DataON: 2U 12-Bay 3.5-Inches AZS-212 and 16-Bay 2.5-Inches AZS-216 Integrated Systems for Azure Stack HCI

DataON, a division of Area Electronics Systems, Inc., announces the availability of integrated systems for Azure Stack HCI.

• AZS-212 – Optimized for performance and capacity with hybrid storage

• AZS-216 – Optimized for IO/s and performance with all-NVMe flash storage

In addition, the company is announcing new services that support company’s integrated systems for Azure Stack HCI.

The firm’s MUST Pro extension for Windows Admin Center with Cluster Aware Updating (CAU)

Premium deployment and support services
The company is one of the first Microsoft Corp. partners to offer integrated systems for the Azure Stack HCI. The firm integrated systems for Azure Stack HCI are designed to help businesses embrace HCI as the preferred way to lower costs, improve data center performance and availability, and simplify operations. They include a complete experience that DataON is renowned for by its customers who have already deployed Microsoft HCI solutions.

With integrated system, everything is included:

• Azure Stack HCI pre-installed

• Server nodes powered by Intel Corp.’s technologies, with level validation and certification from Microsoft and Intel

• HCI cluster monitoring and management plus hybrid cloud services through Microsoft Window Admin Center with DataON MUST

• Cluster aware updating (CAU) via the firm’s MUST Pro for Windows Admin Center

• Azure services such as Azure Backup, Azure Monitor, and Azure Security Center

• Jointly supported by the company and Microsoft for 5 years

• Ongoing testing and validation from the firm and Microsoft

The company provides support for Azure Stack HCI with the MUST extension for Windows Admin Center. This extension provides real-time monitoring with alerts that free system administrators from having to continually monitor their data center. Other features include a centralized dashboard that provides an overview of the entire Azure Stack HCI environment, enhanced disk mapping, alert services, and call home service.

For Windows Admin Center Screenshot
Click to enlarge

MUST Pro is a Windows Admin Center extension included with the firm’s integrated systems for Azure Stack HCI. It integrates with Microsoft’s cluster aware update functionality to simplify deployment and updates to Azure Stack HCI, with minimal disruption to your hybrid cloud infrastructure. It automatically compares server nodes vs. the latest quarterly validated server component image baseline from Microsoft. It ensures that servers have the same OS version, drivers, firmware, BIOS, and BMC, and checks the drivers and firmware for network cards, HBAs, and SSDs and HDDs. With a click, the entire cluster can be updated. Cluster aware updating helps keep the system updated and secure vs. the latest server exploits.

The company offers Premium Deployment and Support services for its integrated systems for Azure Stack HCI. By leaving deployment to the firm‘s Azure Stack HCI experts, organizations can accelerate their deployments and free their IT staff to focus on their normal day-to-day tasks. Deployment services include onsite deployment support, a dedicated project manager, MUST alert services, stretched clusters deployment, cabling with cable management, networking connectivity, and post-deployment benchmark testing and validation.

The firm has been offering customized solutions for Windows Server software-defined solutions since the launch of Storage Spaces with Windows Server 2012. From 2-node solutions for SMB, ROBO, edge, and retail environments to 4-node solutions for enterprise environments, the company is one of the few Microsoft partners to have offered all 3 versions of Microsoft-validated software-defined hyper-converged solutions.

The firm’s integrated systems for Azure Stack HCI are also verified Intel Select Solutions for Azure Stack HCI, featuring 2nd gen Xeon Scalable processors, Optane DC SSDs, and DC Persistent Memory. The company offers 4 validated configuration solutions: data center base, data center plus, edge base, and edge plus.

As a certified Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider, the firm has certified Azure Administrators on staff to help customers design and deploy Azure Services like Azure Site Recovery for DR, Azure File Backup and Azure Blob storage for cloud backups, and Azure Monitor for predictive monitoring for data center environments.

“DataON was one of the first Microsoft partners to offer validated Windows Server Software-Defined (WSSD) and Azure Stack HCI solutions,” said Howard Lo, VP, sales and marketing. “We are excited about the next step in the evolution of hyper-converged infrastructure solutions from Microsoft. The new always up-to-date subscription model and tighte integration with Azure will provide faster innovation for customers.“

Talal Alginawi, senior director, Azure, Microsoft Corp., said: “As customers’ IT and business needs change, Microsoft and its partners continue to provide solutions that are robust and flexible. Microsoft is proud to have partners like DataON who have developed solutions for Azure Stack HCI that meet the needs of customers who are shifting to hyper-converged infrastructure with hybrid capabilities to simplify infrastructure on-premises and take advantage of public cloud value.“

Azure Stack HCI
Azure Stack HCI is a host OS in the Microsoft hybrid portfolio that delivers HCI with Azure hybrid cloud capabilities built in. It delivers innovation that is focused on being the best virtualization host and is the future of Hyper-V virtualization, SDS, and networking. Microsoft has shown high HCI industry performance, achieving 13.7 million IO/s with Azure Stack HCI and Intel Optane DC persistent memory.

• HCI stack – Includes Hyper-V for secure, efficient virtualization of Windows and Linux; Storage Spaces Direct for fast enterprise-grade storage; and Azure-inspired software-defined networking.

• Delivered as Azure service with hybrid built in – Up-to-date subscription for software and support; integrates with Azure; and natively monitor, secure, and backup to the cloud.

• Cloud services powered by Azure – Used by more than 95% of Fortune 500 companies across the globe, with over 30 years’ experience servicing enterprise customers.

• Product experience – Updates are at no cost, one-click, and non-disruptive.

Resources:
What is Azure Stack HCI
HCI cluster management from Windows Admin Center
Must
Must DS
Video: DataON MUST 3.0 for Windows Admin Center