<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some small to midsize businesses may still find ASM useful, as it’s well-suited for migrating smaller data sets one-way into Azure. In this article, we\u2019ll discuss how it works, what scenarios you can use it in, and what its limitations are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ll also contrast ASM with Resilio Active Everywhere (formerly Resilio Connect) \u2014 our file replication solution designed to move or sync files and objects of any size and type, and in any direction \u2014 for enterprises with more demanding data movement and replication needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Would you like to see a live demo or speak with one or our engineers? <\/em>Please schedule a demo to learn more<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Resilio Active Everywhere is a highly reliable, software-only file replication and synchronization solution. Unlike ASM, which is point-to-point, Resilio is P2P (peer-to-peer). This means all agents can work together to replicate data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Resilio also provides built-in WAN optimization for fast and efficient replication across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Overall, Resilio is a superior alternative to ASM and other replication solutions because it is: <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizations in tech (Cisco, Match), media (Turner Sports, Skywalker Sound), gaming (2K Games, Bungie), retail (KFC, McDonald\u2019s), and more use Resilio Active Everywhere to sync and transfer data across cloud and hybrid\/multi-cloud environments. To learn more about how Resilio can help you replicate data into and across any cloud storage provider, <\/em>schedule a demo<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n While Microsoft has plans to expand ASM\u2019s functionality, the current iteration (public preview) provides simple replication for basic migration scenarios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ASM is a virtual machine-based migration appliance that runs on a virtualization host. It works by deploying agents known as Storage Mover Resources on a device near the source storage (ideally, as close as possible). You can deploy ASM agents on NFS mounts (on a NAS or server) and SMB mounts for just two migration configurations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Currently, those are the only two supported scenarios. You can\u2019t, for example, migrate data from an NFS share to an Azure file share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike AzCopy<\/a>, ASM supports full file fidelity when migrating data using the SMB protocol \u2014 i.e., it maintains folder structures and metadata (such as timestamps, file attributes, and ACLs) on the target destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When migrating from an NFS source, ASM preserves the metadata of the source folder in the custom metadata field of the blob.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ASM is available in your Azure portal. To use it, you must deploy a Storage Mover migration agent VM on a device near the source storage (learn more about deploying agents here<\/a>). The migration agent sends your data directly to the target storage destination (blob storage container or file shares) in Azure.<\/p>\n\n\n To set up ASM, first create a new VM to host the agent. Then download the zip file for the ASM agent here<\/a>, and extract the virtual hard disk (VHD) image to your host.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You should calculate the available resources (compute, memory, network, and storage space) your agent will require, which is usually determined by the overall size of your data as well as the number of files and folders. Agents will need a minimum of 20 GiB of local storage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can deploy agents on multiple on-prem endpoints and use AMS to: <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Resources:<\/strong> Learn more about ASM and how best to use it with these <\/em>Azure resources<\/em><\/a>. Learn more about incorporating ASM into your migration plan <\/em>here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re new to cloud storage or have recently started an Azure storage account, ASM is a useful tool for getting your data on the cloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In its current form, it only supports two use cases:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond these two basic use cases, ASM is not a suitable solution because it suffers from many limitations, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n As discussed earlier, ASM can only move files from NFS mounts on a NAS device or a server to an Azure Blob or<\/em> from an SMB mount to Azure file shares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re using a different kind of on-prem device, want to replicate to different Azure services, or want to replicate across cloud regions, you\u2019ll need another solution. ASM also can\u2019t be used with other cloud storage providers, such as AWS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ASM is managed through the Azure portal, PowerShell, or CLI. Each requires you to learn and use Azure command-line coding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ASM is designed for workloads of 50 TB or less. Larger enterprise businesses will need a solution capable of handling larger workloads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Azure Storage Mover uses traditional point-to-point replication which is slow. And, although it uses the Azure REST protocol (which provides fairly fast transfer), it doesn\u2019t use any WAN optimization technology to enhance WAN transfers. If you\u2019re replicating over a WAN (especially if merging data from multiple devices to the Azure cloud), ASM will perform poorly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ASM is suitable for simple migration jobs. However, it can\u2019t sync data across two or more endpoints. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And while it can perform periodic backups, it\u2019s not designed to backup data as frequently as needed for effective DR plans, doesn\u2019t provide real-time backup, and can\u2019t provide Active-Active High Availability. Using ASM as a backup tool for DR would result in long RPOs (Recovery Point Objectives) and poor RTOs (Recovery Time Objectives).<\/p>\n\n\n\n ASM agents utilize all of the available bandwidth on the source and target. It doesn\u2019t currently support the creation of bandwidth throttling schedules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Resilio is a real-time file replication and synchronization software system that can perform the same functions as ASM (and much more), but better:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n As discussed in this article, ASM is limited to NFS mounts, SMB shares, and the Azure cloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Resilio Active Everywhere is a much more flexible solution that you can deploy on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can deploy Resilio on your existing IT infrastructure and begin replicating data in as little as two hours. Because of Resilio\u2019s flexibility, you can use it to replicate across on-prem devices, cloud endpoints, cloud regions, and different cloud providers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can manage all of your cloud and on-prem endpoints from one centralized location. Resilio\u2019s Management Console gives you granular control over how replication occurs in your environment, and you can use it to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Resilio Active Everywhere provides a degree of flexibility and control that makes it the ideal solution for managing and replicating data in hybrid and multi-cloud environments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond simply migrating data into an Azure storage account, Resilio enables you to synchronize all of your cloud and on-prem endpoints (regardless of what type of cloud provider or device you use) in real-time, and optimize sync parameters in order to minimize costs and maximize performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Deutsche Aircraft<\/a> is a manufacturer of commercial aircraft. They use Resilio to automatically and efficiently sync millions of files in real-time, as well as enable Active-Active High Availability for fast failover across all of their Microsoft DFS servers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have a 10Gbps network but prefer to use under 1Gbps for data transfer and replication. With Resilio, we\u2019re able to keep that down to 250Mbps during the day and at night move back up to 1GBps\u2026 Resilio is much easier to manage than DFSR. Using the Resilio Platform management console, you can see everything you need to know. Everything is visible.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Learn more about how Resilio Active Everywhere helped Deutsche Aircraft reduce replication management time by 14 hours per week.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n ASM provides simple, one-way replication, where the target must always be an Azure cloud endpoint (blob containers or file shares). You can use it to transfer large amounts of data into Azure, merge files from multiple on-prem endpoints into Azure, and periodically backup files to the cloud. But it doesn\u2019t sync bidirectionally, doesn\u2019t sync data in real-time, and can\u2019t keep both on-premise and cloud endpoints synchronized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Resilio\u2019s superiority as a replication solution is due in large part to its P2P replication architecture. In a P2P architecture, every endpoint with a Resilio agent installed on it can share data with and receive data from every other endpoint with a Resilio agent. And each endpoint can replicate data simultaneously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This P2P dynamic enables Resilio to provide many capabilities that ASM can\u2019t, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Resilio Active Everywhere uses a process known as file chunking, which splits files into several chunks that can transfer independently of each other. And, because every endpoint in a P2P architecture can share files with every other endpoint simultaneously, Resilio can fully utilize your entire environment to quickly sync files across your entire system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Imagine you want to sync a 10 TB file across five endpoints. Resilio can split that file into five 2 TB chunks. Device 1 can share the first 2 TB chunk with Device 2. Device 2 can immediately share that first chunk with Device 3, even before it receives the other 8 TB of the file. Soon, all five devices will be sharing file chunks at the same time, enabling you to sync your entire environment 3-10x faster than traditional sync solutions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Resilio can also perform real-time replication, and only replicates the changed portions of files. While other replication solutions must scan file systems in order to detect file changes, Resilio uses optimized checksum calculations (identification markers assigned to each file that change when the file changes) and notification events from the host OS to detect and immediately replicate file changes (Resilio can also perform scheduled and manual syncs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n So anytime a change is made to a file on any of your cloud or on-prem endpoints, that change is immediately propagated across your entire environment (or you can use Resilio\u2019s Selective Sync capability to control which endpoints files are synced to). Resilio\u2019s engineers were able to replicate a 1 TB data set between <\/strong>Azure regions<\/strong><\/a> in 90 seconds.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Resilio\u2019s P2P architecture allows it to replicate files in any direction, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n MixHits Radio<\/a> is a music streaming service that provides music for businesses, such as McDonald\u2019s, Dunkin Donuts, and more. They use Resilio Active Everywhere to sync their music and metadata across all of their US web servers in real-time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf a music program updates in one location, file changes are detected and propagated across servers within 2 seconds. That rapid update and real-time synchronization has been a saving grace for us.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Learn more about how Resilio helps MixHits Radio quickly and easily sync their servers.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n P2P environments scale organically. Since every endpoint can share files, every new endpoint added to the application only increases replication speed and resources. In fact, Resilio can sync hundreds of endpoints in roughly the same time it takes most solutions to sync two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Resilio\u2019s P2P architecture and organic scalability enable it to perform horizontal scale-out replication and reach replication speeds of 100+ Gbps per server<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Resilio can also handle files of any size or number. Resilio\u2019s engineers were able to successfully sync 450+ million files in a single job.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Resilio is the most reliable replication solution available, so you can be sure your files will always reach their destination no matter what.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other replication and sync solutions use point-to-point replication (i.e., from one device to another), which creates single points of failure. If any device or network in your environment goes down, it can stop or delay replication for every other device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Resilio\u2019s P2P architecture eliminates single points of failure. If any device goes down, any other device can supply the necessary files or services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This allows Resilio to provide Active-Active High Availability for disaster recovery scenarios. Resilio effectively turns every endpoint in your system into a backup device. In the event of a disaster, your application can retrieve data and services from any endpoint in your environment. And every endpoint can work together to bring your system back online \u2014 enabling Resilio to achieve sub-five second RPOs and RTOs within minutes of an outage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Resilio is also incredibly resilient. If a transfer is interrupted, Resilio can perform a checksum restart to resume the transfer where it left off and will retry transfers until they are complete. And Resilio can dynamically reroute around downed networks and devices to ensure files always reach their destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Resilio is designed to operate with minimal human intervention. You can program rules such as file conflict resolution to automate troubleshooting in the event of a replication error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Replication performance is closely tied to the quality of your network. Many organizations operate with limited bandwidth and in areas with poor connections. And replicating data across cloud regions requires utilizing high-latency, loss-prone WANs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Resilio uses a proprietary WAN acceleration protocol known as Zero Gravity Transport\u2122 (ZGT). ZGT manages network traffic in order to fully utilize any network connection and ensure transfers occur as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n ZGT uses a congestion control algorithm that constantly probes the RTT of a network to identify and maintain the ideal packet send rate and a uniform packet distribution over time. Rather than sending an acknowledgment for each packet receipt, ZGT sends acknowledgments in groups. Each acknowledgment contains info about lost packets, and ZGT retransmits lost packets once per RTT in order to reduce unnecessary retransmission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ZGT enables Resilio to use and optimize any network connection, no matter how low-quality it is. Resilio works with any type of network, such as VSATs, Wi-Fi, cell (3G, 4G, and 5G), and any IP connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It also allows you to use Resilio in remote locations with little\/no network connectivity, such as at the edge of networks, at sea, and in countries with underdeveloped connectivity. You can continuously sync data from data centers at the edge to the cloud, then sync those files across all of your cloud and on-prem endpoints.<\/p>\n\n\n Further reading:<\/em><\/strong> To learn more about Resilio\u2019s WAN acceleration capabilities, read our <\/em>WAN optimization whitepaper<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n As discussed in this article, ASM is limited to cloud migration, simple backup, and merging use cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Resilio Active Everywhere is the best file replication and sync solution for a variety of use cases, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Resilio Active Everywhere’s N-way sync capabilities make it an ideal replication solution for remote and distributed workforces. When collaborating on files, employees located anywhere in the world can make changes to files and have those changes immediately synced to every other office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every office\/endpoint with a Resilio agent will have the power of P2P replication and WAN acceleration, so files are reliably updated and synchronized regardless of network quality or outages. Everyone in your organization will always have the most up-to-date versions of files with little\/no file conflicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can also use Resilio as an efficient object storage gateway to get low-latency access to files stored in any cloud storage platform. You can manage all files stored on-prem and in the cloud from one location. And employees can access files from a unified interface that operates much like Microsoft OneDrive.<\/p>\n\n\n Resilio\u2019s object storage gateway includes several features that allow you to enhance efficiency and productivity better than any other object storage gateway solution, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Resilio is an excellent replication solution for hot-site disaster recovery<\/a> and cloud disaster recovery<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With one-to-many replication, you can back up your on-prem servers in real time to multiple cloud-based backup sites. Or you can use many-to-many replication to sync data across your entire environment and effectively turn every server into a backup site and configure Active-Active High Availability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the event of an outage, every endpoint in your environment can replicate files simultaneously in order to quickly bring your system back online. With Resilio\u2019s real-time, P2P replication and WAN optimization, you can achieve sub-five-second RPOs and RTOs within minutes of an outage.<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizations that run websites and applications can use Resilio to keep geographically distributed servers in sync. With Resilio\u2019s blazing-fast replication speeds, updates are immediately synced and available to all users. Resilio\u2019s checkpoint restarts, dynamic rerouting, high availability, and elimination of single points of failure enable websites and apps to meet uptime SLAs and improve the experience for their users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Software companies can use Resilio\u2019s one-to-many replication to distribute software updates across their servers. Resilio\u2019s P2P architecture and WAN optimization protocol enable you to reduce latency issues in Azure<\/a> (or any other cloud) and reliably distribute large updates much faster than traditional solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
How Azure Storage Mover Works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How Azure Storage Mover Works<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
Azure Storage Mover Deployment: How to Set It Up<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Migration](\"https:\/\/blog.resilio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/azure-storage-mover-agent.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Azure Storage Mover Limitations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
1. Limited Source-Target Pairings<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. Management Difficulty<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Can\u2019t Handle Large Data<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. Slow Replication, Especially Over WANs<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Limited Use Cases<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
6. No Bandwidth Throttling<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How Resilio Active Everywhere Overcomes Azure Storage Mover\u2019s Limitations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Resilio Provides Flexible Deployment & Easy Management<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
![\"Resilio](\"https:\/\/blog.resilio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image3-1024x776.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Case Study: Optimized Resource Utilization via Granular Control <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"Deutsche](\"https:\/\/blog.resilio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Deutsche-aircraft-1.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nResilio Provides High-Performance Replication and Sync<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Blazing Fast Replication and Sync Speeds<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"GIF](\"https:\/\/blog.resilio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image2.gif\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nMulti-Directional Replication<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n
Case Study: MixHits Radio Syncs Web Servers in Real-Time<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"MixHits](\"https:\/\/blog.resilio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MixHits-radio.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nOrganic Scalability<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Bulletproof Reliability and Resiliency<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Resilio Fully Utilizes Any Network with WAN Optimization<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.resilio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/finnacial-services-dr-1024x980.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n![\"Cross](\"https:\/\/blog.resilio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/cross-region-replication-Azure-3-1024x668.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nResilio Supports More Cloud and Hybrid-Cloud Use Cases<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Remote, Hybrid, and Distributed Workforces<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"How](\"https:\/\/blog.resilio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/always-keep-on-this-device-option-761x1024.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.resilio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/cross-platform-server-sync-scale-out_1.avif\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nDisaster Recovery and Active Active HA<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"Hot\/Live](\"https:\/\/blog.resilio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/hot-dr-warm-dr-cold-dr-and-offsite-copy-699x1024.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nServer Sync and Software Deployment<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Case Study: VoiceBase Reduces Software Distribution Time by 88%<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"Security](\"https:\/\/blog.resilio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image7.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n