Storage: AWS to Azure service map
38 AWS → Azure mappings: 15 direct, 17 partial, 6 with no equivalent.
Object, block, file, hybrid, backup, and data-transfer storage. S3 and its storage classes, EBS, EFS and the FSx family, Storage Gateway, AWS Backup, and the transfer services, mapped to their Azure equivalents and verified against official docs.
Object storage(4)
Object storage Direct match
The Azure equivalent of Amazon S3 is Azure Blob Storage. Both store objects in flat containers (S3 buckets, Blob containers) with an HTTP API, multiple cost tiers, versioning, replication, and WORM locking.
Object storage access control and temporary sharing links Direct match
S3 IAM policies, bucket policies, and presigned URLs map to Microsoft Entra ID with Azure RBAC data roles, the storage account firewall and private endpoints, and shared access signatures (SAS).
Per-application access endpoints for a shared dataset No equivalent
Azure has no equivalent of S3 Access Points. On Azure you get a similar result by splitting data into containers or directories with their own RBAC assignments (or ABAC conditions), and using private endpoints for network isolation.
Low-latency, high-request-rate object storage Partial match
S3 Express One Zone maps most closely to Azure premium block blob storage accounts. Both use SSDs and trade higher storage prices for lower latency and lower request costs, but they differ in zone placement and API.
Object tiers, lifecycle & protection(6)
Object storage cost tiers (infrequent access and archive) Direct match
S3 storage classes map to Blob access tiers. Standard-IA maps to cool (30-day minimum), Glacier Instant Retrieval maps to cold (90 days), and Glacier Flexible Retrieval and Deep Archive both map to archive (180 days, offline).
Automatic access-based tiering Direct match
S3 Intelligent-Tiering maps to Azure Blob smart tier. Both watch access patterns, move cold objects down automatically, move them back on access, and skip retrieval and early-deletion fees in exchange for a monitoring fee.
Object lifecycle rules Direct match
S3 Lifecycle configurations map to Azure Blob lifecycle management policies. Both use rules filtered by prefix or tags to transition and expire current and previous versions.
Object replication across regions or accounts Direct match
S3 Cross-Region and Same-Region Replication map to Azure Blob object replication. Azure also has a no-configuration option, geo-redundant storage (GRS or GZRS), which copies the whole account to its paired region.
WORM / immutable object storage Direct match
S3 Object Lock maps to immutable storage for Azure Blob Storage. Both support time-based retention and legal holds, and both are assessed for SEC 17a-4(f), CFTC, and FINRA.
Bulk operations on billions of objects Partial match
S3 Batch Operations maps most closely to Azure Storage Actions. Both are serverless engines that apply an operation to very large object sets. S3 works from a manifest of objects, while Storage Actions evaluates conditions across one or more accounts.
Object access, file access & analytics(6)
Data lake storage with real directories Partial match
On AWS, data lakes are built directly on S3 general purpose buckets. On Azure, you turn on the hierarchical namespace for a storage account to get Azure Data Lake Storage, which adds real directories, atomic renames, and POSIX-style ACLs.
Managed open table storage (Apache Iceberg) Partial match
Amazon S3 Tables (Iceberg table buckets) maps most closely to Microsoft Fabric OneLake. OneLake stores tables in Delta Lake format and can expose them as Iceberg (and Iceberg as Delta) through metadata virtualization. Azure Blob Storage itself has no table bucket type.
Mount object storage as a file system Partial match
Amazon S3 Files (a managed shared file system over a bucket) and Mountpoint for Amazon S3 map to NFS 3.0 support for Blob Storage and BlobFuse2. Azure has no managed file-system layer over Blob comparable to S3 Files.
Low-cost vector storage and similarity search Partial match
Amazon S3 Vectors has no Azure storage-layer equivalent. The closest Azure service is Azure AI Search, a search engine with vector, hybrid, and keyword search. Azure Blob Storage doesn't offer vector indexes.
Object inventory and metadata reporting Partial match
S3 Inventory maps directly to Azure blob inventory. S3 Metadata (queryable Iceberg tables of object metadata) maps only partly to the Blob change feed, which logs changes but isn't a queryable table.
Transform objects on read No equivalent
Azure has no equivalent of S3 Object Lambda, and Object Lambda itself has been closed to new customers since Nov 7, 2025. On both clouds, put a function or CDN logic in front of the storage instead.
Block storage(6)
VM block storage volumes Direct match
The Azure equivalent of Amazon EBS is Azure managed disks. Microsoft maps gp2/gp3 to Standard SSD or Premium SSD, gp3 to Premium SSD v2, and io2 to Ultra Disk, and recommends testing, because performance limits don't line up exactly.
Attach one disk to several VMs (clustering) Direct match
EBS Multi-Attach maps to Azure shared disks. Both expose one volume to several VMs, and both need a cluster manager or cluster-aware file system to coordinate writes.
Block volume snapshots Direct match
EBS snapshots map to managed disk incremental snapshots. Both store only changed blocks after the first copy, and both can be copied to other regions.
Local (ephemeral) VM disks Direct match
EC2 instance store maps to Azure VM temporary disks and local NVMe disks. Azure can also put the OS disk itself on local storage (ephemeral OS disks), which helps stateless scale sets.
Managed SAN (pooled iSCSI block storage) Partial match
Microsoft maps FSx for NetApp ONTAP iSCSI or NVMe/TCP LUNs to Azure Elastic SAN. Elastic SAN pools capacity and performance across many iSCSI volumes, while ONTAP is a full storage OS that also serves file protocols.
Kubernetes persistent volumes Partial match
The EKS CSI drivers (EBS, EFS, FSx, Mountpoint for S3) map to the AKS built-in CSI drivers (Azure Disks, Azure Files, Blob Storage), plus Azure Container Storage, which adds local NVMe and Elastic SAN volumes.
Managed file systems(6)
Serverless NFS file system for Linux Partial match
Microsoft maps Amazon EFS to Azure Files with NFS 4.1 shares. Both are managed NFS services, but EFS grows automatically and bills for what you store, while Azure Files NFS shares are SSD-only and provisioned.
Managed SMB / Windows file shares Partial match
Microsoft maps Amazon FSx for Windows File Server to Azure Files over SMB. FSx runs real Windows Server file servers for you, while Azure Files is a serverless SMB service that authenticates through AD DS, Microsoft Entra Domain Services, or Microsoft Entra Kerberos.
Managed NetApp ONTAP file storage Direct match
Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP maps to Azure NetApp Files. Both offer NetApp technology as a managed service, with NFS, SMB, and dual-protocol volumes and NetApp-style snapshots and replication.
Managed OpenZFS file system No equivalent
Azure has no managed OpenZFS service. For NFS workloads moving from FSx for OpenZFS, the usual Azure targets are Azure NetApp Files or Azure Files NFS.
Managed Lustre parallel file system (HPC and AI) Direct match
Amazon FSx for Lustre maps to Azure Managed Lustre. Both run the open-source Lustre file system as a managed service and link to object storage (S3 or Blob Storage) for importing and exporting data.
High-speed file cache in front of NFS or object data No equivalent
Amazon File Cache no longer has an Azure equivalent. Azure HPC Cache, the closest match, retired on Sep 30, 2025. For Blob-backed data, Azure Managed Lustre with Blob integration covers much of the same need.
Hybrid storage gateways(4)
On-premises file gateway to cloud object storage Partial match
Microsoft maps AWS Storage Gateway S3 File Gateway to Azure Data Box Gateway and Azure File Sync. Data Box Gateway is the closer technical match (NFS or SMB in, Azure Storage out). File Sync works only with Windows Server and syncs to Azure Files rather than Blob.
On-premises cache for cloud Windows file shares Partial match
Amazon FSx File Gateway, closed to new customers since Oct 28, 2024, maps to Azure File Sync. File Sync caches Azure file shares on your own Windows Servers, with cloud tiering.
Cloud-backed iSCSI volumes on premises No equivalent
Azure has no current equivalent of AWS Storage Gateway Volume Gateway. Microsoft's comparison lists "None", and StorSimple, Azure's former hybrid storage array, has reached end of support.
Virtual tape library in the cloud No equivalent
Azure has no equivalent of AWS Storage Gateway Tape Gateway, and Microsoft's comparison lists "None". On Azure, point backup software at Blob Storage directly (cool, cold, or archive tiers), or use Azure Backup.
Backup & disaster recovery(3)
Centralized backup service Direct match
AWS Backup maps to Azure Backup. Both are policy-based managed backup services that cover VMs, disks, file shares, object storage, databases, and Kubernetes, plus some on-premises workloads.
Immutable and isolated backup vaults (ransomware protection) Partial match
AWS Backup Vault Lock and logically air-gapped vaults map to Azure Backup immutable vaults (which can be locked), combined with soft delete and multi-user authorization through Resource Guard.
Server replication and disaster recovery Direct match
AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery (DRS) maps to Azure Site Recovery (ASR). Both replicate servers continuously, run non-disruptive test failovers, and support failback.
Data transfer & migration(3)
Online file and object migration Partial match
AWS DataSync maps to Azure Storage Mover (managed migration from NFS, SMB, and S3 sources) and AzCopy (command-line copy, including directly from S3). Microsoft's comparison page pairs DataSync with Azure File Sync, but File Sync is for ongoing sync of Windows servers, not migration.
Managed SFTP / FTP endpoints Partial match
AWS Transfer Family maps to SFTP support for Azure Blob Storage. Azure covers SFTP only. For FTPS, FTP, or AS2 you need a partner product or Logic Apps.
Offline bulk data transfer (ship or carry your data) Partial match
Microsoft maps AWS Snowball Edge to Azure Data Box, but AWS's full-shutdown page lists Snowball Edge as shut down on November 12, 2025. AWS now points to Data Transfer Terminal (you bring your own devices to an AWS location) or DataSync. Azure Data Box ships Microsoft devices to you, now in 120 TB and 525 TB next-gen models.