1---2name: azure-elastic-san3description: Expert knowledge for Azure Elastic SAN development including troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, integrations & coding patterns, and deployment. Use when creating Elastic SAN volumes, AVS datastores, iSCSI clients, snapshots, or clustered SQL/FC workloads, and other Azure Elastic SAN related development tasks. Not for Azure Blob Storage (use azure-blob-storage), Azure Files (use azure-files), Azure NetApp Files (use azure-netapp-files), Azure Virtual Machines (use azure-virtual-machines).4---5# Azure Elastic SAN Skill
6
7This skill provides expert guidance for Azure Elastic SAN. Covers troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, integrations & coding patterns, and deployment. It combines local quick-reference content with remote documentation fetching capabilities.
8
9## How to Use This Skill
10
11> **IMPORTANT for Agent**: Use the **Category Index** below to locate relevant sections. For categories with line ranges (e.g., `L35-L120`), use `read_file` with the specified lines. For categories with file links (e.g., `[security.md](security.md)`), use `read_file` on the linked reference file
12
13> **IMPORTANT for Agent**: If `metadata.generated_at` is more than 3 months old, suggest the user pull the latest version from the repository. If `mcp_microsoftdocs` tools are not available, suggest the user install it: [Installation Guide](https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/mcp/blob/main/README.md)
14
15This skill requires **network access** to fetch documentation content:
16- **Preferred**: Use `mcp_microsoftdocs:microsoft_docs_fetch` with query string `from=learn-agent-skill`. Returns Markdown.
17- **Fallback**: Use `fetch_webpage` with query string `from=learn-agent-skill&accept=text/markdown`. Returns Markdown.
18
19## Category Index
20
21| Category | Lines | Description |
22|----------|-------|-------------|
23| Troubleshooting | L37-L41 | Diagnosing and fixing Elastic SAN issues: connectivity, performance, provisioning/attachment failures, health checks, and step-by-step resolution guidance. |
24| Best Practices | L42-L48 | Tuning Elastic SAN performance and configuration (including AVS datastores) and using, configuring, and managing Elastic SAN snapshot features |
25| Decision Making | L49-L53 | Guidance on sizing and configuring Elastic SAN (performance, capacity, architecture) and deciding how to integrate it with AKS workloads and storage patterns. |
26| Architecture & Design Patterns | L54-L58 | Patterns for running clustered apps (SQL, Failover Cluster, etc.) on Azure Elastic SAN, including shared volume setup, fencing, failover behavior, and high-availability design. |
27| Limits & Quotas | L59-L64 | Details on Elastic SAN capacity limits, max IOPS/throughput, and how VM sizes, volume groups, and workloads affect achievable performance and scaling. |
28| Security | L65-L74 | Configuring encryption (platform and customer-managed keys) and secure access to Elastic SAN using private endpoints, service endpoints, and other network security options. |
29| Configuration | L75-L83 | Deploying, resizing, deleting, and monitoring Azure Elastic SAN instances/volumes, plus configuring iSCSI IQN naming and safe operational best practices. |
30| Integrations & Coding Patterns | L84-L91 | Creating and benchmarking Elastic SAN volumes, plus step-by-step guidance to connect Linux and Windows clients using iSCSI and optimize performance. |
31| Deployment | L92-L95 | Guides for migrating Azure VMware Solution (AVS) datastores to Azure Elastic SAN, including configuring and using multiple private endpoints for secure connectivity. |
32
33### Troubleshooting
34| Topic | URL |
35|-------|-----|
36| Diagnose and resolve Azure Elastic SAN issues | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-troubleshoot |
37
38### Best Practices
39| Topic | URL |
40|-------|-----|
41| Optimize Azure Elastic SAN configuration and performance | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-best-practices |
42| Optimize Elastic SAN datastore performance on AVS | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-performance-on-azure-vmware-solutions |
43| Use and manage Azure Elastic SAN snapshots | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-snapshots |
44
45### Decision Making
46| Topic | URL |
47|-------|-----|
48| Plan Azure Elastic SAN capacity and configuration | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-planning |
49
50### Architecture & Design Patterns
51| Topic | URL |
52|-------|-----|
53| Use clustered applications with shared Azure Elastic SAN volumes | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-shared-volumes |
54
55### Limits & Quotas
56| Topic | URL |
57|-------|-----|
58| Understand Azure Elastic SAN and VM performance limits | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-performance |
59| Azure Elastic SAN capacity, IOPS, and throughput limits | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-scale-targets |
60
61### Security
62| Topic | URL |
63|-------|-----|
64| Configure customer-managed keys for Azure Elastic SAN | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-configure-customer-managed-keys |
65| Configure private endpoints for Azure Elastic SAN volume groups | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-configure-private-endpoints |
66| Configure service endpoints for Azure Elastic SAN access | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-configure-service-endpoints |
67| Manage customer-managed encryption keys in Elastic SAN | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-encryption-manage-customer-keys |
68| Configure encryption options for Azure Elastic SAN | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-encryption-overview |
69| Configure secure networking for Azure Elastic SAN | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-networking |
70
71### Configuration
72| Topic | URL |
73|-------|-----|
74| Deploy and configure Azure Elastic SAN resources | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-create |
75| Delete Azure Elastic SAN resources correctly | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-delete |
76| Resize Azure Elastic SAN resources and volumes safely | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-expand |
77| Monitor Azure Elastic SAN with built-in metrics | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-metrics |
78| Transition Elastic SAN IQN naming authority | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-transition-iqn-naming-authority |
79
80### Integrations & Coding Patterns
81| Topic | URL |
82|-------|-----|
83| Batch-create Azure Elastic SAN volumes with PowerShell | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-batch-create-sample |
84| Benchmark Azure Elastic SAN with DiskSpd and fio | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-benchmarking |
85| Connect Linux clients to Azure Elastic SAN volumes | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-connect-linux |
86| Connect Windows clients to Azure Elastic SAN volumes | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-connect-windows |
87
88### Deployment
89| Topic | URL |
90|-------|-----|
91| Migrate AVS datastores to Elastic SAN with more private endpoints | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-increase-private-endpoints-azure-vmware-solutions |
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