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Azure Storage VS GlusterFS

Compare Azure Storage VS GlusterFS and see what are their differences

Azure Storage logo Azure Storage

Reliable, economical cloud storage for data big and small in the Microsoft Azure cloud

GlusterFS logo GlusterFS

GlusterFS is a scale-out network-attached storage file system.
  • Azure Storage Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-01
  • GlusterFS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-03-10

Azure Storage features and specs

  • Scalability
    Azure Storage offers virtually unlimited scalability to store and manage large amounts of data, making it suitable for applications with growing data needs.
  • Accessibility
    Data stored in Azure Storage can be accessed from anywhere in the world via HTTP or HTTPS, providing flexibility for global teams and applications.
  • Durability
    Azure offers multiple copies of data both within the same region and across different regions, ensuring high durability and data protection against physical failures.
  • Security
    Azure Storage provides strong security features, including encryption at rest and in transit, identity-based access control, and integration with Azure Active Directory.
  • Cost-effectiveness
    Azure Storage provides a pay-as-you-go model, reducing costs for organizations since they only pay for the storage resources that they actually use.
  • Integration with other Azure Services
    Seamless integration with a wide array of other Azure services like Azure Functions, Azure Kubernetes Service, and Azure Machine Learning.

Possible disadvantages of Azure Storage

  • Complexity
    The range of options and configurations for Azure Storage can be overwhelming for new users, requiring a learning curve to effectively utilize its features.
  • Network Dependency
    Since Azure Storage is cloud-based, its performance can be heavily reliant on network connectivity and bandwidth.
  • Cost Management
    While Azure Storage is cost-effective for scalable usage, costs can quickly rise with increasing data amounts and egress, necessitating careful management and monitoring.
  • Latency
    Although Azure provides a global infrastructure, latency may still be an issue for certain applications requiring real-time data processing, especially if the data is not stored in regions close to users.
  • Service Availability
    Occasional service outages or downtimes can occur, which may impact businesses reliant on Azure Storage for critical applications, though these are generally rare.

GlusterFS features and specs

  • Scalability
    GlusterFS can easily scale out by adding more servers to the cluster, allowing it to handle increasing amounts of data and traffic.
  • Distributed File System
    It provides a distributed file system, enabling data replication and distribution across multiple nodes, which enhances data availability and reliability.
  • Open Source
    Being open source, GlusterFS provides flexibility and freedom for customization to fit specific needs without the cost associated with proprietary solutions.
  • POSIX Compliance
    GlusterFS is POSIX-compliant, meaning it supports standard file system operations, which makes it easier to integrate with existing applications and systems.
  • High Availability
    With built-in features like self-healing and replication, GlusterFS ensures that data remains available and consistent even in the event of hardware failures.
  • Geographical Distribution
    It supports geographical distribution of data, which is beneficial for disaster recovery and accessing data from multiple locations.

Possible disadvantages of GlusterFS

  • Performance Overhead
    Due to its distributed nature, GlusterFS might introduce performance overhead, particularly for workloads requiring low-latency or high-throughput.
  • Complexity in Management
    Managing a GlusterFS cluster can be complex, requiring in-depth knowledge of the system to properly configure and troubleshoot issues.
  • Latency Issues
    Latency can become a significant issue, especially in write-heavy applications or when nodes are geographically distant.
  • Resource Intensive
    GlusterFS can be resource-intensive, requiring significant CPU and memory resources to manage its distributed architecture and ensure data consistency.
  • Lack of Advanced Features
    Compared to other distributed file systems, GlusterFS may lack some advanced features like native support for certain storage protocols or comprehensive storage tiering.
  • Community Support
    While there is a community around GlusterFS, the level and speed of community support may not match that of commercially-backed solutions.

Azure Storage videos

Azure Storage Overview

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Azure Storage Tutorial | Introduction to Blob, Queue, Table & File Share
  • Review - Azure AZ-104 Exam Prep M3 Azure Storage Review Questions

GlusterFS videos

An Overview of GlusterFS Architecture Part 2 - Non-replicated Cluster

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Azure Storage and GlusterFS)
Cloud Storage
20 20%
80% 80
Object Storage
50 50%
50% 50
Cloud Computing
14 14%
86% 86
Storage
17 17%
83% 83

User comments

Share your experience with using Azure Storage and GlusterFS. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

GlusterFS might be a bit more popular than Azure Storage. We know about 2 links to it since March 2021 and only 2 links to Azure Storage. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Azure Storage mentions (2)

  • The best hosting options for your static site (for 2023)
    Microsoft Azure Storage is another option for hosting a static website, with a range of pricing plans to suit different needs. It offers features like custom domains and SSL certificates, and it's highly scalable and reliable. Also Azure Storage can be more expensive than some other options, especially for high-traffic websites. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Need help planning photo storage
    I'd start here: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/storage/ and mainly look at either FILE (for ease of use, though probably not great if you want to host the share to your community), or BLOB - if you're semi-comfortable with cloud computing and might want to setup a static website or something hosting this content. The next big question is tier - if only a few people are ever going to look at this stuff... Source: about 4 years ago

GlusterFS mentions (2)

  • [D] What are the compute options you've considered for your projects?
    I am a fan of Gearman to schedule and dispatch distributed jobs, Redis as a collaborative blackboard, and GlusterFS to share models across multiple systems and make bulk data available across the entire system (usually referenced in the blackboard as a pathname). Source: about 2 years ago
  • Gluster vs Oracle Gluster
    If you're not relying on support, then I would probably standardize on the latest packages available from gluster.org. Source: almost 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Azure Storage and GlusterFS, you can also consider the following products

Amazon S3 - Amazon S3 is an object storage where users can store data from their business on a safe, cloud-based platform. Amazon S3 operates in 54 availability zones within 18 graphic regions and 1 local region.

Ceph - Ceph is a distributed object store and file system designed to provide excellent performance...

Minio - Minio is an open-source minimal cloud storage server.

rkt - App Container runtime

Amazon EBS - Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) provides persistent block level storage volumes for use with Amazon EC2 instances in the AWS Cloud. Learn more here.

Apache Karaf - Apache Karaf is a lightweight, modern and polymorphic container powered by OSGi.