Storage & NFS¶

Azure Files NFS shared storage for seamless collaboration and data sharing across VMs.

Quick Start¶

# Create shared storage
azlin storage create myteam-shared --size 100

# Mount on VM as home directory
azlin storage mount vm myteam-shared --vm my-vm

# Multiple VMs can now share the same home directory
azlin storage mount vm myteam-shared --vm worker-1
azlin storage mount vm myteam-shared --vm worker-2

# Unmount when done
azlin storage unmount --vm my-vm

Overview¶

azlin provides integrated Azure Files NFS storage management for:

Shared home directories - Multiple VMs access same files
Team collaboration - Everyone works on shared codebase
Data persistence - Storage independent of VM lifecycle
Cost efficiency - Pay only for storage, not compute
High performance - Premium NFS with low latency

Key Features¶

Shared Home Directories¶

Mount Azure Files as /home/azureuser on multiple VMs:

# Create storage
azlin storage create team-storage

# Create VMs with shared home
azlin new --nfs-storage team-storage --name worker-1
azlin new --nfs-storage team-storage --name worker-2
azlin new --nfs-storage team-storage --name worker-3

# All VMs share /home/azureuser

Result: Changes on one VM instantly visible on all others.

Local Mounting¶

Mount storage on your laptop/desktop:

# Mount locally (Linux/macOS)
azlin storage mount local --mount-point ~/azure-shared/

# Access files from local machine
cd ~/azure-shared/
ls -la

Data Persistence¶

Storage outlives VMs:

# Delete VM
azlin delete my-vm

# Storage and data remain
azlin storage status myteam-shared

# Create new VM with same storage
azlin new --nfs-storage myteam-shared --name new-vm
# All files still there!

Storage Tiers¶

Tier	Price	IOPS	Use Case
Premium	$0.153/GB/month	High	Active development, databases
Standard	$0.0184/GB/month	Standard	Backups, archives, cold storage

Tier Selection

Use Premium for VMs' home directories (better performance)
Use Standard for backups and archival data

Command Overview¶

Command	Purpose	Example
`create`	Create new NFS storage	`azlin storage create myteam`
`list`	List storage accounts	`azlin storage list`
`status`	Check usage and details	`azlin storage status myteam`
`mount`	Mount on VM or locally	`azlin storage mount vm myteam --vm my-vm`
`unmount`	Unmount from VM	`azlin storage unmount --vm my-vm`
`delete`	Delete storage account	`azlin storage delete myteam`

Common Workflows¶

Team Development Environment¶

# 1. Create shared storage
azlin storage create team-dev --size 200 --tier Premium

# 2. Create VMs with shared home
for member in alice bob carol; do
  azlin new --nfs-storage team-dev --name "dev-$member"
done

# 3. Everyone works on same codebase
# Changes by alice instantly visible to bob and carol

Distributed Computing¶

# 1. Create storage for data
azlin storage create job-data --size 500

# 2. Upload data to one VM
azlin new --nfs-storage job-data --name coordinator
azlin connect coordinator
# ... upload data ...

# 3. Create worker VMs
azlin clone coordinator --num-replicas 10 --session-prefix worker
# All workers have access to same data via NFS

# 4. Process in parallel
for i in {1..10}; do
  azlin connect worker-$i -- python process.py --shard $i &
done

Backup and Disaster Recovery¶

# Create backup storage
azlin storage create backups --size 1000 --tier Standard

# Mount on VM for backups
azlin storage mount vm backups --vm production-db

# Automated backups
azlin connect production-db -- "
  rsync -av /var/lib/postgresql/ ~/backups/postgres/
"

# Restore to new VM if needed
azlin new --nfs-storage backups --name db-restore
# All backup data immediately available

Development/Staging/Production¶

# Shared storage per environment
azlin storage create dev-shared --size 100
azlin storage create staging-shared --size 200
azlin storage create prod-shared --size 500

# VMs use appropriate storage
azlin new --nfs-storage dev-shared --name dev-vm --tag env=dev
azlin new --nfs-storage staging-shared --name staging-vm --tag env=staging
azlin new --nfs-storage prod-shared --name prod-vm --tag env=production

How It Works¶

Architecture¶

┌──────────────┐       ┌──────────────┐       ┌──────────────┐
│   VM-1       │       │   VM-2       │       │   VM-3       │
│              │       │              │       │              │
│ /home/user ──┼───────┼──────────────┼───────┼─┐            │
└──────────────┘       └──────────────┘       └─┼────────────┘
                                                 │
                      ┌──────────────────────────┘
                      │
              ┌───────▼────────┐
              │  Azure Files   │
              │  NFS Storage   │
              │                │
              │  Premium/Std   │
              └────────────────┘

Mount Process¶

Create storage: Azure Files Premium NFS account
Create file share: 100GB (or specified size)
Configure network: Private endpoint in VNet
Mount on VM: NFS mount to /home/azureuser
Backup local: Original home backed up to /home/azureuser.local

Security¶

Private network only: No public internet access
VNet integration: Storage accessible only within Azure VNet
No credentials needed: Identity-based authentication
Encryption at rest: All data encrypted

Pricing Examples¶

Small Team (3 devs, 100GB)¶

Premium: 100GB × $0.153 = $15.30/month
Standard: 100GB × $0.0184 = $1.84/month

Medium Team (10 devs, 500GB)¶

Premium: 500GB × $0.153 = $76.50/month
Standard: 500GB × $0.0184 = $9.20/month

Large Project (10TB backups)¶

Premium: 10,000GB × $0.153 = $1,530/month
Standard: 10,000GB × $0.0184 = $184/month

Cost Optimization

Use Premium for active work (better performance)
Use Standard for backups/archives
Delete unused storage: azlin storage delete

Limitations¶

Linux/NFS only: No Windows support currently
VNet required: Must be within Azure VNet
Region-specific: Storage and VMs must be in same region
Single mount: One VM can't have multiple NFS mounts as home

Troubleshooting¶

Can't Create Storage¶

# Check name availability (must be globally unique)
az storage account check-name --name myteam-shared

# Try different name
azlin storage create myteam-shared-2

# Check quota
azlin quota

Mount Fails¶

# Verify storage exists
azlin storage list

# Check VM and storage in same region
azlin list
azlin storage status <storage-name>

# Check VNet configuration
az storage account show -n <storage> -g <rg>

Can't Access Files¶

# Check mount status
azlin connect my-vm -- mount | grep nfs

# Verify permissions
azlin connect my-vm -- ls -la /home/azureuser

# Remount if needed
azlin storage unmount --vm my-vm
azlin storage mount vm <storage> --vm my-vm

Next Steps¶

Create Storage - Set up new NFS storage
Mount Storage - Attach storage to VMs
Storage Status - Monitor usage and health
Shared Home Directories - Team collaboration setup

VM Cloning - Clone with shared storage

Source Code¶

Last updated: 2025-11-24