Your Browser is Out of Date

Nytro.ai uses technology that works best in other browsers.
For a full experience use one of the browsers below
E2E Deployment and Operations Guide - Cluster Creation Using Windows Admin Center (WAC)
About using this guide Introduction Solution Overview
Solution Overview
Solution introduction
Azure Stack HCI deployment models
Solution integration and network configurations
Solution deployment References Day 1 operations Managing and monitoring clusters with Windows Admin Center Dell OpenManage Integration with Windows Admin Center Updates and maintenance Secure connect gateway References

Azure Stack HCI deployment models

Home > Integrated Products > Microsoft HCI Solutions from Dell Technologies > Guides 22H2 and earlier > E2E Deployment and Operations Guide - Cluster Creation Using Windows Admin Center (WAC) > Azure Stack HCI deployment models

Azure Stack HCI deployment models

  • Dell Integrated System for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI offers the following types of cluster infrastructure deployments:

    • Switchless storage networking
    • Stretched cluster infrastructure
    • Scalable infrastructure

    Switchless storage networking

    This variant of Dell Integrated System for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI offers two to four nodes in a switchless configuration for storage traffic. This infrastructure can be implemented using any of the validated and supported AX nodes. However, the number of nodes in a cluster varies between the AX node models, based on the number of network adapters that each model supports.

    Switchless storage networking offers two full-mesh configurations:

    • Single-link
    • Dual-link

    Switchless storage networking configuration is not supported with WAC cluster creation wizard. For more information about switchless storage networking deployments using PowerShell, see Microsoft HCI Solutions from Dell Technologies: End-to-End Deployment with Switchless Networking.

    Stretched cluster infrastructure

    The Microsoft Azure Stack HCI operating system added a new feature to support disaster recovery between two sites using Azure Stack HCI clusters. With Storage Replica as a foundation, stretched clusters support both synchronous and asynchronous replication of data between two sites. The replication direction (uni- or bi-directional) can be configured for either an active/passive or active/active stretched cluster configuration.

    Note: Stretched clustering infrastructure is only validated with manual deployment of Azure Stack HCI clusters. For more information about stretched cluster infrastructure deployments, see Dell Integrated System for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI: End-to-End Deployment with Stretched Cluster Infrastructure.

    Scalable infrastructure

    The scalable offering within Dell Integrated System for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI encompasses various configurations of AX nodes. In this Azure Stack HCI solution, as many as 16 AX nodes power the primary compute cluster. It includes the Azure Stack HCI cluster, redundant top-of-rack (ToR) switches, a separate out-of-band (OOB) network, and an existing management infrastructure in the data center.

    Note: WAC cluster creation wizard does not support creating single-node clusters.

    For more information about scalable storage networking deployments, see Microsoft HCI Solutions from Dell Technologies: End-to-End Deployment with Scalable Networking.