Final answer:
Cloud tiering in Azure File Sync is a feature that helps optimize storage by keeping frequently used data on-premises and moving infrequently used data to the cloud. It helps organizations manage their storage resources efficiently while ensuring data is readily accessible.
Step-by-step explanation:
Cloud tiering in Azure File Sync refers to an advanced capability that allows frequently accessed data to be kept on-premises, while less frequently accessed data is automatically moved to the cloud. This feature is a part of Azure File Sync service, which enables seamless sharing of data across multiple locations while integrating with Azure cloud storage. The benefit of cloud tiering is that it optimizes the use of on-premises storage, reducing costs by storing older and less frequently used files in Azure Files, which operates as an extension of the local file system.
Azure File Sync with cloud tiering is particularly useful for organizations that require data to be accessible at all times, but also need to manage their on-premises storage resources efficiently. When files are tiered to the cloud, only a stub, which is a pointer or a reference to the actual file, remains on the local server. These tiered files can be recalled on demand when a user accesses them. This ensures that the most important files are ready to be used, while archival data does not consume valuable on-premises storage space.