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Azure Portal Deployment and Operations Guide with Switchless Networking
About using this guide Revision history Deployment Introduction Solution introduction Solution Deployment
Solution Deployment
Solution deployment introduction
Deployment prerequisites
Change operating system to iDRAC pass-through IPs Install Windows Admin Center Install OpenManage Integration with Microsoft Windows Admin Center
Predeployment configuration
Configuring network switches Configuring iDRAC and BIOS Configure Intel E810 NICs
Cabling instructions
Two-node, back-to-back connected architecture
Operating system deployment
Manual operating system deployment Factory-installed operating system deployment Configure host networking
Install roles and features
Configuration to prepare nodes
Change the hostname
Registry settings
Verifying and updating firmware and software compliance
Configuring firewall settings
Deploy a cluster with Azure Stack HCI 23H2 operating system Update Azure Stack HCI clusters using SBE package GPU Integration Registering a Partner Admin Link (PAL) for Azure related solutions Dell OpenManage Integration with Windows Admin Center Updates and maintenance References

Predeployment configuration

Home > Integrated Products > Microsoft HCI Solutions from Dell Technologies > Guides 23H2 and later > Azure Portal Deployment and Operations Guide with Switchless Networking > Predeployment configuration

Predeployment configuration

  • Configuring network switches

    Based on the selected network topology, configure the ToR network switches to enable storage and VM/management traffic.

    Note: The switchless storage networking deployment model requires configuration of switches that are deployed for host management and OOB traffic only. Storage traffic uses full-mesh connectivity between the nodes.

    Note: Management network redundancy is a combination of either iDRAC or operating system DNS/IP resolution. Dell Technologies recommends that you deploy a network topology that supports a dual control plane while sharing a single data plane. Virtual Link Trunking (VLT) is Dell Technologies proprietary technology that provides network resiliency for data I/O.

    Note: If you are using an All-Flash or All-NVMe solution, it is highly recommended to use 25GbE or above switches for SMB traffic. Any solution should be sized before taking a decision on bandwidth of SMB switch to be used.

    Configuring switch VLT redundancy with Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) provides a virtual floating IP address that any node can reference as a gateway. If a switch fails, the virtual IP address is transferred to a peer switch.

    VRRP is an active/standby, first-hop redundancy protocol (FHRP). When used with VLT peers, VRRP becomes an active/active protocol. The VRRP virtual MAC address is the local destination address in the forwarding information base (FIB) table of both VLT peers. Using this method, the backup VRRP router forwards intercepted frames that have a destination MAC address that matches the VRRP virtual MAC address.

    A standard Storage Spaces Direct deployment requires four basic types of networks: OOB management, host management, compute, and storage. The number of network ports (two or four) that are used within the storage configuration determines whether you have two or four fault domains.

    For sample switch configurations, see Microsoft Azure Stack HCI Solutions from Dell Technologies: Switch Configurations – RoCE Only (Mellanox Cards) and Microsoft Azure Stack HCI Solutions from Dell Technologies: Switch Configurations - iWARP Only (Qlogic Cards).