Migration software
Azure Data Box
Suggested in 2 of our migration playbooks, mainly for Servers and cloud. Here is what it handles, how it treats key settings, and other tools for the same jobs.
What does Azure Data Box handle?
The limits of the built-in tools that Azure Data Box gets around, as covered in our playbooks.
Azure migration
- Plan for a slow link with offline transferMicrosoft says Data Box and Data Box Disk preserve ACLs, timestamps and attributes for SMB Azure file shares.
NAS to Azure Files migration
- Use delta passes so the outage is only the last passMicrosoft documents seeding Azure file shares with Data Box Disk, which preserves ACLs, timestamps and attributes, or next-generation Data Box loaded with RoboCopy or the data copy service, then RoboCopy /MIR catch-up passes. Files must be 4 TiB or smaller and Data Box cannot import into NFS shares.
- The first full copy can take too long over a slow internet link.Seeds Azure file shares offline with ACLs and timestamps, then Robocopy /MIR catches up changes. Files must be 4 TiB or smaller.
How does Azure Data Box handle key settings?
From the settings checklists in our playbooks: what Azure Data Box carries across.
| Setting | How it handles it | Playbook |
|---|---|---|
| Folder permissions (ACLs) and owners | Preserves ACLs, timestamps and attributes when seeding SMB shares. | NAS to Azure Files migration |
| Timestamps and file attributes | Preserves timestamps and attributes. | NAS to Azure Files migration |
| Top-up copies (delta passes) and scheduling | Seeds the bulk offline; Robocopy /MIR then catches up the changes. | NAS to Azure Files migration |
| File size and share size | Files must be 4 TiB or smaller, and Data Box cannot import into NFS shares. | NAS to Azure Files migration |
Which tools do the same jobs as Azure Data Box?
Other tools our playbooks suggest for the same migrations.
We write these notes from the vendor documentation cited in each playbook. Tools cannot pay to be included or to change them. Check the vendor's current documentation and terms before you buy.