Customers can now transition existing volumes from platform-managed keys (PMK) to customer-managed keys (CMK) seamlessly. This provides customers flexibility of encryption key lifecycle (renewals, rotations) and additional security for regulated industry requirements (Finance, Healthcare, Federal). This feature is now Generally Available in all Azure NetApp Files supported regions.
Key benefits of CMK are:
Secure key management: The keys are generated and managed by the customer organization. This provides additional security layer by reducing the risk of unauthorized key access. This provides protection against insider threats and unauthorized data access.
Regulatory/compliance: Several entities have strict regulations for data protection. CMK helps comply with various requirements and provide ability to track key management for regulatory purposes.
Performance: There is no performance impact when using CMK. It simply protects the account encryption key using the Azure Key Vault.