Estimating time to copy 50TB from Azure file share to Data Box

Question

We have roughly 50TB of data residing in an Azure File Share in Australia Central, and we would like to copy this data to a data box. How can we estimate how long will this take? While we realize there are various factors that may affect the process time such as the number of files and their size, we are looking for a way to estimate the overall duration.

Answer 1

Thanks for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Estimated Data Box Disk Preparation and Shipping Time:

Allow for 2-7 business days for Data Box Disk allocation, preparation, and shipping.

Data Transfer Time:

The duration to copy 50TB of data to the Data Box Disks depends on factors such as data type, file sizes, and quantity. While the Data Box Disk performance can reach up to 430 MB/s, actual speeds may vary. To estimate, conduct tests with small files on your server and device. Assuming an average copy speed of 300 MB/s, it would take approximately: 50 TB / (300 MB/s * 3600 s/h) = ~47 hours to transfer the 50TB of data.

Return Shipping Time:

Expect return shipping to take around 2-3 business days.

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Answer 2

Hello Reggie,

Greetings! Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Platform.

The time it takes to copy 50TB of data from an on-premises file share to an Azure Data Box will depend on several factors, including the read/write speed of your on-premises storage, the performance of the Data Box, and the method used for copying the data.

Initially, Review the deployment prerequisites for Data Box, https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/databox/data-box-faq?tabs=data-box-and-data-box-heavy, https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/common/storage-solution-large-dataset-moderate-high-network

Ordering and shipping the Data Box can take about 5-10 business days, and the return shipment to Microsoft can take an additional 5-7 business days and this actual time to copy the data onto the Data Box will depend on the factors like, especially the network bandwidth(If you’re using a network-based copy method, the available network bandwidth and latency will also play a role.), Data transfer tools using and data characteristics.

Tools like Robocopy or Azure Data Box’s own tools can be used to facilitate the transfer. These tools can optimize the transfer process, but the actual speed will still depend on the read/write speeds mentioned above.To give a rough estimate, if you were able to sustain a write speed of 200 MB/s to the Data Box, it would theoretically take about 72 hours to copy 50TB of data. However, this is a best-case scenario and does not account for any overhead or inefficiencies in the process.

Plan your final Azure File Sync topology: Plan for an Azure File Sync deployment. Select Azure storage account(s) that will hold the file shares you want to sync with. Ensure that your bulk migration happens to temporary staging shares in the same Storage Account(s). Bulk migration can only be enabled utilizing a final- and a staging- share that reside in the same storage account. A bulk migration can only be utilized when you create a new sync relationship with a server location. You can't enable a bulk migration with an existing sync relationship.

Additionally, Microsoft provides guidance and a table to estimate the time for data transfer over the network, which can be useful if you’re considering whether to transfer over the network or use an offline transfer device like the Data Box,

Use the following table to estimate the time and based on that, choose between an offline transfer or over the network transfer. The table shows the projected time for network data transfer, for various available network bandwidths (assuming 90% utilization).

Hope this answer helps! Please let us know if you have any further queries. I’m happy to assist you further.

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