# Azure Files

## Azure Files — commitment brief

> **Data sourced**: March 2026. Verify current figures at the [Azure Pricing Calculator](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/calculator/).

### Coverage summary

Azure Files supports reserved capacity for SSD Provisioned v1 file shares and HDD pay-as-you-go shares in Hot and Cool access tiers, across LRS, ZRS, GRS, and GZRS redundancy types. Reservations are purchased in 10 TiB/month or 100 TiB/month blocks — larger blocks deliver higher discounts, up to \~36% off pay-as-you-go at 3-year. The Provisioned v2 billing model and the Transaction Optimized access tier are not eligible. No Compute Savings Plan or other Azure-wide savings plan covers Azure Files capacity.

**What is covered**: Storage capacity provisioned or consumed (depending on billing model) for eligible file shares. For pay-as-you-go shares, snapshot differentials count against the reservation. For Provisioned v1 shares, snapshots are billed separately and do not consume the reservation.

**What is not covered**: Transactions, bandwidth/egress, metadata, Provisioned v2 file shares, Transaction Optimized tier. Azure Hybrid Benefit does not apply.

### Azure Hybrid Benefit

> Not applicable. Azure Hybrid Benefit covers OS/software licenses for compute services and has no applicability to file storage billing.

### SKU / tier coverage

| SKU / Tier                                    | Reservation | Savings Plan | 1-yr discount      | 3-yr discount      | Notes                                                         |
| --------------------------------------------- | ----------- | ------------ | ------------------ | ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| SSD Provisioned v1 (Premium) — all redundancy | ✅ Yes       | ❌ No         | varies             | varies             | Snapshots billed separately; do not count against reservation |
| HDD Pay-as-you-go — Hot tier                  | ✅ Yes       | ❌ No         | \~18%              | \~34–36%           |                                                               |
| HDD Pay-as-you-go — Cool tier                 | ✅ Yes       | ❌ No         | varies             | varies             |                                                               |
| 100 TiB blocks                                | ✅ Yes       | ❌ No         | higher than 10 TiB | higher than 10 TiB | Larger block size delivers higher discount                    |
| Provisioned v2 (all tiers)                    | ❌ No        | ❌ No         | —                  | —                  | Not eligible for reserved capacity                            |
| HDD Pay-as-you-go — Transaction Optimized     | ❌ No        | ❌ No         | —                  | —                  | Not eligible for reserved capacity                            |

### Reservation vs. savings plan

**Reservation**: The only commitment instrument available for Azure Files capacity. Scoped to region, billing model, access tier, and redundancy type. Must be purchased in 10 TiB or 100 TiB monthly blocks. No Compute Savings Plan or other Azure-wide savings plan covers Azure Files.

## Regional availability

Azure Files reserved capacity is available in all commercial Azure regions for eligible billing models (SSD Provisioned v1 and HDD pay-as-you-go Hot/Cool tiers). Reservations are region-scoped — each reservation applies only to capacity in the selected region.

**Notable exclusions**: Azure Government and Azure China regions are not supported for Azure Files reservations. Not all redundancy options (GRS, GZRS) are available in every region — ZRS and GZRS require regions with availability zone support.

⚠️ Availability varies by SKU and region. Always verify in the [Azure portal](https://portal.azure.com) or via the [Azure Retail Pricing API](https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices) before purchasing.

### Archera

Azure Files reserved capacity is within Archera's commitment management scope. Archera can automate reservation purchase across file share billing models and redundancy types, monitor capacity utilization against reserved blocks, and wrap commitments in a GRI/GSP — eliminating downside risk on over-committed file storage capacity.

***

**Sources**

* [Reduce costs for Azure Files with reservations](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/files/files-reserve-capacity)
* [Understand how reservation discounts are applied to Azure storage services](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/reservations/understand-storage-charges)
* [Azure Files pricing](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/storage/files/)

⚠️ Discount percentages vary by region, tier, and redundancy type. Exact rates are shown dynamically in the Azure portal at reservation purchase time. Always verify with the [Azure Pricing Calculator](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/calculator/).


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