Azure StorSimple
Structured data archiving and application retirement software
Hybrid cloud storage solutions
Database software
Storage management software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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- Public sector and nonprofit organizations
- Banking and insurance
- Healthcare and life sciences
What is Azure StorSimple
Azure StorSimple is a hybrid storage solution that combines on-premises storage appliances with Microsoft Azure cloud storage for tiering, backup, and disaster recovery. It targets IT infrastructure and storage teams that need to extend local capacity and protect data while keeping frequently accessed data on-premises. The product integrates with Azure services for cloud snapshots and data movement, and it is delivered as a managed appliance model rather than as database-centric archiving software. Microsoft has retired StorSimple as a product line, so it is primarily relevant for legacy environments and migration planning.
Hybrid tiering to Azure
StorSimple supports automatic tiering of data between local storage and Azure, which helps reduce on-premises capacity requirements for colder data. It keeps active data local while moving less frequently accessed blocks to cloud storage. This design fits file and general-purpose storage extension use cases more directly than structured application/data archiving workflows.
Built-in backup and DR
The platform provides cloud snapshots and supports disaster recovery scenarios using Azure as the offsite target. It centralizes backup policies and retention around the appliance and Azure storage accounts. For infrastructure teams, this can simplify offsite protection compared with assembling separate backup and replication components.
Azure-integrated management model
StorSimple management is designed around Azure integration, including configuration and monitoring tied to Azure resources. This can streamline operations for organizations already standardized on Microsoft cloud services. The appliance approach also provides a defined hardware/software stack, reducing variability compared with purely software-defined deployments.
Product retired by Microsoft
Microsoft has retired the StorSimple product line, which limits long-term support options and future feature development. Organizations typically treat it as technical debt and plan migrations to supported storage and backup architectures. This retirement also reduces the availability of new deployments and replacement hardware.
Not structured data archiving
StorSimple focuses on storage tiering and protection rather than application-aware archiving, retention, and legal hold for structured data. It does not provide database/application retirement capabilities such as schema-aware extraction, referential integrity handling, or end-user access to archived records. For regulated archiving programs, additional tooling is usually required.
Appliance and workload constraints
As an appliance-based solution, StorSimple introduces hardware lifecycle considerations and limits flexibility compared with cloud-native or software-only approaches. Performance and behavior depend on network connectivity to Azure and the suitability of workloads for tiering. Some latency-sensitive or high-change-rate workloads may not be ideal candidates.
Seller details
Microsoft Corporation
Redmond, Washington, United States
1975
Public
https://www.microsoft.com/
https://x.com/Microsoft
https://www.linkedin.com/company/microsoft/
