You must use network switches that are listed in the Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure Support Matrix for Azure Stack HCI cluster compute and storage connectivity. At least two Top of Rack (ToR) switches are required to create a highly available network infrastructure.
You can connect the Azure Stack HCI and PowerFlex clusters to the same ToR switches or connect them to separate switches. The switches used for connectivity between the Azure Stack HCI and PowerFlex clusters must support Layer 2 features such as VLT/VPC, Jumbo Frames, and VLAN tagging. Layer 3 networking for storage traffic between the clusters is not supported in this DVD. Specific network switch configuration instructions are provided in the implementation guide.
The ToR switch configurations require high availability. You must configure a Virtual Link Trunking interconnect (VLTi) between pairs of ToR switches (and aggregation switches where applicable). Adequate bandwidth over the VLTi must be available to maintain peak storage traffic performance across any single network path in case of failure. Failures can include cabling or port failures within the VLTi itself.
Two non-routable Layer 2 networks are required for the storage traffic between the Azure Stack HCI and PowerFlex clusters. These networks will already be configured on the PowerFlex nodes and created in the network switch infrastructure. They must also be configured on the Azure Stack HCI cluster nodes, which involves creating a Network ATC intent with associated storage vNICs. Though PowerFlex allows up to four storage networks to be configured, this DVD only supports the use of two storage networks.