As hybrid cloud strategies continue to evolve, organizations are increasingly adopting Azure Local and Hyper-V to extend Azure services into their on-premises environments and Azure capabilities like Azure Virtual Machines for applications such as SAP, Oracle, and SQL, Azure VMware Solutions (AVS), Azure Red Hat OpenShift, Azure Virtual Desktops, AI & ML.
NetApp complements these Azure capabilities with ONTAP-powered solutions that span on-premises, hybrid, and cloud deployments. ONTAP AFF and ASA systems deliver enterprise-grade performance and resiliency for mission-critical workloads running in on-premises, while Azure NetApp Files provides a fully managed service for seamless integration with Azure. For organizations seeking a DIY approach to hybrid architectures, Cloud Volumes ONTAP offers flexibility and advanced data management. Together, these solutions enable easy migration, consistent enterprise capabilities, and significant cost savings, empowering businesses to scale efficiently without compromising performance or security.
As always, our focus remains on enabling customers to optimize workloads wherever they reside. Below is a brief overview of recent enhancements and capabilities designed to support hybrid and cloud deployments, helping organizations implement enterprise-grade solutions with greater efficiency and flexibility.
Microsoft Hyper-V – A strong alternative
With the recent licensing changes in the market, Microsoft Hyper-V has emerged as a compelling alternative to VMware for enterprise IT virtualization needs. ONTAP delivers enterprise-grade storage features that enhance Hyper-V environments with performance, reliability, and flexibility. Key capabilities include:
- NetApp SMI-S Provider delivers integrated dynamic storage management for SAN and NAS within System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM)
- ONTAP uniquely enables native copy offload between SAN and NAS, offering flexibility and efficient storage utilization, along with native space reclamation across NAS (SMB3 TRIM) and SAN (iSCSI/FCP with SCSI UNMAP)
- New comprehensive backup and recovery for Hyper-V VMs ensures granular protection, restoration and long term retention capabilities.
- Leading backup partners support ONTAP snapshots and SnapMirror for optimized, array-native backup and recovery
- WAC extension integration for dynamic VM mobility
- ONTAP PowerShell toolkit for quick and automated provisioning
- Ransomware protection using built-in onbox ML
Lightning fast VM mobility – the true migration offloader
Migrating between hypervisors can be a complex process, requiring careful consideration of factors such as application dependencies, migration timelines, workload criticality, and the potential impact of downtime on business operations. However, with ONTAP storage and the NetApp Shift toolkit, this process becomes significantly simpler and more efficient.
The NetApp Shift toolkit offers an intuitive, graphical user interface (GUI) that enables seamless migration of virtual machines (VMs) across different hypervisors while converting virtual disk formats. Leveraging NetApp FlexClone technology, the toolkit accelerates VM disk conversion, ensuring rapid and efficient transitions. Additionally, it automates the creation and configuration of destination VMs, reducing manual effort and complexity throughout the migration process.
The screenshot above shows high throughput VM conversion - 8TB VM with 6 VMDKs migrated in under 4 Minutes using Shift toolkit.
VM Mobility Made Simple: WAC Extension with NetApp Shift Toolkit (Preview)
Today’s IT landscape demands agility and a unified management experience. Migrating virtual machines to Hyper-V shouldn’t involve juggling multiple interfaces. That’s why Windows Admin Center (WAC) and the NetApp Shift Toolkit join forces to deliver a single-pane-of-glass solution that makes VM mobility simple and efficient.
With this powerful integration, VMs can be seamlessly converted to Hyper-V from the familiar WAC interface. No complex scripts or no manual conversions, just a streamlined workflow that saves time and reduces risk.
Why does this matter?
- Faster migrations with minimal downtime
- Simplified management through WAC’s intuitive UI
- No need of additional capacity, optimized storage leveraging NetApp’s enterprise-grade capabilities
Ready to make VM mobility simple? Explore the WAC extension with NetApp Shift Toolkit today and unlock the future of hybrid cloud.
Supercharge Azure Local with ONTAP: Scale on Demand, Without Limits (Preview)
While Azure local offers robust virtualization and integration with Azure Arc, as infrastructure grows beyond eight nodes or demands independent storage scaling, organizations should consider advanced optimizations that improve agility, efficiency, and long-term scalability. Enterprises also do not compromise on high-performance, low-latency storage solutions that can scale and integrate seamlessly with existing infrastructure. This is where NetApp AFF and ASA systems shine—especially when deployed with the Fibre Channel (FC) protocol.
NetApp AFF (All Flash FAS) and ASA (All SAN Array) platforms are purpose-built for high-performance workloads. They offer:
- Sub-millisecond latency for mission-critical applications
- Advanced data management with ONTAP, including snapshots, replication, ransomware protection and encryption
- Unified protocol support including FC, iSCSI, NFS and SMB
- High availability: keeping the workload running during complete site failure with synchronous replication and automated failover
- Scalability: Easily scale storage independently of compute
- Hybrid Cloud Ready: Integrates with Azure NetApp Files and Cloud Volumes ONTAP for cloud extension
When paired with Azure Local, NetApp AFF and ASA systems can act as external block storage arrays, providing FC-based cluster shared volumes (CSVs) for virtual machines and workloads that demand consistent performance and reliability. This allows seamless integration into existing SAN fabrics or new deployments using FC switches.
A typical deployment looks like this:
- Configure Azure Local nodes with FC HBAs, drivers, MPIO settings and install NetApp Windows Host Utilities.
- Deploy the Azure local cluster
- Connect all cluster nodes to the ONTAP storage system via Fibre Channel and complete zoning and WWN registration on the SAN array.
- Create volumes and LUNs. Unmask them to the WWNs of all cluster nodes and then initialise and format the LUNs as NTFS Cluster Shared Volumes (CSVs).
- Define Azure Arc VM storage paths pointing to these CSVs
This architecture ensures that storage is decoupled from compute, enabling independent scaling and maintenance while leveraging ONTAP’s rich feature set.
Be among the first to experience the future of hybrid cloud. An exclusive preview of Azure Local integrated with NetApp external storage is now open to a limited number of customers. Organizations running or planning to deploy Azure Local and able to validate Fibre Channel connectivity can secure a spot in this limited opportunity. Contact the NetApp account team today to join this early access program!
Azure NetApp Files and Hybrid Workloads – Powering Enterprise workloads in Azure
While NetApp AFF/ASA systems provide on-premises performance, Azure NetApp Files, a fully managed service, offers a cloud-native extension for born in the cloud applications and hybrid workloads. Azure NetApp Files (ANF) delivers high-performance, low-latency storage natively in Azure, enabling businesses to run mission-critical workloads with confidence. From Azure VMware Solution, Azure Virtual Desktop, SAP, Oracle databases, and AI/analytics, ANF simplifies complex storage needs while ensuring scalability and security. For instance, Azure NetApp Files supports supplemental NFS datastores for Azure VMware Solution, enabling seamless data mobility and disaster recovery.
Key highlights that spark curiosity:
- Cache Volumes (Preview): Cloud-based caches keep hot data close to applications for faster throughput and reduced footprint.
- Migration Assistant (Preview): A streamlined experience for effortless data migration enabling Hybrid Cloud with SnapMirror for replicating on-premises data to Azure.
- Object API Integration: Expose enterprise data directly to OneLake, enabling instant access for Microsoft Fabric, Azure AI Foundry, Copilot Studio, and M365—without ETL or duplication.
- OpenShift Virtualization Support (Preview): ANF now integrates with Azure Red Hat OpenShift, enabling enterprise-grade storage for containerized and virtualization workloads.
- Rapid Cloning & Backup: GA features include short-term clones, large-volume backups, and granular file restores.
Why is this unique?
These capabilities are only possible with NetApp ONTAP, the proven enterprise storage platform behind ANF. ONTAP delivers unmatched performance, integrated data protection, and advanced features that no other Azure-native storage service can offer—making ANF the ultimate solution for hybrid cloud, containerized environments, and AI-driven workloads.
Organizations seeking a self-managed approach to storage can leverage NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP, a flexible DIY solution. It provides enterprise-grade capabilities such as data protection, efficiency, and mobility across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
This hybrid model allows organizations to:
- Use AFF/ASA for primary workloads on Hyper-V or Azure Local
- Leverage Azure NetApp Files for born in the cloud applications, enterprise databases, AI/ML use cases, Disaster recovery or burst capacity and many more
- Control the data no matter where it is
- Maintain consistent ONTAP capabilities across environments
To conclude, ONTAP systems are ideal companions to on-premises, Cloud and Hybrid deployments, especially with the protocol of choice for performance and reliability. Together, they enable a modern, scalable, and hybrid-ready infrastructure that meets the needs of enterprise workloads today and tomorrow.
Safe Harbor Statement: Any unreleased services or features referenced in this blog are not currently available and may not be made generally available on time or at all, as may be determined in NetApp’s sole discretion. Any such referenced services or features do not represent promises to deliver, commitments, or obligations of NetApp and may not be incorporated into any contract. Customers should make their purchase decisions based upon services and features that are currently generally available.
