Enabling Standard Block Protocols on a Distributed Cloud-Native Platform - Azure Storage

Enterprise workloads migrating to the cloud often rely on standardized block storage protocols like iSCSI and NVMe over Fabrics (NVMe-oF) for compatibility, performance, and operational continuity. To meet these needs, Azure Storage—a hyperscale, distributed, software-defined storage platform—is introducing native support for iSCSI and exploring NVMe-oF, bringing traditional storage interfaces into the cloud without sacrificing elasticity or scale.

This session offers a technical deep dive into how Microsoft is implementing these protocols within Azure Storage. We'll explore how the system manages protocol termination, volume lifecycle management, secure multi-tenancy, and high availability while maintaining performance isolation across a globally distributed backend.