Reference Guide

Table 2. Options to expand storage capacity of the cluster
Option 1 conditions Option 2 conditions
○ Drive is listed in the Support Matrix
○ Same drive manufacturer
○ Same capacity and endurance
○ Latest model
○ Latest firmware
○ Drive is listed in the Support Matrix
○ Different drive manufacturer
○ Same capacity and endurance
○ Different model
○ Different firmware
• Ensure that the BIOS, drivers, firmware, and chipset are as listed in the support matrix.
• Apply the BIOS configuration to the node and configure iDRAC. For more information about configuring the node, see the Dell EMC
Solutions for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI Deployment Guide. Do not run the PowerShell commands in the following sections of the
deployment guide again because the cluster is already created, Storage Spaces Direct is already enabled, and the management
network is already excluded:
○ Creating the host cluster
○ Enabling Storage Spaces Direct
○ Configuring the host management network as a lower priority network for live migration
Ensure that the following tasks are completed:
1. Pass cluster validation and SES device compliance tests.
2. Verify that the nodes are compliant with the firmware baseline.
3. Update the hardware timeout configuration for the Spaces port.
4. After the node configuration, update Microsoft Windows to bring the node to the same level as the cluster.
Adding server nodes manually
NOTE: The procedure is applicable only if the cluster and Storage Spaces Direct configuration is done manually.
To manually add server nodes to the cluster, see https://technet.microsoft.com/windows-server-docs/storage/storage-spaces/add-
nodes.
Storage Spaces Direct storage expansion
In an HCI cluster, expanding storage by adding drives on the available slots on the cluster nodes adds storage capacity of the cluster and
improves storage performance. Before the storage expansion, ensure that all disk types and the amount in each node is same and are
equal to that of the node in use. Do not combine two different disk types in the same cluster or node. For example, you cannot combine
SATA and SAS HDD/SSD drives in same node or cluster.
The following options for expanding the storage capacity of the cluster are supported:
• Option 1: Expand the storage with the same drive manufacturer, capacity, endurance, latest model, latest firmware, and if it is available
on the AX node support matrix.
• Option 2: Expand the storage with different drive manufacturer, model, firmware, same capacity, endurance, and if it is available on
the AX node support matrix.
When new disks are added to extend the overall storage capacity per node, the Azure Stack HCI cluster starts claiming the physical disks
into an existing storage pool.
After the drives are added, they are shown as available for pooling (CanPool set to True) in the output of the Get-PhysicalDisk
command.
Within a few minutes, the newly added disks are claimed in the existing pool and Storage Spaces Direct starts the rebalance job. Run the
following command to verify that the new disks are a part of the existing pool:
PS C:\> Get-StorageSubSystem -FriendlyName *Cluster* | Get-StorageHealthReport
CPUUsageAverage : 2.66 %
CapacityPhysicalPooledAvailable : 8.01 TB
CapacityPhysicalPooledTotal : 69.86 TB
CapacityPhysicalTotal : 69.86 TB
CapacityPhysicalUnpooled : 0 B
CapacityVolumesAvailable : 15.09 TB
CapacityVolumesTotal : 16.88 TB
IOLatencyAverage : 908.13 us
IOLatencyRead : 0 ns
IOLatencyWrite : 908.13 us
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