Data Box

by
Jim Gaynor

by
Jim Gaynor

Jim leads the Directions on Microsoft editorial team and has been writing about technology since the early 1990s. Most recently... more

Azure Data Box is a family of physical devices and services that help customers transfer large volumes of data into and out of Azure storage. In addition to the primary use case onboarding large workloads or datasets to Azure, they can also be used to accelerate exporting data from Azure, either as part of a disaster recovery scenario or by moving workloads from Azure to on-premises or another cloud.

Product: Data Box

Near Term (2026-2027)

Data Box added support for Azure Files Provisioned v2 in Apr. 2026, enabling customers to transfer data directly into Azure Files Provisioned v2 without using an intermediary Azure storage service.

As of Mar. 2026, Data Box automatically generates a Secure Erasure Certificate for every completed order, accessible from the Azure portal, providing verification that all data on the device has been securely erased in accordance with NIST 800-88 Revision 2 standards. This certification can reduce audit complexity and simplify compliance for customers handling sensitive data, including government, law enforcement, and financial services.