Viewing Azure File Sync Metrics
Azure File Sync sends built-in performance data to Azure Monitor automatically every 15 minutes, so you do not need to configure anything extra to start tracking sync activity. To see this data, go to your Storage Sync Service in the Azure portal, select Metrics, and then choose a metric from the dropdown list. The available metrics include sync activity for upload and download operations, persistent sync errors, and other indicators that tell you whether files are moving correctly between your on-premises servers and Azure.
Setting Up Alerts
Proactive alerts let you know about problems before they grow into data loss or extended downtime. In the Azure portal, open your Storage Sync Service, select Alerts under Monitoring, and choose + New alert rule. You then configure the condition by picking a metric, selecting a dimension such as a specific server name, and setting the alert logic (for example, trigger when persistent sync errors exceed zero). After that, attach an action group to define who gets notified and how, fill in the alert details, and create the rule. The alert depends on the metric data flowing from the Storage Sync Service, so the monitoring pipeline must be healthy for alerts to work.
Monitoring Sync Health
The health of each server and each sync relationship appears in the Azure portal under the Storage Sync Service. Two key metrics to watch are Registered Server Health, which tells you whether a server is online and communicating, and Server Endpoint Health, which tracks sync activity, cloud tiering space savings, and any sync or tiering errors. You find this information by navigating through the Registered servers and Sync groups sections. When a server endpoint shows errors, the health metric changes from healthy to a warning or error state, which should trigger the alert rules you configured.
Troubleshooting Sync Issues
When changes do not sync immediately, the cause is often a missing change notification rather than a true failure. On the Windows Server side, you can diagnose the issue by checking event logs and performance counters. If a server endpoint is stuck, use the PowerShell cmdlet Invoke-AzStorageSyncChangeDetection to manually start a change detection job. This cmdlet forces Azure File Sync to scan the server endpoint for new or modified files, bypassing the normal notification delay. The relationship here is that the sync service depends on change notifications from the server; when those notifications are delayed, the manual cmdlet acts as a fallback to restore data flow.