Azure Stack HCI Cluster Deployment
To deploy an Azure Stack HCI cluster, start by ensuring hardware compatibility and configuring network infrastructure. Install the Azure Stack HCI operating system on each server node and configure server networking, including IP addresses and DNS. Configure Storage Spaces Direct (S2D) for shared storage across nodes. Create the cluster and create VMs per the requirements on top of the cluster.
For more information about HCI cluster deployment, see the Microsoft HCI Solutions from Dell Technologies deployment guide.
The required number of VMs can be provisioned on each Azure Stack HCI node. VM deployment can be conducted in two ways:
- Using Hyper-V Manager
- Windows PowerShell
For more information, see Create an VM.
Cluster Integration to Azure Arc
You can use WAC or use PowerShell to register an Azure Stack HCI cluster with Azure.
In this solution, we used WAC to register our cluster to Azure. The following steps describe our procedure:
- Launch WAC and add our cluster to WAC.
- Connect to the cluster and go to Azure arc under Configuration, click Azure stack HCI registration, as show below.
Figure 8. Registering Azure Stack HCI Cluster to Azure Portal through WAC
- Click Register and fill out the details to continue signing in to Azure. See the WAC-Azure Stack HCI registration webpage for more information about options.
- After signing into Azure, confirm that the cluster is registered with Azure Portal, as shown below.
Figure 9. Registered Cluster to WAC
- Click View in Azure and go to the Azure portal. In the portal, check that “azclu01” is integrated with Azure Arc, as shown below.
Figure 10. Azure Stack HCI Cluster azclu01 successfully integrated with Azure Arc
Add VM to Azure Arc
Once the VM is created, use the procedure to add a VM with the name PortalVM to Azure Arc.
- Login to Azure Portal with an Azure account
- Go to the Azure Portal page “Add servers with Azure Arc,” Select Add a Single Server, and generate a script.
Figure 11. Options to add VMs with Azure Arc
- On the “Basics” page, fill out details of Azure Subscription, Resource group, Region, OS, and Connectivity method as shown below.
Figure 12. Add a single VM with Azure Arc
- In the Tags window, fill out details of the data center, custom tags, and move to the download and run script section. Review, download, and save the script. For more information, see Quickstart: Connect hybrid machines with Azure Arc-enabled servers.
- Log in to VM, open PowerShell as administrator, and run the saved script. It installs all required packages.
Figure 13. PowerShell Script for registering VM with Azure Arc
- After installing the agent and configuring it to connect to Azure Arc-enabled servers, go to the Azure portal to verify that the server has successfully connected, as shown in the following figure.
Figure 14.
PortalVM successfully added to Azure Arc enabled VMsSee Install PolyBase on Windows for guidance on how to install PolyBase on Windows.