Azure Stack HCI

Today I would like to dig a bit deeper into guest virtual machine (VM) storage virtualization on Azure Stack HCI. My case and scenario today will be around virtual iSCSI servers as a target for other workloads like SQL Server. My cluster consists of three Azure Stack HCI 23H2 nodes cabled in a switched configuration….

When planning for an Azure Stack HCI environment, many organizations may struggle to decide if they should go for a large Azure Stack HCI cluster or plan for smaller, use-case-specific clusters. Today, I would like to detail the ups and downs of both solutions. To do that, I’ll be discussing the required initial investments, maintenance…

Since mid-June 2024, some Microsoft customers have been reporting Azure Arc and Azure Stack HCI connectivity issues from on-premises devices to the cloud service endpoints. Devices were not able to connect to Microsoft Azure services like Azure Arc Resource Bridge and Azure VMware Solution. The issues have mostly been reported by customers with restrictive firewall…

  Learn more about Azure Stack HCI, a preconfigured, validated offering that enables you to deploy a cloud in your own datacenter. What is Azure Stack HCI? Microsoft Azure Stack HCI is a cluster solution, based on a hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI). It is designed to host virtualized Windows and Linux workloads and their storage in…

Earlier this year, Microsoft unveiled its plans to expand the Secured-Core initiative to its server products to help protect organizations from firmware attacks. The company has recently unveiled its plans to expand the Secured-Core initiative are now available for enterprise customers. “Partnering with leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and silicon vendors, Secured-core servers use industry-standard…

Microsoft announced the availability of hotpatching – aka rebootless patching –  in Windows Server Azure Edition earlier this year. At Ignite in November 2021, Microsoft announced that rebootless patching is coming to Windows Server on-premises via Azure Stack HCI. Azure Stack HCI, Microsoft’s hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) operating system, which is delivered as an Azure service,…

With Hyper Converged Infrastructure (HCI) solutions becoming more common, many customers are now concerned with building clusters on top of those environments. In this article, I’ll explain how to build a guest HCI cluster and why traditional approaches don’t work. In the past, customers built redundancy and resilience based on virtualization and Storage Area Networks…

Microsoft has announced the general availability of Azure Virtual Desktop for Azure Stack HCI. The new service enables commercial customers to run virtualized desktops and applications in on-premises environments. Azure Virtual Desktop is a cloud-based service that enables users to access virtualized Windows desktops and applications on multiple devices. The service is designed to be…

In this article, I will give you an overview of Azure Stack HCI 23H2, which is currently in preview. With the release of 23H2, Microsoft is adding a lot of customer-requested features and enhancements. So, let’s dive in!   When will Azure Stack HCI 23H2 be released (general availability)? The most pressing question I get…