Preview of Intelligent Automation in Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure
It was another exhilarating Dell Technologies World (DTW) back in May. It’s always fun connecting with colleagues, customers, and partners in Las Vegas. As always, Vegas managed to surprise me with something I’d never seen before. I finally witnessed the incredible iLuminate team up close and personal at the APEX After Dark party. I tried to describe the phenomenon to a friend who hasn’t experienced one of their performances, but words cannot adequately convey this mesmerizing spectacle of sight and sound! In the end, only one of my photos from the event and a link to one of their recorded shows could make it real for them.
Similarly, words alone can’t do justice to the game changing potential of the new APEX Cloud Platform announced at DTW. That’s why I created a demo video giving customers an early preview[1] of the new management and orchestration capabilities coming to our APEX Cloud Platform Foundation Software. This software integrates intelligent automation into the familiar management tools of each supported cloud ecosystem – Microsoft Azure, Red Hat OpenShift, and VMware vSphere.
In this blog, I want to showcase APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure and the features and functionality we integrate into Microsoft Windows Admin Center. My colleague and friend, Kenny Lowe, wrote a brilliant analysis of our new solution in his recent blog post, Delving Into the APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure. He included some screen shots from my demo video, which hasn’t been shared publicly until now. I highly recommend reading his enlightening article, which provides invaluable context before viewing the demos.
Please be aware that the clips below are sections of a lengthier video that shares the story of a fictional retail company named WhyGoBuy. They used APEX Cloud Platform Foundation Software to accelerate their time to value and improve operational efficiency. Because this video was over 15 minutes long, I divided it into bite-sized chunks and included a brief introduction to each administrative task. You can view the full video HERE.
Seeing is believing
Without further ado, let’s dive into the technology!
At initial release of APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure, Dell Technologies is offering a white-glove deployment experience through Dell ProDeploy Services. Our expert technicians will walk you through your first deployments to help you get comfortable with the process. Soon after announcing general availability, we will empower you to install the platform yourself using the APEX Cloud Platform Foundation Software deployment automation. In this first video, our administrators at WhyGoBuy followed the step-by-step user input configuration method and provided the settings in each step of the deployment wizard.
The next video presents a common Day 2 operations scenario. Some of WhyGoBuy’s Storage Spaces Direct volumes were approaching maximum capacity, and one volume required immediate attention. Luckily, APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure offered a consistent hybrid management experience. Administrators were promptly made aware of the issue through Azure Monitor, which provided observability for their entire fleet of platforms across data center and edge locations. Then, they navigated to the Windows Admin Center extension for further investigation and remediation of the issue.
Lifecycle management is critical to ensuring the optimal security, performance, and reliability of any infrastructure. With APEX Cloud Platform Foundation Software, Dell helps our customers remain in a continuously validated state – updating the platform from one known good state to the next, inclusive of hardware, operating system, and systems management software. A few months passed since WhyGoBuy deployed their first platform, and the time came to apply a quarterly baseline bundle using the Windows Admin Center extension. The following video captures their experience.
WhyGoBuy was committed to maintaining a robust security posture. They used APEX Cloud Platform Foundation Software intrinsic infrastructure security management features to help them accomplish this. The next video showcases two of these features:
- Infrastructure Lock – Protects against unauthorized or malicious changes to configuration settings by enabling the System Lockdown feature in Dell iDRAC. This also prevents updates to BIOS, firmware, and drivers to guard against cybersecurity attacks.
- Secured-core server – Proactively defends against many of the paths attackers might use to exploit a system by establishing a hardware root-of-trust, protecting firmware, and introducing virtualization-based security.
In this final video, WhyGoBuy set up connectivity to Dell ProSupport to benefit from log collection, phone home, automated case creation, and remote support. They also wanted to send telemetry data to Dell CloudIQ cloud-based software for multi-cluster monitoring. CloudIQ provided proactive monitoring, machine learning, and predictive analytics so they could take quick action and simplify operations of all their on-premises APEX Cloud Platforms.
The future’s so bright
We are excited to bring Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure to market later this year. I’ve compiled the following list of available resources for further learning.
- Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure Playlist
- Solution Brief – Deploy mission-critical database and virtual desktop workloads in a Microsoft hybrid cloud environment
- Thomas Maurer Speaks with Kenny Lowe on APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure
- Building the Future of Azure Stack HCI
- Delving Into the APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure
After we launch this solution, you’ll be able to find white papers, videos, blogs, and more at the APEX tile at our Info Hub site.
And as always, please reach out to your Dell account team if you would like to have more in-depth discussions about the APEX portfolio. If you don’t currently have a Dell contact, we’re here to help on our corporate website.
Author: Michael Lamia, Engineering Technologist at Dell Technologies
Follow me on Twitter: @Evolving_Techie
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaellamia/
Email: michael.lamia@dell.com
[1] Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure will be generally available later in 2023. Some of the features and functionality depicted in these videos may behave differently at initial release or may not be available until later releases. Dell makes no representation and undertakes no obligations with regard to product planning information, anticipated product characteristics, performance specifications, or anticipated release dates (collectively, “Roadmap Information”). Roadmap Information is provided by Dell as an accommodation to the recipient solely for the purposes of discussion and without intending to be bound thereby.
Related Blog Posts
Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure Serviceability
Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:33:07 -0000
|Read Time: 0 minutes
Whenever an IT company presents a new product, it can be tempting to focus solely on the shiny side of the announcement. How fast are the new processors it incorporates? How much IO throughput can we attain, or how low can the storage latency be? We may be captivated by how easily the new product fits into a hybrid cloud operating model or how it slots perfectly into our multi-cloud strategy. We can focus on the improvements in operational efficiency, the cost savings it introduces, etc. The list is long and attractive, and these are important elements to what makes a new offering worth your time.
But there are a multitude of technologies and processes happening in the background to make these selling points a reality. To keep this new product running and true to the aforementioned benefits, we need to turn our focus to a whole different type of announcement.
Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure is no different. A fully automated and integrated offering that extends and optimizes the Azure public cloud experience to on-premises IT environments, Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure accelerates developer productivity, optimizes workload placement to meet application performance, and addresses governance requirements.
Figure 1. Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure
But what needs to happen in Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure to make all these perks possible over time and through any and all vicissitudes?
It all comes down to serviceability. Dell APEX Cloud Platform Foundation Software integrates Dell Support and serviceability features/functionality into the APEX Cloud Platform extension in Microsoft Windows Admin Center.
For serviceability, we bundle a wide range of technologies and processes such as:
- Secure Connection for monitoring, providing remote support and handling hardware alerts
- Event Management and Call-Home
- Log bundle collection
- Check service feature
Dell APEX Cloud Platform Connectivity
Providing a secure connection gateway between customers’ facilities and Dell support sets up a trustable platform to send infrastructure, events, and call home, create service requests and deliver remote support for troubleshooting.
These connectivity features can be managed from the Dell APEX Cloud Platform Extension for Microsoft Windows Admin Center, as shown in the following figure.
Figure 2. Connectivity can be enabled, disabled, and configured from Windows Admin Center
As mentioned previously, we can select the type of connectivity, either direct or through Dell Secure Connect Gateway, as shown in figure 3.
Figure 3. Selecting connectivity from the APEX Cloud Platform infrastructure to Dell support
This connectivity, once established, enables you to create support cases and review KB articles from within the Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure extension for Microsoft Windows Admin Center,
Event Management and Call Home
Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure Event Management is built around an event processing service that:
- Collects events and transforms them into a common format
- Applies filters and other rules to reduce false alarms and unnecessary traffic
- Stores event history and distributes events to both Dell Call Home and Windows event viewer
In the following figure, we can see an event from the Windows Event Viewer. Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure Events will appear under the section Hyper-V-Dell-APEX-HCP. In the description pane, we can analyze the event code, which includes event type, source, severity, component, and an index field. Other useful information includes:
- Event message and time of occurrence
- Information on the host, component, and sub-component that caused the event
- If there is any KB available related with the raised event
Figure 4. Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure event, as seen from Windows Event Viewer
In the Dell APEX Cloud Platform Extension for Microsoft Windows Admin center, we have a dashboard dedicated to Alerts, as shown in figure 5.
Figure 5. Alerts UI from the Dell APEX Cloud Platform Extension for Microsoft Windows Admin Center
We can sort and categorize systems alerts by acknowledging them or not.
Establishing the connectivity with Dell support to configure Call Home will enable the automatic creation of Dell support cases based on these alerts.
Log Bundle collection
Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure allows the user to collect log bundles coming from:
- Cloud Platform Manager
- Each node iDRAC
- Each cluster or node of the Azure Stack HCI platform
In the following example, we have elected to create log bundles from the three available sources.
We can select the nodes or cluster from which we want the logs to be created.
Figure 6. Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure log bundle creation
You can download the bundles and delete old and/or unneeded logs, shown in figure 7, leaving room for future ones.
Figure 7. Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure Log management
Check Service
Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure includes a profile-based check service. Depending on the need--if we are running a compatibility check, a lifecycle management check, or a cluster validation check--we can create and use different profiles for those validations.
In the following table, we can see the type of checks supported in this version of Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure.
| Scenario | Checker | Description |
|---|---|---|
Node Compatibility check | Hardware symmetry check | Check the hardware symmetry with primary node |
Hardware compatibility check | Check if hardware is supported under a specific version.
| |
Software compatibility check | Check if software is supported under a specific version. | |
Cluster validation | Host disk check | Check host disk. |
Secured core BIOS setting check | Check secured core BIOS setting. | |
Secured core OS feature check | Check secured core OS feature. | |
LCM precheck | Microsoft’s Enterprise Cloud Engine (ECE) health check | Check ECE health state |
ECE running check | Check if there are pending jobs on iDRAC | |
iDRAC pending check | Check cluster component compatibility by Known Good State (KGS) | |
Cluster Component Compatibility Check | Check platform compatibility by KGS service Check if Kernel Soft Reboot (KSR) is disabled | |
Platform compatibility check | Check platform compatibility by KGS service | |
KSR disable check | Check if KSR is disabled | |
Node health check | Check if node power state is ON |
All checks in every profile can be aggregated into a report in .json format.
This report is saved in the Radar docker directory /var/radar/report.
The following figure shows the example of a Day 1 node compatibility check. In it, we can see the compatibility column. The check service has validated that the selected node (with Service Tag 5750003) is compatible to be added to a Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure cluster.
Figure 8. Day 1 node compatibility check
All the processes and technologies described in this blog enable IT administrators to keep the lights of their Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure platform on by facilitating systems’ monitoring and troubleshooting.
You can find more information on Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure on Dell InfoHub.
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.
- InfoHub (White Papers, Blogs, Interactive Journey, and more) – https://infohub.delltechnologies.com/t/cloud-platforms/
- YouTube playlist with educational and demo videos – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2nlzNk2-VMEkNM7E8m0ia_lLHWlOuT5h
- Main product page with spec sheets, solution briefs, infographics, and other great collateral – https://www.dell.com/azure
- Dell Support site with administrator guides – https://www.dell.com/support/home/en/product-support/product/apex-cloud-pf-ms-azure/docs
And as always, please reach out to your Dell 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 contact, we’re here to help on our corporate website.
Author: Inigo Olcoz, Senior Principal Engineer Technologist, Dell HCI Technical Marketing
Twitter: @VirtualOlcoz
On Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure Configurations and Deployment Models
Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:33:06 -0000
|Read Time: 0 minutes
Applications thrive and proliferate swiftly in our technology-driven world, which places a heavy burden on IT departments that are expected to keep up with that frantic pace. This reality necessitates intensive use of dev/ops environments, often a sweet spot for cloud platforms. Multi-cloud scenarios are commonly adopted to avoid being tied to a single cloud provider; however, each cloud platform has its own management tools and requires different base knowledge. Working on different cloud platforms makes having global visibility of your IT assets a very complex task and implementing a holistic security and compliance policy even harder.
Dell APEX Cloud Platforms facilitate multicloud adoption by bringing cloud stacks to data center, co-location, and edge environments, accomplished by providing turnkey platforms designed from a set of common building blocks that help reduce IT workloads, speed deployment, control costs, and manage end of life of assets sustainably.
Figure 1. Dell APEX Cloud Platforms: Empowering hybrid cloud innovation
Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure--one of the offerings within the broader APEX portfolio--allows customers to extend their Microsoft ecosystem on-premises. This new platform ensures consistent operations and governance across data centers, edge locations, and Azure public cloud. The innovative Dell APEX Cloud Platform Foundation Software communicates with the underlying platform and integrates automated workflows into Microsoft Windows Admin Center via our APEX Cloud Platform extension, providing a common and familiar management platform to centralize operations for dispersed Azure deployments.
Figure 2. Dell Cloud Platform Foundation Software capabilities
Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure supports at launch two hardware platforms:
- Dell MC-660 nodes (1U)
- Dell MC-760 nodes (2U)
Both platforms are equipped with dual socket Intel Sapphire Rapids processors, 4 TB of DDR5 memory, and a wide range of NVMe, SAS, and Nearline SAS drives as storage options.
The following figure shows in detail the MC-660 supported hardware for both All Flash and NVMe configurations.
Figure 3. Dell MC-660 nodes for Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure
Dell MC-760 nodes expand the storage and GPU capabilities for the Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure, as shown in the following figure:
Figure 4. Dell MC-760 nodes for Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure
With these two powerful platforms, you can handle a broad range of business workloads, from accelerating the adoption of your hybrid cloud project or transactional databases to hosting virtual desktops, AI/ML analytics, or containerized cloud native applications.
These MC nodes can be combined into different cluster topologies, heavily dependent on the host’s storage network configuration.
We can start with the smallest approach provided by single node architectures. We will expand on this use case later.
The next step in cluster complexity is the two-node architecture, a switchless option that avoids investing in Top of the Rack (ToR) switches or consuming existing storage ports. It is based in a mesh configuration between the two nodes with connection to client switches for host management and Virtual Machines (VM-1,2) traffic. This is a non-converged network configuration, as shown in the following figure.
Figure 5. Storage on physical links in a non-converged topology with two NIC ports
Storage 1 and 2 represent the physical connections to the storage. Through a Switch Embedded Team (SET), Management and VM traffic are routed to their proper destinations.
To expand the Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure cluster size beyond the 2 nodes, we must implement a scalable network configuration. This option supports anywhere from 2 to 16 MC nodes and uses ToR switches for management and storage traffic networking.
These architectures support both fully converged and non-converged network topologies:
- Fully converged -- All storage ports from each node are connected to the same network fabric. Within the Azure Stack HCI OS, the NIC ports are used for both storage and management/VM traffic.
- Non-converged -- Storage traffic is separated from the management/VM traffic using dedicated storage network adapters, as shown in figure 5.
The scalable network topology allows for future cluster expansion as business needs grow.
Single node clusters
Single node Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure deployments are a highly convenient solution for scenarios in which cost and power/space consumption are more relevant than highly resilient systems. This is a very common assumption in today’s Edge and Remote Office/Branch Office scenarios.
Figure 6. Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure single-node deployments
Through Dell APEX Cloud Platform Foundation Software, we can easily deploy our single node environments in the same way we do with multi-node architectures.
In terms of workload placement, single node scenarios are able to host the same type of workloads as any other multi-node architecture with the performance limitations that one node can provide.
Whatever the deployment may be (single or multi-node, converged or non-converged), it is key that the proper hardware resources are configured to provide the best performance to the hosted business workloads.
Dell sales team have at their disposal a newly created Configuration and Sizing tool that has been designed to inherit the core technology of the existing configuration and sizing tool, thus accumulating 1000s of hours of configuration experience and real-life feedback from 100s of past sizing opportunities.
We can also use Live Optics, a free online software used to collect, visualize, and share data on IT environments and workloads, to feed the decisions made during the sizing process to better reflect the real needs of a customer scenario.
Using such a set of tools ensures you receive the optimal platform to host your Azure workloads.
Figure 7. Dell proprietary configuration and sizing tool for Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure
Conclusion
With Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure, customers can leverage Dell’s innovation in terms of automated Management and Operations to extend and optimize Microsoft Azure ecosystems on-premises, maintaining a familiar operational and developer experience.
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.
- InfoHub (White Papers, Blogs, Interactive Journey, and more) – https://infohub.delltechnologies.com/t/cloud-platforms/
- YouTube playlist with educational and demo videos – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2nlzNk2-VMEkNM7E8m0ia_lLHWlOuT5h
- Main product page with spec sheets, solution briefs, infographics, and other great collateral – https://www.dell.com/azure
- Dell Support site with administrator guides – https://www.dell.com/support/home/en/product-support/product/apex-cloud-pf-ms-azure/docs
And as always, please reach out to your Dell 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 contact, we’re here to help on our corporate website.
Author: Inigo Olcoz, Senior Principal Engineer Technologist, Dell HCI Technical Marketing
Twitter: @VirtualOlcoz