Home > APEX > Cloud Platforms > Guides > Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure Tech Book > Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure Hardware platforms
At initial release, Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure hardware platforms are based on Dell’s PowerEdge R660 and R760 rackmount servers. Soon we will expand the platform family with the addition of a MultiCloud (MC) node based on the edge-optimized XR4000 series PowerEdge servers.
The MC-660 and MC-760 provide a flexible range of configuration options, best suited to adapt to the customer’s performance needs, and workload type.
In the following figure, we can visualize at a glance, the main options available at initial launch:
Figure 14. Dell APEX Cloud Platform multicloud nodes configuration options
The MC-660 represent the 1U form factor option, condensing up to 10 SSD or 10 NVMe drives, 4 TB of DDR5 RAM and two Intel Sapphire Rapids processors in a small frame.
For the MC-660 there are two configuration types: those based in SSD drives, named All Flash, and those based in NVMe drives, named All NVMe. These are summarized in the figure below:
Figure 15. Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure configurations based on MC-660 nodes
Two riser configurations have been chosen for Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure:
Figure 16. First Riser configuration for MC-660
Figure 17. Second Riser configuration for MC-660
The second option for Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure is based on the MC-760, a 2U form factor server with different storage option combining SSD, NVMe and SAS HDD drives. It also incorporates two Intel Sapphire Rapids processors and up to 32 DDR5 RAM DIMMs.
For the MC-760 4 different configuration types have been created:
Details for these configuration options are summarized in the figure below:
Figure 18. Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure configurations based on MC-760 nodes
Four riser configurations have been chosen for Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure:
Figure 19. First riser configuration option for MC-760
Figure 20. Second riser configuration option for MC-760
Figure 21. Third riser configuration option for MC-760
Figure 22. Fourth riser configuration option for MC-760
Every MC node requires one or more add in cards that can be installed in either the OCP slot or PCIe riser slots. The available network cards in MC nodes are one that meet Microsoft functional and certification requirements for Azure Stack HCI. The on-bord LOM ports are not used in a Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure deployment.
In this Microsoft link, we can check the industry standards that are mandatory for the specific roles of network switches validated for Azure Stack HCI.
To choose the right network adapters, qualified by network traffic type (management, compute, storage) we can visit the Windows Server Catalog, Network section for certified models.
These network adapters need to support this set of capabilities:
To expand on these technologies, visit the Microsoft Host network requirements for Azure Stack HCI site.
For more details on these Dell MC nodes please check: