In this blog post Safer NAS Migration Planning with Azure Migrate Assessments for IT we will explain how to discover NetApp ONTAP and Dell PowerScale file shares, compare Azure storage options and build a migration plan based on evidence rather than assumptions.
NAS migrations often look straightforward until someone asks which applications use each share, whether performance will change, how permissions will be preserved and what Azure will cost each month. For many organisations, those answers are spread across spreadsheets, ageing documentation and the knowledge of one or two storage specialists.
Azure Migrate is Microsoft’s migration planning service. Its NAS assessment capability, currently in public preview, can connect to supported NetApp and Dell storage systems, create an inventory of their shares and assess suitable destinations such as Azure Files, Azure Blob Storage and Azure NetApp Files.
Importantly, the assessment does not copy or change your data. It gives decision-makers a clearer picture of what exists, where it could go and which risks must be addressed before approving a migration.
CPI Consulting helps organisations design, build and secure Azure AI solutions, from Azure OpenAI and Microsoft Foundry to agents, governance and production deployment.
Visit CPI ConsultingWhy NAS migration plans commonly go wrong
A NAS, or network-attached storage system, is a central platform used to store files accessed by employees, applications and servers. A single system may contain user folders, finance documents, design files, application data, archives and millions of files that nobody has reviewed for years.
The usual mistake is treating all of that data as one workload. It is not.
A general office share may work well on Azure Files, which provides managed shared folders in Azure. A performance-sensitive engineering or database workload may be better suited to Azure NetApp Files, which provides high-performance managed file storage.
Archive or application data may fit Azure Blob Storage, which is lower-cost object storage rather than a traditional shared drive. Moving a normal file share to Blob without checking how users and applications access it can create expensive rework.
Choosing the wrong destination can result in poor application performance, higher monthly costs or a second migration. This is why discovery must come before data copying, as we also cover in moving file shares to Azure Files without costly migration surprises.
How Azure Migrate NAS assessment works
The main technology is the Azure Migrate appliance, a lightweight system deployed inside your existing environment. It connects to supported NetApp ONTAP AFF or FAS clusters and Dell PowerScale or Isilon clusters running OneFS.
ONTAP and OneFS are the operating platforms that manage these storage systems. Azure Migrate uses read-only credentials, meaning it collects information but does not write to the storage or alter production files.
The appliance discovers SMB, NFS and S3 shares. SMB is commonly used for Windows shared folders, NFS is widely used by Linux and business applications, and S3 is an object-storage protocol used by modern applications and data platforms.
Discovered NAS systems then appear in the same Azure Migrate project as servers, databases and applications. This helps IT leaders plan storage alongside the systems that depend on it instead of running a separate, disconnected storage project.
Each share can receive a readiness result, recommended Azure configuration and estimated monthly cost. Shares can also be grouped by application, department, environment or migration wave.
What the assessment tells you
1. What you actually have
The first benefit is a verified inventory. The assessment can identify cluster details, capacity, protocols, volumes and estimated share sizes across supported NAS platforms.
This often exposes forgotten test shares, duplicate archives and data owned by teams that no longer exist. Removing or archiving unnecessary data before migration reduces transfer time, project effort and ongoing Azure storage costs.
2. Which Azure service may fit each share
Azure Migrate can evaluate shares against multiple Azure destinations rather than assuming everything belongs on one service. It can also present a mixed migration path where different shares go to different services.
That matters because the cheapest storage option is not always the lowest-cost business option. A service that saves money on storage but causes slow applications, user disruption or additional development work may cost far more overall.
If Azure NetApp Files is recommended, network design must also be considered early. Our Azure NetApp Files network features checklist explains why storage and network decisions cannot be separated.
3. Whether the sizing reflects real demand
Azure Migrate supports an as-is assessment based mainly on existing capacity and a performance-based assessment using activity such as throughput and input/output operations. In plain English, it can either size the destination like the current environment or use observed demand to recommend a better fit.
Performance-based sizing can reduce overprovisioning, but the data must be reviewed carefully. If measured performance information is unavailable, Azure Migrate may calculate values using predefined estimates.
Always confirm whether the recommendation is based on measured activity or derived figures. Run discovery long enough to capture month-end processing, backups, reporting cycles and other demand peaks.
4. What the likely monthly cost looks like
The assessment can compare target services, storage configurations, regions, redundancy options and access patterns. This gives CIOs and finance teams a more defensible starting point for the business case.
However, the estimate is not the complete project budget. Include migration labour, network connectivity, backups, security monitoring, temporary parallel operation and data transfer requirements.
For Azure NetApp Files, inactive data may also be moved to a lower-cost tier without changing how applications access it. We explain this option in how Azure NetApp Files cool access can reduce costs.
A practical planning scenario
Consider a 200-person professional services company with two NetApp clusters approaching renewal. Its IT team believes it has about 80 terabytes of data and initially plans to move everything to one Azure storage service.
Discovery identifies hundreds of shares with very different requirements. Current client folders need familiar shared-drive access, a document-processing application requires consistent high performance, and several large archives are rarely opened.
A mixed plan is more practical. Office shares can be assessed for Azure Files, the business-critical application can be tested on Azure NetApp Files, and suitable archive data can be considered for Blob Storage.
The business outcome is not simply “moving to Azure.” It is avoiding a like-for-like replacement that carries years of unused data and excessive capacity into the monthly cloud bill.
What the assessment does not decide for you
Azure Migrate improves planning, but it does not replace application testing or business consultation. Before accepting its recommendations, validate the following:
- Application dependencies — identify which servers, services and business processes use each share.
- Identity and permissions — confirm that users and service accounts will retain the correct access after migration.
- Performance peaks — test critical workloads against realistic demand, not just average activity.
- Backup and recovery — agree on how quickly files must be recovered after deletion, corruption or ransomware.
- Australian data requirements — review data location, privacy, contractual and industry obligations.
- Security controls — align the design with Essential 8, the Australian Government’s cybersecurity framework, including restricted administration, patching and reliable backups.
- Cutover planning — calculate transfer duration, final synchronisation time and acceptable business downtime.
The Azure landing zone also needs to be ready. This is the governed Azure foundation covering identity, networking, security, logging and cost controls. Our guide to building a secure Azure landing zone at scale covers this broader preparation.
A practical assessment checklist
- Create or review the Azure Migrate project and confirm where assessment data will be stored.
- Update and validate the Azure Migrate appliance before adding NAS discovery.
- Create least-privilege, read-only accounts for the NetApp or Dell clusters.
- Allow discovery to run long enough to capture representative activity.
- Tag shares by application owner, business unit, sensitivity and criticality.
- Compare as-is and performance-based results rather than relying on one view.
- Review mixed and single-service migration paths with finance and application owners.
- Test critical workloads and permissions before approving the target design.
- Build migration waves around business dependencies, not storage capacity alone.
- Recalculate the assessment if the source environment or assumptions change.
Use the assessment as evidence, not an automatic answer
Azure Migrate’s NAS assessment gives IT leaders something they have often lacked: a consistent, per-share view of NetApp ONTAP and Dell PowerScale storage alongside the rest of the technology environment.
It can shorten discovery, improve cost forecasting and reduce the chance of choosing the wrong Azure storage service. Because the capability is in public preview, organisations should still validate recommendations carefully and avoid treating assessment results as a final production design.
CloudProInc is a Melbourne-based Microsoft Partner and Wiz Security Integrator with more than 20 years of enterprise IT experience. We help organisations assess storage, design secure Azure environments and plan migrations without turning the engagement into a giant, faceless MSP project.
If you are unsure what is sitting on your current NAS, where it should move or whether the expected Azure bill is realistic, we are happy to take a practical look with you — no strings attached.