Foster innovation with Dell APEX Cloud Platform (ACP) for Microsoft Azure with Dell PowerSwitch
Thu, 30 Nov 2023 19:51:55 -0000
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Modern enterprises depend on their IT departments to facilitate their intricate operations and maintain a competitive edge in the market. To secure their competitiveness and achieve success, these companies aspire to develop groundbreaking applications and services with remarkable agility. Many Businesses are embracing a multicloud approach to fuel their inventive endeavors and expedite the deployment of applications.
Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure is a hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) solution that is engineered collaboratively with Microsoft. The solution optimizes Azure hybrid cloud operations which consolidates compute, storage, and network into a single, highly available, unified system. With proper planning, ACP for Azure rapidly deploys into an existing data center environment, and the end-product is immediately available to deploy applications and services.
Figure 1 APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure.
Dell Networking for Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Azure
The network considerations for Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Azure are no different than any enterprise IT infrastructure: Availability, Performance, and Scalability. Dell Technologies manufactures APEX Cloud Platforms (MC760 and MC660) for Azure in the factory, per customer’s purchase order and delivers to the customer’s data center, ready for deployment. Dell has tested the overall solution with Dell PowerSwitch platforms. The nodes in the ACP for Azure attach to Dell’s Top of Rack (ToR) networking switch which meets the Microsoft Azure Stack HCI network functional requirements.
Following are the prime requirements for networking:
- Priority Flow Control (PFC) – You require PFC where you use Data Center Bridging (DCB). Since you can use DCB in both iWARP Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) and RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE) scenarios, you need PFC in all scenarios.
- Enhanced Transmission Select (ETS) – You need ETS where you use DCB. Since you can use DCB in both RoCE and iWARP RDMA scenarios, you require ETS in all scenarios.
- Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) – You require LLDP as it enables troubleshooting of physical networking configurations. You must dynamically enable configuration of the LLDP Type‑Length‑Values (TLVs).
- The required organizationally specific custom TLV (TLV Type 127) subtypes are:
- Port VLAN ID (Subtype 1)
- VLAN Name (Subtype 3) – Minimum 10 VLANs support
- Link Aggregation (Subtype 7)
- ETS Configuration (Subtype 9)
- ETS Recommendation (Subtype A)
- PFC Configuration (Subtype B)
- Maximum Frame Size (Subtype 4)
- For Software-Defined Networking (SDN) encapsulation, you require a Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) range of 1514 to 9174.
- You require Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) to enable tenant workloads with SDN and dynamic peering.
- Also, you need a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) relay agent for Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) boot services.
Network redundancy and performance considerations
ACP for Azure is a software-defined data center which depends on the physical top-of-rack switching for network communications and is engineered to enable full redundancy, plus failure protection across the cluster. For customer environments that require protection from a single point of failure, you must design and configure the adjacent network supporting the ACP for Azure cluster to eliminate any single point of failure. A site must deploy a minimum of two Dell Top-of-Rack PowerSwitches to support high availability, plus balance the workload on the ACP for Azure cluster. A pair of cables (VLT Connection) links these Dell PowerSwitches which supports the flow of Layer 2 traffic between the ToR switches.
Scalable ACP networking topologies for Azure
Customers can implement various networking topologies to expand to a maximum cluster size of 16 nodes. Dell offers the following scalable networking topologies for APEX Cloud Platform for Azure:
- Fully converged – RDMA, cluster management, and VM traffic traverse the same Ethernet connections thus conserving on switch ports and cabling requirements per node.
- Non-converged – Separates RDMA and host management/VM traffic on to separate network adapter interfaces. This ensures that there is no contention between storage and LAN communications, plus is easier to troubleshoot.
Figure 2 Dell’s scalable ACP network topologies for Azure example.
Dell-on-Dell value proposition
Having an end-to-end stack from Dell Technologies enables customers to build a cohesive and efficient IT infrastructure. This allows customers to focus on their core business objectives rather than managing complex and disparate infrastructure components. Dell-on-Dell’s value proposition for integrated networking, storage, and compute solutions offers the following benefits:
- Seamless integration of Dell networking with Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Azure which simplifies deployment, management, and maintenance, plus reduces the risk of interoperability issues.
- Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Azure, deployed with Dell Networking, optimizes and overall provides better system performance.
- Single point of support across overall deployment, provides a consistent service experience.
- Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Azure solution, with Dell networking, offers competitive pricing compared to stand-alone components from various vendors.
- Reduced complexity and efficient management translates into lower operational expenses (OPEX).
- Regular and seamless system updates across the ACP for Azure ecosystem.
Useful resources
Related Blog Posts
Unleash Innovation Through Dell APEX Cloud Platform (ACP) for Red Hat OpenShift with Dell PowerSwitch
Wed, 20 Dec 2023 19:24:30 -0000
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Unleash Innovation Through Dell APEX Cloud Platform (ACP) for Red Hat OpenShift, In Synergy with Dell PowerSwitch
Organizations are leveraging containerized multicloud deployments to boost revenue, enhance efficiency, and elevate user experiences. Multicloud is the go to choice for organizations, with Kubernetes at the forefront. Among them, 42% opt for Red Hat OpenShift to manage their containers.1 Yet, multiple clouds can introduce complexity. Modern multicloud container setups demand consistent operations and robust automation for IT peace of mind, enabling a focus on delivering application value over infrastructure management.
Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Red Hat OpenShift
The Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Red Hat OpenShift is a collaborative solution developed in partnership with Red Hat, it enhances and streamlines on-premises OpenShift deployments, offering an integrated operational experience. The key features include:
- Seamless Integration and Intelligent Automation: This platform offers deep integration and intelligent automation across the Dell and OpenShift technology stacks. This integration accelerates time-to-value and eliminates the complexities that are associated with managing these technologies separately by different tools and portals.
- Unified Management: Users benefit from simplified, integrated management through the OpenShift Web Console, making it more straightforward to oversee and control the platform's components.
- Bare Metal Architecture: The platform is built on a bare metal architecture, which ensures high performance, predictability, and linear scalability. This robust foundation meets and exceeds even the most demanding Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
- Reduce cost and complexity: Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Red Hat OpenShift delivers everything that you need to rapidly deploy and run Red Hat OpenShift on a turnkey, integrated bare metal infrastructure. The extensive automation enabled by the Dell APEX Cloud Platform Foundation Software slashes deployment time by over 90%, while reducing time for complex life cycle management tasks by up to 90%.2 Further, Dell Technologies performed over 21,000 hours of interoperability testing for each major release, ensuring predictability and reliability.
- Optimize workload outcomes: By optimizing delivery of OpenShift on-premises, the platform helps accelerate application modernization initiatives. Built on the next-generation Dell PowerEdge servers and Dell’s scalable, high-performance Storage Data Server (SDS), the platform delivers stringent SLAs for a broad range of modern mission-critical workloads. Further, with a universal storage layer between on-premises Dell APEX Cloud Platform and Dell’s APEX Storage for Public Cloud, the platform facilitates simpler movement of workloads across your IT estate.
- Enhance security and governance: Based on the cyber-resilient foundation of next-generation PowerEdge nodes, the Dell APEX Cloud Platform accelerates Zero Trust adoption, while providing multi-layer security and governance capabilities built throughout the technology stack. Further, with a bare metal implementation, the platform enhances security by reducing the potential attack surface.
Dell Networking Advantage
Dell Networking with Enterprise SONiC is a Linux-based highly scalable, cloud-ready data center network fabric that helps IT organizations create a modern network infrastructure. This modern network infrastructure meets constantly shifting business demands, increases productivity, delivers services faster and remains flexible by incorporating the latest technology innovations like automation, multicloud, and generative AI.
Salient features include:
- Innovation by collaborating with and contributing to the open-source SONiC community.
- Container-based Automation and Visibility.
- Supports a broad portfolio of high-performance data center and edge PowerSwitch options.
- Expanding ecosystem of partner automation/orchestration applications.
- A growing set of validated use cases, to meet the needs of large enterprises, Telcos, cloud service providers, large retailers and so on.
Dell Networking for ACP for Red Hat OpenShift
The Dell APEX Cloud Platform (ACP) for OpenShift addresses network considerations that are related to availability, performance, and scalability. This platform, which has undergone testing with Dell networking, enables organizations to swiftly deploy the overall solution by referring to the deployment guide and reference architecture. Dell Technologies manufactures APEX Cloud Platforms for OpenShift in the factory, per customers’ purchase order, and delivers to their data centers, ready for deployment. Dell tested the overall solution with Dell PowerSwitch platforms. The nodes in the APEX Cloud Platforms for OpenShift attach to Dell’s Top of Rack (ToR) networking switch which meets the ACP for Red Hat OpenShift network functional requirements which, at a high level, are as follows:
- 25G/100G Network Interface Controllers (NICs) support.
- 802.3ad Link aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) support.
- Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) Size: 1500 for management and 9000 for Data.
- Disabling option for IPv6 multicast snooping to ensure proper discovery of nodes.
- VLAN support: Tagged 3939 for node discovery and Native 0 for external management.
Network redundancy and performance considerations
APEX Cloud Platform for OpenShift is a software-defined data center which depends on the physical top‑of-rack switching for network communications and is engineered to enable full redundancy, plus failure protection across the cluster. For customer environments that require protection from a single point of failure, you must design and configure the adjacent network supporting the ACP for OpenShift cluster to eliminate any single point of failure. A site must deploy a minimum of two Dell ToR PowerSwitches to support high availability, plus balance the workload on the ACP for OpenShift cluster. A pair of cables (VLT Connection) link these Dell PowerSwitches to support the flow of Layer 2 traffic between the ToR switches.
Dell-on-Dell value proposition
Having an end-to-end stack from Dell Technologies enables customers to build a cohesive and efficient IT infrastructure. This allows customers to focus on their core business objectives rather than managing complex and disparate infrastructure components. Dell-on-Dell’s value proposition for integrated networking, storage, and compute solutions offers the following benefits:
- Seamless integration of Dell networking with Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Red Hat OpenShift which simplifies deployment, management, and maintenance, plus reduces the risk of interoperability issues.
- Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Red Hat OpenShift deployed, with Dell Networking, optimizes, and overall provides better system performance.
- Single point of support across overall deployment provides a consistent service experience.
- Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Red Hat OpenShift solution, with Dell networking, offers competitive pricing compared to stand-alone components from various vendors.
- Reduced complexity and efficient management translates into lower operational expenses (OPEX).
- Regular and seamless system updates across the ACP for OpenShift ecosystem.
Useful resources
- Internal: Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Red Hat OpenShift
- Public: Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Red Hat OpenShift
- Dell Enterprise SONiC
1 Red Hat, “State of Kubernetes Security Report,” 2022.
2 Based on internal testing, August 2023, and September 2023.
Dell Technologies First to Deliver Azure Stack HCI 23H2
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 15:47:16 -0000
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There is nothing quite like being first – first to watch the newly released docuseries on your favorite streaming platform, first to try the highly anticipated new restaurant, first to see the popular band that’s in town, and so on. These types of events tend to get everybody snapping selfies and posting memes on their social media accounts. As a bona fide nerd, I get that same feeling of exhilaration when cool new tech hits the market – especially when it’s from the Dell Technologies and Microsoft team. I love getting the word out about groundbreaking features that produce meaningful business outcomes for our customers.
In September 2023, we officially released our Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure, the first offer in the market for Premier Solutions for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI. As the first partner to qualify a solution for this elite category, Dell Technologies is ready for greenfield deployments with Azure Stack HCI version 23H2 staged on our factory-delivered MC nodes beginning today. Dell Services is here to provide you with a white glove initial implementation experience.
In this blog, I want to share my enthusiasm about this 23H2 release and help the community understand why it’s such a big deal.
What’s all the fuss about 23H2?
Microsoft just announced the general availability of Azure Stack HCI version 23H2 last month. Pundits agree that this may be their most ambitious Azure Stack HCI release effort to date. They have dramatically simplified fleet management at-scale of infrastructure distributed across edge locations using Azure Resource Manager (ARM) and key Azure management services. On-premises resources like virtualized desktops, server VMs, and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) workload clusters are automatically Azure Arc-enabled. This means that these resources can benefit from Azure’s advanced configuration, monitoring, and security services immediately after the deployment of 23H2.
Topping the list of new features is cloud-based deployment. You can use the Azure portal to deploy Azure Stack HCI from the cloud, including cluster, storage, and networking configuration. You can also leverage ARM templates with custom parameter values for each unique cluster to drive reuse and repeatability. Dell Technologies plans on going beyond the cluster creation aspects of the deployment as we integrate with this new capability in our next release of the APEX Cloud Platform for Azure.
As depicted in the following early preview screenshots, we will continue to use our APEX Cloud Platform Foundation Software to provide a fully automated, end-to-end Day 1 deployment and cluster creation experience. This includes bare-metal OS provisioning and onboarding to Azure Arc prior to cluster creation in the Azure portal. We will also be able to seamlessly re-deploy existing clusters using our automation workflow if the need arises.
Figure 1. Early preview of Day 1 deployment and cluster creation workflow
Figure 2. Azure Stack HCI registration step in the early preview
The outcome is the same whether you leverage Dell Technologies’ existing deployment experience or wait for our new cloud-based experience coming in the next release. Both accelerate your time to value – taking you from factory-delivered MC nodes to fully deployed Azure hybrid cloud – using powerful API-driven software capabilities. Dell ProDeploy Services offers a white glove deployment experience that uses our APEX Cloud Platform Foundation Software Day 1 API to rapidly bring up any number of clusters in a predictable and repeatable manner.
During initial deployment of 23H2, Azure Arc Resource Bridge and AKS enabled by Azure Arc are automatically installed on your Azure Stack HCI cluster. This is an especially compelling enhancement, as installing Arc Resource Bridge and AKS on previous Azure Stack HCI versions has been notoriously challenging. Immediately after initial deployment, you can provision Arc-enabled VMs and Arc-enabled Kubernetes workload clusters across any number of on-premises Azure Stack HCI clusters centrally from ARM. You can use a guided, wizard-driven workflow in the Azure portal or ARM templates for Infrastructure as Code (IaC) automation.
Figure 3. Arc Resource Bridge running on three Azure Stack HCI clusters
Figure 4. Azure Arc VM provisioning
Azure Stack HCI version 23H2 also provides management of updates across all your Azure Stack HCI clusters using Azure Update Manager, as shown in the following figure. These updates are applied with the cluster-aware updating feature to prevent any disruption to running workloads. In the context of APEX Cloud Platform for Azure, you will be able to apply monthly quality and security updates using Azure Update Manager. However, baseline updates that include Dell’s BIOS, firmware, and driver packages will still require the full stack lifecycle management automation workflow in the APEX Cloud Platform extension in Windows Admin Center.
Figure 5. APEX Cloud Platform in Azure Update Manager
Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) may be the most anxiously anticipated Azure service to come to on-premises Azure Stack HCI clusters to date. AVD is now generally available on 23H2 and offers host pool provisioning directly from the Azure portal. After a 23H2 deployment, you can begin creating Windows 10 and Windows 11 single- and multi-session host VMs across all your Azure Stack HCI clusters. These client VMs can also leverage updated Azure Marketplace images with Microsoft 365 applications preinstalled and GPU acceleration for your most demanding client applications.
There is also a bevy of new capabilities and improvements that addresses the core stack – hypervisor, storage, and VMs:
- ReFS deduplication and compression is designed for active workloads like AVD running on Azure Stack HCI and can result in significant storage capacity savings.
- Trusted launch comes to Azure Arc-enabled VMs to help prevent firmware and boot loader attacks.
- Significant investments have been made to improve the Azure Stack HCI security posture in 23H2. This new version has a tailored security baseline with over 300 security settings configured that remain compliant using a drift control mechanism. Check out the newly published Azure Stack HCI Security Book, which provides a complete readout of all the robust security features that come out-of-the-box with 23H2.
- Microsoft Defender for Cloud for Azure Stack HCI (preview) provides coverage for Azure Stack HCI infrastructure as part of the Cloud Security Posture Management plan.
- Azure Migrate to Azure Stack HCI (preview) - Use Azure Migrate to move VMs from an existing Hyper-V environment to Azure Stack HCI version 23H2. This feature uses Azure Migrate as the control plane, but the data transfer stays entirely on-premises. Support for VMware vCenter source environments is coming soon.
Dell Technologies is first out of the gate
Premier Solutions for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI is reserved for top partners with the deepest levels of integration and engineering collaboration with Microsoft. Dell Technologies completed our testing and validation of 23H2 ahead of general availability on the Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure. We are pleased to get the powerful capabilities of 23H2 into your hands immediately, so you can spend less time on operations and more time on the innovation that helps your organization secure a competitive advantage in the market. Dell ProDeploy Services is ready to provide a white glove 23H2 deployment experience on all new MC nodes delivered from the factory.
Figure 6. 23H2 release timeline
With all the new cloud-based capabilities Microsoft has introduced for Day 1 – N operations with 23H2, we want to be clear about how IT administrators will perform various tasks specifically with Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure. Some administrative scenarios can be accomplished at-scale with Azure Resource Manager, and others will require the granular, cluster-by-cluster level access provided by the Dell APEX Cloud Platform Foundation Software. This software integrates automation workflows into Windows Admin Center via a Dell extension.
Figure 7. APEX Cloud Platform’s consistent management experience
The following table provides a detailed comparison of management capabilities.
Table 1. Comparison of fleet and cluster-level management capabilities
Task | Fleet Management with ARM | Cluster-Level Management with APEX Cloud Platform Foundation Software |
Day 1 deployment | Cloud-based deployment from Azure will be integrated with our solution later in 2024. | Day 1 deployment and cluster creation automation currently performed by Dell ProDeploy Services. |
Monitoring | Event Monitoring for Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure feature in Azure Monitor Insights for Azure Stack HCI. This includes a Dell workbook for visualizing real-time hardware and software alerts. | Physical View of platform component inventory, monitoring, and alerting on a per cluster basis. |
Lifecycle management | Azure Update Manager available for Azure Stack HCI monthly quality and security updates on APEX Cloud Platform for Azure. Baseline updates, including hardware, require APEX Cloud Platform Foundation Software. | Full stack lifecycle management keeps an individual cluster in a continuously validated state, progressing from one known good state to the next inclusive of OS, hardware, and systems management software. |
Security management | Fully integrated with Microsoft Defender for Cloud (preview). | Toggle intrinsic infrastructure security management features, including Infrastructure Lock and secured core server. |
Scale out and scale up | Not currently in scope. | Add Node and Add Disk features fully automate node and cluster expansion. |
Node management | Not currently in scope. | Workflow available to repair and replace cluster nodes. |
Serviceability and support | Not currently in scope. | Enables phone home, auto case creation, and remote connectivity to create a consolidated management, operations, and support experience. |
Full stack lifecycle management
In the future, you will be able to leverage our full stack lifecycle management (LCM) experience in the Dell APEX Cloud Platform Foundation Software for in-place OS upgrades. Our software periodically queries Dell Technologies and Microsoft update sites, checking for new bundles. You never have to leave the Updates tab of the APEX Cloud Platform extension in Windows Admin Center, as shown in the following figure, to review or apply updates. The software identifies any patch dependencies that may exist before revealing these bundles in the Updates tab. Guardrails are established to ensure you apply all updates in the proper order. Dell Technologies and Microsoft collaboratively test and validate this process for every release using APEX Cloud Platform hardware in our respective engineering labs.
Figure 8. Update bundles in the APEX Cloud Platform extension in Windows Admin Center
The following table summarizes the contents of each update bundle type.
Table 2. Contents of update bundles
Update Bundle | Contents |
Azure Stack HCI Solution (baseline) | Azure Arc infrastructure, Lifecycle Manager, and Operating System |
APEX Cloud Platform Foundation Software | Cloud Platform Manager VM and all microservices-based systems management automation and orchestration software |
APEX Cloud Platform Hardware | BIOS, iDRAC, firmware and driver updates |
For a more in-depth discussion about this full stack lifecycle management feature, please review this recent blog post, The Evolution of Azure Stack HCI Lifecycle Management.
23H2 is only the beginning
Support of Azure Stack HCI version 23H2 is only one of the many enhancements we’ve introduced in our latest release of Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure. We’ve also added new automation workflows to our extension in Windows Admin Center, which include many pre-checks and validations to ensure consistently successful operations with no disruption to running workloads:
- Add and Replace Disks feature: We’ve provided an automated workflow to increase Storage Spaces Direct capacity and performance or restore capacity and performance to a desired state.
- Node Repair and Replace feature: We’ve also made it easy to restore a cluster to full health after a node has experienced a failure that requires the server to be reimaged.
Dell Technologies is also developing integrations into Azure management and governance services. This latest platform release introduces the first of these integrations. You can now visualize fault and informational event data generated by the MC node hardware and the Cloud Platform Manager VM using an Azure Monitor Insights for Azure Stack HCI workbook. Simply enable the Event Monitoring for Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure feature for Insights to get started.
Resources
We have tons of great content to help you deep-dive into Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure powered by Dell APEX Cloud Platform Foundation Software:
- What's New with the Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure March 2024 Release
- Monitoring the Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure with Azure Insights
- YouTube playlist with educational and demo videos
- NEW YouTube playlist for March 2024 release
- Info Hub white papers, videos, and interactive demos
- APEX Cloud Platform for Azure main product page
- Microsoft’s official announcement of 23H2 general availability
- General availability of Azure Virtual Desktop
- Azure Stack HCI Security Book
- Check out What’s new for Azure edge infrastructure in 2023 for an eye-opening case study of a fictional grocery store chain that uses Microsoft Azure to deploy and manage infrastructure at the edge using Azure Arc, Azure Kubernetes Service, and Azure Stack HCI. This is a highly enlightening, end-to-end view of how all the technologies within the Azure hybrid cloud ecosystem can harmoniously work together to solve a real-world business problem in the retail vertical.
And as always, please reach out to your Dell Technologies account team if you would like to have more in-depth discussions about the Dell APEX Cloud Platforms family. If you don’t currently have a Dell Technologies contact, we’re here to help on our corporate website.
Author: Michael Lamia, Engineering Technologist at Dell Technologies
Follow me on X: @Evolving_Techie
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaellamia/