Zstor Certified for Azure Stack HCI

Zstor GmbH, a German firm offering hyper-converged IT systems for data centers, expanded its product range by including its Azure Stack HCI solutions certified by Microsoft Corp.

By using the Zstor Servers with Windows Server 2019 in high available cluster configuration, typical features of Azure Cloud Services can be executed locally alongside enterprise applications.

Based on individual customer requirements, Zstor Azure Stack HCI solutions offer performance, capacity, or format-optimized systems using the Intel Xeon Scalable processors, second gen and current NVMe, SSD, or HDD storage devices.

More than hybrid cloud solution
Zstor’s Microsoft certified Azure Stack HCI solutions can operate with up to 16 Windows 2019 servers in a cluster, providing local applications with required performance, by using the latest processors and storage media, and increased reliability in high available architecture. The Azure Stack allows the use of Azure Cloud Services locally which can operate independently of the Azure hardware in Microsoft data centers. This also allows cloud applications to be used offline, so that they meet for example legal requirements (data security). Access to the Azure Cloud platform with its IaaS and PaaS services is integrated; as a result a compact and centralized managed enterprise IT is given. Also future requirements will be met by scaling.

Zstor HCI solutions certified for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI
“Our certified solutions move and accelerate Azure Cloud features to on-premises systems and facilitate the integration of Azure services such as Azure Backup, Azure Site Recovery, Azure File Sync, and Azure Update Management on a single hyper-converged infrastructure,” says Helmut Kopel, MD, Zstor. “Especially when it comes to powering virtualized environments, Zstor’s Azure Stack HCI solutions are ideal for use. In addition to optimizing the utilization of the high available hardware and its simple scaling, acquisition and operating cost can also be optimized and planned over the entire usage period.“

Azure Stack Cloud Services get most leverage
By combining performance-based on-premise hardware and Azure Stack services, off-premise applications can be accelerated by local hardware. The Azure Stack HCI solution acts as a smart interface, especially for the established Microsoft Cloud backup and file synchronization services. In addition to Azure Backup and Azure File Sync, it’s natural to integrate other Azure Stack Cloud services, such as Azure Update Management, in an easy way.

Zstor rackmount and desktop solutions as a hyper-converged appliance
In addition to the rackmount servers of the Zstor GS series, the Zstor GS Cube servers in desktop format built the base for the tailor-made Zstor Azure Stack HCI solutions. The systems certified for Windows 2019 use Storage Spaces Direct to create a hybrid storage solution including NVMe/SSD caching and tiering in a high available, redundant infrastructure across multiple servers. RDMA support provides low latency and high IO/s rates, which are recommended for Microsoft HyperV environments. The solutions can be run as all-flash systems, but also as capacity-optimized solutions using HDDs.

Certified Azure Stack HCI solutions with service now available
Consulting is paramount to plan an Azure Stack HCI solution. Here Zstor is available with know-how and provides the consulting power. The complete systems from Zstor are planned, configured and delivered according to the respective requirements. Optionally, warranty and service services are available for up to 60 months. The technical support and service is available with company’s technical support team.