Implementing distributed file system with Azure File Sync

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

To implement a distributed file system using Azure File Sync, you would generally use a combination of Azure File Shares and the Azure File Sync service. The Azure File Sync service enables you to centralize your organization's file shares in Azure Files while also maintaining the flexibility, performance, and compatibility of an on-premises file server. Azure File Sync transforms your Windows Server into a quick cache of your Azure file share.

Here's how you might use Pulumi to create the necessary resources:

1. **Azure File Share**: This is where your files will be stored in Azure. You will need a Storage Account first to host the File Share.
2. **Azure File Sync Service**: This service syncs your on-premises data with the Azure File Share.
3. **Server Endpoint**: This represents a specific location on your on-premises Windows Server to sync with the Azure File Share.

Below is a Pulumi program in TypeScript that creates an Azure File Share and sets up Azure File Sync with a Server Endpoint.

## Azure File Sync Set Up with Pulumi

```typescript
import * as azure from "@pulumi/azure-native";

// Create a new resource group to contain all the resources
const resourceGroup = new azure.resources.ResourceGroup("rg");

// Create an Azure storage account for the file share
const storageAccount = new azure.storage.StorageAccount("storageaccount", {
    resourceGroupName: resourceGroup.name,
    kind: "StorageV2", // The kind should be "StorageV2" for Azure File Sync
    sku: {
        name: "Standard_LRS", // SKU for the storage account
    },
});

// Create a file share in the storage account
const fileShare = new azure.storage.Share("fileshare", {
    accountName: storageAccount.name,
    resourceGroupName: resourceGroup.name,
    quota: 100, // Starting quota for the file share in GB
});

// Create a Sync Service (Azure File Sync) in the resource group
const syncService = new azure.storagesync.StorageSyncService("syncservice", {
    resourceGroupName: resourceGroup.name,
});

// Create a Sync Group within the Sync Service
const syncGroup = new azure.storagesync.SyncGroup("syncgroup", {
    resourceGroupName: resourceGroup.name,
    storageSyncServiceName: syncService.name,
});

// Register the on-premises Windows Server where your local file share resides
// The server ID would typically be obtained when you install the Azure File Sync agent on the server
const registeredServerId = "server-id-comes-here"; // Replace this with your server id obtained from the portal

// Create a Server Endpoint, which represents a specific location (a folder) on your on-premises server to sync with Azure File Share
const serverEndpoint = new azure.storagesync.ServerEndpoint("serverendpoint", {
    resourceGroupName: resourceGroup.name,
    storageSyncServiceName: syncService.name,
    syncGroupName: syncGroup.name,
    volumeFreeSpacePercent: 20, // Ensure at least 20% of volume is free space
    serverLocalPath: "C:\MyFileSyncedFolder", // Path on your Windows Server to be synced, needs to be double backslashes in TypeScript
    serverResourceId: registeredServerId, // Resource ID of the registered server
    cloudTiering: "on", // Enable cloud tiering
    tierFilesOlderThanDays: 30, // Tier files older than 30 days to Azure File Share
});

// Export the Azure File Share URL so it can be accessed or mounted
export const fileShareUrl = storageAccount.primaryEndpoints.apply(endpoints => endpoints.file);
```

### Explanation:

1. **Resource Group**: A container that holds related resources for an Azure solution.
2. **Storage Account**: An Azure Storage Account is created to store the File Shares.
3. **File Share**: A File Share is created within the Storage Account to store the files.
4. **StorageSync Service**: This is the Azure File Sync service resource that will be used to sync the file shares across different Windows Servers.
5. **Sync Group**: A Logical container for the endpoints that you want to sync.
6. **Server Endpoint**: A specific location on the on-premises Windows Server to sync with the Azure File Share. `registeredServerId` represents the ID of the server obtained when you install Azure File Sync. This will need to be replaced with your actual server ID.
7. **Export**: Outputs the URL for the created Azure File Share, which can be used to mount the share on-premises.

Please ensure you replace `"server-id-comes-here"` with your actual server ID, which you will get after you configure Azure File Sync on your on-premises server. Also, adjust the `serverLocalPath` to the path you want to sync on your server.

Remember, this program only models the Azure infrastructure side of things using Pulumi. For the on-premises components, you will need to manually install the Azure File Sync agent on your Windows Server and complete the registration process as guided by Azure documentation. Also, Azure policies such as firewall, networking and access rights must be taken into consideration when dealing with a real-world setup.