In this episode of E2E:10-Minute Drill, host Pierre Roman sits down with Will Gries, Principal PM in Azure Storage, to explore the newly released Azure Files Provisioned V2 billing model. This model introduces a game-changing approach to cloud file storage by allowing users to provision storage, IOPS, and throughput independently—a major leap forward in flexibility and cost optimization.
📺 Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/Tb6y0fvJBMs
Previously, Standard Azure Files used a pay-as-you-go model where you pay per GB of storage plus transaction fees for every file operation (reads, writes, lists, etc.). That often made bills hard to predict. There was also a Premium tier (Provisioned V1 on SSDs, where you pre-allocated capacity; that gave you fixed performance and no transaction charges, but you might have to over-provision storage to get more IOPS, whether you needed that extra space or not.
Provisioned V2 changes the game… You can now pre-provision your storage, IOPS, and throughput you need for a file share. That’s what you pay for – and nothing more. There are no per-operation fees at all in V2. It’s like moving from a metered phone plan to an unlimited plan: a stable bill each month, and you can adjust your “plan” up or down as needed.
- Predictable (and Lower) Costs: No more paying for every single read/write. You pay a known monthly rate based on the resources you reserve. This means no surprise spikes in cost when your usage increases. In many cases, Provisioned V2 actually lowers the total cost for active workloads. Microsoft has noted that common workloads might save on the order of 30–50% compared to the old pay-as-you-go model, thanks to lower storage prices and zero transaction fees.
- High Performance on Demand: Each file share can now scale up to 50,000 IOPS and 5 GiB/sec throughput, and support up to 256 TiB of data in a single share. That’s a big jump from the old limits. More importantly, you’re in control of the performance: if you need more IOPS or bandwidth, you can dial it up anytime (and dial it down later if you overshot). Provisioned V2 also includes burst capacity for short spikes, so your share can automatically handle occasional surges above your baseline IOPS. Bottom line – your Azure Files can now handle much larger and more IO-intensive workloads without breaking a sweat.
- Simpler Management & Planning: Forget about juggling Hot vs Cool vs Transaction Optimized tiers or guessing at how many transactions you’ll run. With V2, every Standard file share works the same way – you just decide how much capacity and performance to provision. This makes it much easier to plan and budget. You can monitor each share’s usage with new per-share metrics (Azure shows you how much of your provisioned IOPS/throughput you’re using), which helps right-size your settings. If you’re syncing on-prem file servers to Azure with Azure File Sync, the predictable costs and higher limits of V2 make your hybrid setup easier to manage and potentially cheaper, too.
Provisioned V2 makes Azure Files more cloud-friendly and enterprise-ready. Whether you’re a new user or have been using Azure Files for years, this model offers a win-win: you get more control and performance, and you eliminate the unpredictable bills.
If you have heavy usage, you’ll appreciate the cost savings and headroom. If you have lighter usage, you’ll enjoy the simplicity and peace of mind. Overall, if you use Azure Files (or are planning to), Provisioned V2 is likely to make your life easier and your storage costs lower. It’s a welcome upgrade that addresses a lot of customer pain points in cloud file storage.
If you’re looking to optimize your Azure storage strategy, this episode is a must-watch.
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Cheer!
Pierre
