Azure Files Removes a Big Blocker to Cloud Migration

• Azure Files now offers native Entra ID user authentication.
• It removes the infrastructure tax of maintaining access to Active Directory services.
• Customers using AVD or Windows 365 can reduce deployment and management costs.

Azure Files, an Azure Storage offering that provides traditional Server Message Block (SMB) file sharing, has finally added an Entra ID–only authentication option. Previously, customers had to use one of several options for connecting to traditional Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). This new authentication option removes a major blocker for moving remote desktop users and file shares to the cloud and reduces the infrastructure tax historically required to support SMB workloads in Azure.

Customers with Azure-based virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), and Windows 365 environments will be the first to benefit from the simplification with faster deployments, ease of management, and lower overall costs. By storing user profiles (FSLogix profiles) in Azure Files and authenticating users through Entra ID, it finally provides a fully cloud-native architecture for user identity, compute, and file shares.