken, protecting against application errors, data corruption, accidental deletions, or unintended changes^.

Snapshots are handy for general backup purposes, and Azure recommends using the Azure file share backup service for managing these snapshots^. This service integrates with Azure File Sync and allows for centralized management of file share data and backups, providing benefits like zero infrastructure deployment, customized retention, built-in management capabilities, instant restore, and protection against accidental deletion.

^{Let's get started}

1- On the search bar enter the storage account

2- Create a Storage Account and File Share

3- a: Select Azure subscription and resource group
b: Give your storage account a name.
c: Set to the same location as the existing resource group
d: Set Performance to Standard
e: Click Review + Create and then Create.

4- A: Once the storage account has been deployed successfully, click Go to the resource.
B: Click on File Shares in the left side menu.

5- Click on + File Share

6- a: Give your file share a name
b: Click on Review + Create

7- Once Validation has passed click on create

8- a: Connect to your VM
b: Once connected, minimize any open windows, and click on the magnifying glass to search for Windows Firewall and open Windows Firewall.

9- Click Turn Windows Firewall on or off in the Windows Firewall window.

10- Turn the Firewall state to Off. Click Apply and then OK.

11- Search for Windows PowerShell on your Windows VM. Right-click on it, and click on Run as administrator.

12- a: Open your storage account in the Azure portal, and click File Shares on the left menu.
b: Select your file share, and click Connect.
c: In the side window that opens, click on Show Script and copy the PowerShell script to your clipboard.

13- a: Paste the PowerShell script in the Windows VM PowerShell session to connect the file share
b: After a moment, you should get a message that the credential was added successfully

Take a Snapshot and Restore Data
14- a: Click in File Explorer at the bottom of the Windows VM.
b: Click on This PC and open your file share.
c: Right-click in the fileshare window and click New > Text Document. Name this document.

15- a: Open the newly created document and type any words in there
b: Click on File > Save.

16- a: Return to the Azure Portal and close the Connect side window
b: Click on Browse in the left side menu and verify that you can see the test.txt file.

Add Snapshots
17- Click Add Snapshot and give it a name in the Comment Window before clicking OK.

18- a: Add random text to your created test document in the Windows VM. Click on File > Save.

b: Return to the Azure Portal.

19- a: Locate the Snapshot and select to open it up.

b: Select the ellipsis on the right-hand side of the test.txt file.

c: Select Restore

20- a: Click on Overwrite original file and then OK.

b: Open the test.txt file and you should see that it has reverted to its original text

I hope this step-by-step tutorial helped you understand how to create a storage account and file share in Azure, connect it to a virtual machine (VM), and manage data with snapshots. Thank you