Dell Azure Stack HCI Simplified Solution for Hybrid Cloud

Dell Azure Stack HCI is a solution that simplifies the deployment of a hybrid cloud environment.

It allows organizations to run Azure services in their own datacenter, providing a consistent hybrid cloud experience.

With Dell Azure Stack HCI, organizations can manage their on-premises infrastructure and Azure resources from a single console, streamlining operations and reducing complexity.

This solution is ideal for organizations with remote or branch offices, or those with specific security or compliance requirements.

Dell Azure Stack HCI is a solution that combines the best of on-premises and cloud computing to deliver a hybrid infrastructure.

It's designed to run on Dell PowerEdge servers, which provide a scalable and secure platform for deploying and managing virtualized workloads.

Dell Azure Stack HCI is built on the Azure Stack HCI operating system, which is a version of Windows Server that's optimized for hybrid cloud environments.

This operating system provides a consistent and secure platform for running virtualized workloads, both on-premises and in the cloud.

Dell Azure Stack HCI supports a wide range of storage options, including Dell EMC storage arrays and other third-party storage solutions.

It also supports a variety of networking options, including Dell Networking switches and other third-party networking devices.

Dell Azure Stack HCI is designed to be highly scalable, with support for up to 16 nodes in a single cluster.

This makes it an ideal solution for large enterprises that need to support a high volume of virtualized workloads.

With Dell Azure Stack HCI, you can enjoy a seamless integration with your existing data centre processes and tools, such as Microsoft System Center, Active Directory, Group Policy, and PowerShell scripting.

This means you can leverage your existing investments without having to rip and replace them, making the transition to Azure Stack HCI a much smoother one.

You can also take advantage of unique integrations and automation that reduce manual steps for operational tasks by 82% and decrease the required maintenance window by 40%.

This can help you eradicate errors and boost IT productivity, making your team's lives easier.

One of the key benefits of Azure Stack HCI is its ability to scale your infrastructure flexibly to meet seasonal and long-term requirements.

This can help you save costs and ensure that your infrastructure is always running at optimal levels.

Joint support from Dell and Microsoft can also improve your overall experience with Azure Stack HCI.

This means you can get help and support from two industry leaders whenever you need it.

Seamless, full-stack updates ensure that your environment stays up to date with the latest features and security patches.

This can help you stay ahead of potential security threats and ensure that your infrastructure is always running smoothly.

Here are some of the key benefits of Azure Stack HCI at a glance:

To set up Dell Azure Stack HCI, you'll need to create a new cluster by adding nodes to the existing one. This process involves configuring the nodes with the same version of the operating system and software.

Dell recommends using the Dell OpenManage Integration for Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) to manage and monitor your Azure Stack HCI environment. This integration provides a unified view of your infrastructure and simplifies the management process.

You'll need to ensure that your nodes are connected to a network and have a valid IP address. This will allow them to communicate with each other and the management tools.

To configure the network settings, you'll need to set up a virtual network (VNet) on the Microsoft Azure portal. This will provide a secure and isolated network for your Azure Stack HCI environment.

Azure Local is built on proven technologies like Hyper-V and Storage Spaces Direct, with a core Azure Management service at its heart. Each Azure Local instance consists of 1 to 16 physical machines.

These machines share common configurations and resources by leveraging Windows Server Failover Clustering feature. Azure Local is validated hardware from a hardware partner, running on Azure Stack HCI OS.

The architecture includes Hyper-V-based compute resources and Storage Spaces Direct-based virtualized storage. You can run Windows and Linux virtual machines as Arc-enabled servers, and deploy Azure Virtual Desktop.

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is enabled by Azure Arc, and you can deploy AI and machine learning workloads. Azure services like monitoring, backup, site recovery, and more are also available.

Here are the key features of Azure Local:

Dell Azure Stack HCI provides a robust networking and security framework, which includes support for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) and Azure Monitor.

This framework ensures secure and reliable communication between workloads and services.

The solution also integrates with Azure Active Directory (AAD) for identity and access management, providing a secure and scalable way to manage user identities and access to resources.

A hybrid approach can be a game-changer for your organisation's IT infrastructure.

By combining virtualised workloads, you can increase flexibility and modernise your setup. This can be achieved with Azure Stack HCI, which allows for a seamless integration of on-premises and cloud-based resources.

Book a free consultation to learn more about how to implement this approach in your organisation.

Configuring a Fully Converged Network is a game-changer for businesses. It combines data, voice, and video traffic onto a single network infrastructure, reducing costs and increasing efficiency.

By implementing a fully converged network, organizations can eliminate the need for separate networks for different types of traffic, such as voice, video, and data. This simplifies network management and reduces the complexity of maintaining multiple networks.

A fully converged network typically uses a single protocol, such as Ethernet, for all types of traffic. This protocol is often IPv6, which provides sufficient address space for all devices on the network.

With a fully converged network, Quality of Service (QoS) becomes critical to ensure that critical applications receive the necessary bandwidth and priority. This is especially important for real-time applications like voice and video.

By prioritizing critical applications, a fully converged network can provide a seamless user experience, even during peak usage periods. This is essential for businesses that rely on real-time communication and data exchange.

Non-Transparent Network Proxy Clusters are a special case that requires some extra configuration.

To set up an Azure Local cluster using a non-transparent, unauthenticated network proxy, you need to add the iDRAC pass-through IP address to the network proxy exclusion list.

This is crucial to ensure that the cluster can communicate properly with the iDRAC. The iDRAC pass-through IP address is typically used for out-of-band management.

Configuring the non-transparent, unauthenticated network proxy is documented at the link Configure proxy settings for environment variables.

The APIPA IP address range 169.254.0.0/16 must be in the network proxy exclusion list, as shown in the example. This allows the cluster to bypass the proxy for local communications.