Is this a vault-standard protected file share?

Question

Is this a vault-standard protected file share?

MichaelB-2136 110

Hi, I've inherited a setup and want to know whether the below is a full vault protected file share backup or not.

When clicking the file share the top shows:

Recovery Services Vault: My Vault is displayed

Backup Policy: A policy is displayed that shows backup tier Snapshot

When inside the vault and clicking backup jobs it shows my fileshare there with success showing for yesterday.

Inside the vault, when I go to Backup Items > Azure Storage > my file share and click view details under recovery points it shows a months worth of backups with recovery type showing as Snapshot.

Am I right in thinking that this is not a proper vault level protection backup, simply just snapshots that live in the vault?

Suchitra Suregaunkar 9,270 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-02T17:13:52.5333333+00:00

Hello MichaelBroadhead-2136

Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft Q&A platform.

We are looking into your issue and will keep you posted updates.

Thanks,

Suchitra.
MichaelB-2136 110 Reputation points

2026-03-03T16:09:02.69+00:00

Suchitra, thanks so much for you ever-so detailed response, I really appreciate it!

Answer accepted by question author

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Suchitra Suregaunkar 9,270 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-02T17:13:52.5333333+00:00

Hello MichaelBroadhead-2136

Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft Q&A platform.

We are looking into your issue and will keep you posted updates.

Thanks,

Suchitra.
MichaelB-2136 110 Reputation points

2026-03-03T16:09:02.69+00:00

Suchitra, thanks so much for you ever-so detailed response, I really appreciate it!

Answer 1

Hello MichaelBroadhead-2136

Based on the details you’ve shared, this file share is currently protected using Snapshot‑tier backups only, not Vault‑Standard (vaulted) protection.

The Backup policy for the file share shows Backup tier: Snapshot.
Under Recovery Services vault > Backup Items > Azure Storage > File Share, all recovery points list Recovery type: Snapshot.
This behavior indicates that Azure Backup is taking file share snapshots that remain in the same storage account. The Recovery Services vault is used only to orchestrate schedules, retention, and job tracking, not to store the backup data itself.

With Snapshot‑tier protection, there is no offsite copy of data stored in the vault. If the storage account is deleted or compromised, the snapshots are also lost. This means the setup does not provide vault‑level isolation, long‑term retention, or ransomware‑resilient protection.

For true vault‑level protection, the file share must be configured with Vault‑Standard (vaulted) backup, where backup data is copied and retained in the Recovery Services vault.

In that case, you would see:

A backup policy with Backup tier: Vault‑Standard
Recovery points showing Vault (or Snapshot + Vault)
Vault‑level retention configured independently of the storage account

Official documentation for reference:

About Azure Files backup (Snapshot vs Vaulted tiers): https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/backup/azure-file-share-backup-overview
How Azure Files snapshot backups work (data stays in the storage account): https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/backup/backup-azure-files
Vaulted Backup for Azure Files (Vault‑Standard protection): https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/backup/azure-file-share-backup-overview#vault-standard-tier

If you require offsite protection, longer retention, or stronger resilience against storage account deletion or ransomware scenarios, update the backup policy to use Vault‑Standard (vaulted) backup for this file share.

Please let us know if you would like guidance on moving this file share to Vault‑Standard (vaulted) backup to achieve true offsite, long‑term protection. We’ll be happy to assist.

Thanks,
Suchitra.

Suchitra Suregaunkar 9,270 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-03T21:36:00.45+00:00

Hello @MichaelBroadhead-2136 Thank you for the upvote.

We are glad that the provided information helped you. Along with that Accepting the answer is equally important because it confirms the resolution and helps others in the community quickly find verified solutions. It also reflects the success of our joint effort to resolve your query. If anything is still unclear or you need further assistance, please let us know.

We are happy to help.

So, kindly consider marking the answer as Accepted and this helps other community members who may encounter a similar issue in the future.

Thanks,
Suchitra.

Answer 2

The file share is currently protected only with snapshot-tier backups, not with Vault-Standard (vaulted) protection.

From the behavior described:

The Backup Policy for the file share shows Backup tier: Snapshot.
In the vault under Backup Items > Azure Storage > [file share] > Recovery points, all recovery points show Recovery type: Snapshot.

In Azure Files backup:

Snapshot tier means backups are implemented as file share snapshots stored in the same storage account; they protect mainly against accidental/malicious deletion and are not offsite.
Vault-Standard tier means that, in addition to snapshots, changed data is copied into the Recovery Services vault, providing offsite, long-retention protection.

Since both the policy and the recovery points are snapshot-only, this setup does not have Vault-Standard (vaulted) protection; it is using snapshot-only backups.

To get vault-level protection, the backup policy for this file share would need to be configured with Backup tier: Vault-Standard, with vault retention defined.

References:

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Is this a vault-standard protected file share?

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