Deployment Guide

Solution Overview

Topics:

• Solution introduction

• Deployment models

• Solution integration and network connectivity

Solution introduction

Dell EMC Solutions for Azure Stack HCI include various configurations of AX-740xd, AX-640, and AX-6515 nodes. These AX nodes power

the primary compute cluster that is deployed as a hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI). The HCI uses a flexible solution architecture

rather than a fixed component design.

The solutions are available in both hybrid and all-flash configurations. For more information about available configurations, see the AX

nodes specification sheet.

Deployment models

Dell EMC Solutions for Azure Stack HCI offer the following types of cluster infrastructure deployments:

• Switchless storage networking

• Scalable infrastructure

Switchless storage networking

This variant of Dell EMC Solutions for 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 and the number of network adapters that each model supports.

Switchless storage networking offers two full mesh configurations:

• Single-link full mesh

• Dual-link full mesh

For more information on these switchless storage networking configurations, see Network Integration and Host Configuration Options.

NOTE:

For the two-node cluster deployment, a cluster witness must be configured. For details, see Configuring a

cluster witness on page 17.

NOTE: The switchless storage configuration has been validated with back-to-back connections for storage connectivity.

For more information about the switchless storage networking model, see Dell EMC Solutions for Microsoft Azure Stack

HCI: Network Integration and Host Configuration Options.

The following figure illustrates the switchless storage networking infrastructure:

6 Solution Overview