Use Azure Files for Azure Kubernetes Workloads

Here’s a concise summary of the article "Azure Files guidance for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) workloads":

High-level overview

• Azure Files offers fully managed SMB and NFS file shares that can be used as persistent, shared storage for AKS container workloads.

• It enables stateful applications and scenarios where multiple pods need concurrent access to the same files.

Why use Azure Files with AKS

• Persistent shared storage that survives pod restarts, node failures, and cluster scaling.

• Native Kubernetes integration via the Azure Files CSI driver (PV/PVC, StorageClass).

• Enterprise-grade performance and security (encryption at rest/in transit, Microsoft Entra ID integration, compliance).

• Supports Linux and Windows containers through SMB and NFS protocols.

• SSD (Premium) and HDD (Standard) SKUs; use SSD in the same region as AKS for best performance.

Azure Files CSI driver

• Implements the CSI spec to connect Azure Files to Kubernetes.

• Components: CSI driver pods (DaemonSet), CSI controller, StorageClasses, PVs, PVCs.

• Capabilities: dynamic provisioning, volume expansion, snapshots, cross-platform compatibility.

• Works by creating or attaching Azure file shares on PVC requests and mounting them into pod filesystems.

Common use cases

• Shared configuration and secrets distribution across pods.

• Centralized log aggregation and persistent log storage.

• Content/media storage and content management systems.

• Batch processing / ETL pipelines that share input/output data.

• Development and test environments with shared storage needs.

Provisioning options

• Dynamic provisioning: storage is created automatically via a StorageClass (example shows a Premium_LRS SMB StorageClass).

• Static provisioning: create PVs that reference pre-existing file shares (example shows PV referencing existing share with volumeAttributes).

Recommended mount options and examples

• Example mount options provided (dir/file modes, uid/gid, mfsymlinks, cache=strict, actimeo, nobrl) to optimize performance and compatibility.

• YAML examples in the article demonstrate:

  • PVC + Deployment mounting for shared configuration.

  • PVC + DaemonSet for centralized log collection.

  • StorageClass for dynamic provisioning and PV for static provisioning.

Security best practice

• Use private endpoints (networkEndpointType: privateEndpoint) to restrict storage account network access.

• Example StorageClass shows parameters for private endpoints and recommended mountOptions for security and performance (nosharesock, nobrl, actimeo).

Links and resources

• The article references deeper guides: "Use Azure Files CSI driver in AKS" and "Create and use a volume with Azure Files in AKS."

Last updated: 08/12/2025

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