Azure Stack HCI
Azure Stack HCI a hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) cluster solution with world-class, integrated virtualization stack built on Windows as well as Linux workloads and their storage in a hybrid on-premises environment, including Hyper-V, Storage Spaces Direct, and Azure-inspired software-defined networking (SDN).
Why Choose Azure Stack HCI?
- Familiar for Hyper-V and server admins, enable to leverage existing available virtualization and storage knowledge and skill.
- Collaborate well with existing data centre processes and tools (Microsoft System Centre, Active Directory, Group Policy, and PowerShell scripting).
- Readily availability with popular third-party backup and security tools.
- Flexible hardware choices with the best service and support geographically
- Joint capability between Microsoft with vendor to further enhance the customer experience.
- Seamless with full-stack updates and easier to stay current.
Advanced Benefits
Azure Stack HCI is ideally suited for hybrid computing, allowing you to combine cloud and on-premises capabilities while monitoring, securing, and backing up to the cloud natively.
Subsequently from register your Azure Stack HCI cluster, it could be use on major purposes of:
- Monitor: You can group and name all of your Azure Stack HCI clusters in a single, global view and tag them for better preview.
- Billing: Azure Stack HCI can be paid as part from Azure subscription.
Hence, more capabilities would be added in the future near time, stay tuned with us.
In the same time, upon subscription to Azure hybrid services additional services are available:
- Azure Site Recovery and disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS).
- Azure Monitor, a single platform for tracking what’s happening through all major applications network and also infrastructure through advanced analytics powered by AI.
- Azure Network Adapter by connecting on-premises resources with VMs in Azure via a point-to-site VPN.
- Azure File Sync to sync the cloud and file server.
- Azure Backup for offsite data protection and against ransomware.
- Cloud Witness to use Azure as a tie-breaker for cluster quorum.
- Azure Update Management on update assessment and deployments for Windows VMs in both Azure and on-premises.
How to start Azure Stack HCI
- A bundle of two or more servers (depends on needs) from us. Contact us for more details on price and plan subscription.
- An internet connection for each server that can connect via HTTPS outbound traffic to Azure endpoints at least every 30 days
- If you want to do synchronous replication, where writes happen at the same time in both locations, you'll need at least one 1 Gb link between sites (a 25 Gb RDMA connection is preferred), with an average latency of 5ms round trip.
- If Software Defined Networking (SDN) is in use, a virtual hard disk (VHD) is needed for the operating system of Azure Stack HCI to create Network Controller VMs.
New on Azure Stack HCI
Azure Stack HCI gets a host of new features and enhancements with Windows Admin Centre version2103, including:
- Automated updates for Windows Admin Centre
- Windows Admin Centre in the Azure portal
- Install and manage Azure IoT Edge for Linux on Windows
- Use a proxy server
- Virtual machines tool improvements
- Open tools in separate windows
- Deploy Network Controller using Windows Admin Center
- Event tool redesign (Preview)
Details could be view in Windows Admin Center version 2103 is now generally available!
In comparison to Windows Server 2019-based solutions, Azure Stack HCI, version 20H2 clusters offer the following new features:
- New capabilities in Windows Admin Center
Azure Stack HCI is simpler to use than ever before, with the ability to build and upgrade hyper converged clusters through an intuitive user interface. - Integration of Azure portal
With new features in progress, the Azure portal experience for Azure Stack HCI is planned to access all of your Azure Stack HCI clusters around the world. - Integration of Azure portal
With new features in progress, the Azure portal experience for Azure Stack HCI is planned to access all of your Azure Stack HCI clusters around the world. - BitLocker encryption BitLocker is now online to encrypt the contents of data volumes on Azure Stack HCI, helping government and non-government customers stay compliant with standards such as FIPS 140-2 and HIPAA.
- Affinity and anti-affinity rules
This can be used in the same way as Azure's Availability Zones hold VMs and storage together or separate in clusters with several fault domains, such as stretched clusters. - Improved repair speed on storage spaces direct volume
Repair volumes seamlessly in the fastest speed. - GPU acceleration for high-performance workloads Boosting performance with GPUs and benefits AI/ML applications
Source: What’s new in Azure Stack HCI