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Azure Stack HCI: Hyperconverged Infrastructure with Azure Integration

Azure Azure Stack HCI Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure

Azure Stack HCI is Microsoft’s hyperconverged infrastructure solution that runs on-premises while connecting to Azure for management, updates, and hybrid services. At Ignite 2021, Microsoft announced version 21H2 with significant new capabilities.

What is Azure Stack HCI?

Azure Stack HCI provides:

  • Hyperconverged infrastructure: Compute, storage, and networking in one solution
  • Azure integration: Manage from Azure portal
  • Hybrid workloads: Run VMs, containers, and Azure services on-premises
  • Stretched clusters: Multi-site deployments for disaster recovery

Architecture Overview

                    ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
                    │              Azure Cloud                 │
                    │  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────────┐   │
                    │  │ Azure Portal│  │ Azure Arc       │   │
                    │  └─────────────┘  └─────────────────┘   │
                    │  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────────┐   │
                    │  │ Azure Update│  │ Azure Monitor   │   │
                    │  │ Management  │  │                 │   │
                    │  └─────────────┘  └─────────────────┘   │
                    └───────────────────▲──────────────────────┘
                                        │ Azure Arc
                    ┌───────────────────┼──────────────────────┐
                    │   Azure Stack HCI Cluster                │
                    │  ┌────────────────┴─────────────────────┐│
                    │  │    Windows Admin Center              ││
                    │  └──────────────────────────────────────┘│
                    │  ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐  │
                    │  │  Node 1  │ │  Node 2  │ │  Node 3  │  │
                    │  │  ┌────┐  │ │  ┌────┐  │ │  ┌────┐  │  │
                    │  │  │VMs │  │ │  │VMs │  │ │  │VMs │  │  │
                    │  │  └────┘  │ │  └────┘  │ │  └────┘  │  │
                    │  │ Storage │ │ Storage  │ │ Storage  │  │
                    │  │ Spaces  │ │ Spaces   │ │ Spaces   │  │
                    │  │ Direct  │ │ Direct   │ │ Direct   │  │
                    │  └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘  │
                    └─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Registering with Azure

Register the Cluster

# Install required modules
Install-Module -Name Az.StackHCI

# Register cluster with Azure
Register-AzStackHCI `
    -SubscriptionId "your-subscription-id" `
    -ResourceName "hci-cluster-01" `
    -ResourceGroupName "rg-azure-stack-hci" `
    -Region "eastus" `
    -TenantId "your-tenant-id"

# Verify registration
Get-AzStackHCI

Enable Azure Services

# Enable Azure Arc integration
Enable-AzStackHCIArcIntegration `
    -ResourceGroupName "rg-azure-stack-hci"

# Enable Azure Kubernetes Service
Install-AksHci

# Enable Azure Benefits (Extended Security Updates, etc.)
Set-AzStackHCI `
    -EnableAzureArcServer $true `
    -DiagnosticLevel Full

Deploying Virtual Machines

PowerShell VM Management

# Create a new VM
$VMName = "web-server-01"
$VMPath = "C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\VMs"

New-VM `
    -Name $VMName `
    -Generation 2 `
    -MemoryStartupBytes 4GB `
    -NewVHDPath "$VMPath\$VMName\$VMName.vhdx" `
    -NewVHDSizeBytes 100GB `
    -SwitchName "ConvergedSwitch"

# Configure VM
Set-VM -Name $VMName `
    -ProcessorCount 4 `
    -DynamicMemory `
    -MemoryMinimumBytes 2GB `
    -MemoryMaximumBytes 8GB

# Enable nested virtualization (for AKS-HCI)
Set-VMProcessor -VMName $VMName `
    -ExposeVirtualizationExtensions $true

# Add VM to cluster
Add-ClusterVirtualMachineRole `
    -VMName $VMName `
    -Cluster "hci-cluster"

# Start VM
Start-VM -Name $VMName

ARM Templates for VMs

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
  "parameters": {
    "customLocationId": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Azure Stack HCI custom location ID"
      }
    },
    "vmName": {
      "type": "string"
    }
  },
  "resources": [
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.AzureStackHCI/virtualMachines",
      "apiVersion": "2021-09-01-preview",
      "name": "[parameters('vmName')]",
      "location": "eastus",
      "extendedLocation": {
        "type": "CustomLocation",
        "name": "[parameters('customLocationId')]"
      },
      "properties": {
        "hardwareProfile": {
          "vmSize": "Standard_D4s_v3",
          "processors": 4,
          "memoryGB": 16
        },
        "storageProfile": {
          "imageReference": {
            "name": "Windows Server 2022 Datacenter"
          },
          "osDisk": {
            "createOption": "FromImage",
            "diskSizeGB": 127
          },
          "dataDisks": [
            {
              "createOption": "Empty",
              "diskSizeGB": 256
            }
          ]
        },
        "osProfile": {
          "computerName": "[parameters('vmName')]",
          "adminUsername": "azureuser",
          "adminPassword": "[parameters('adminPassword')]"
        },
        "networkProfile": {
          "networkInterfaces": [
            {
              "name": "[concat(parameters('vmName'), '-nic')]"
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Azure Kubernetes Service on HCI

Deploy AKS-HCI

# Initialize AKS-HCI
Initialize-AksHciNode

# Configure networking
$vnet = New-AksHciNetworkSetting `
    -name "aksnet" `
    -vSwitchName "ConvergedSwitch" `
    -k8sNodeIpPoolStart "10.0.1.100" `
    -k8sNodeIpPoolEnd "10.0.1.200" `
    -vipPoolStart "10.0.1.201" `
    -vipPoolEnd "10.0.1.250" `
    -ipAddressPrefix "10.0.1.0/24" `
    -gateway "10.0.1.1" `
    -dnsServers "10.0.1.10"

# Set configuration
Set-AksHciConfig `
    -imageDir "C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\AKS\Images" `
    -workingDir "C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\AKS\Working" `
    -cloudConfigLocation "C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\AKS\Config" `
    -vnet $vnet

# Install AKS-HCI management cluster
Install-AksHci

# Create workload cluster
New-AksHciCluster `
    -name "aks-workload-01" `
    -nodePoolName "nodepool1" `
    -nodeCount 3 `
    -osType Linux `
    -nodeVmSize Standard_D4s_v3

# Get kubeconfig
Get-AksHciCredential -name "aks-workload-01"

Connect to Azure Arc

# Enable Arc for AKS-HCI cluster
Enable-AksHciArcConnection `
    -name "aks-workload-01" `
    -resourceGroup "rg-arc-kubernetes" `
    -location "eastus" `
    -subscriptionId "your-subscription-id" `
    -tenantId "your-tenant-id"

Storage Spaces Direct

Configure Storage

# Enable Storage Spaces Direct
Enable-ClusterStorageSpacesDirect `
    -PoolFriendlyName "S2D Pool" `
    -CacheState Disabled

# Create tiered volumes
New-Volume `
    -FriendlyName "Volume1" `
    -FileSystem CSVFS_ReFS `
    -StoragePoolFriendlyName "S2D Pool" `
    -Size 1TB `
    -ResiliencySettingName Mirror

# Create stretched volume (for multi-site)
New-Volume `
    -FriendlyName "StretchedVolume" `
    -FileSystem CSVFS_ReFS `
    -StoragePoolFriendlyName "S2D Pool" `
    -Size 500GB `
    -ResiliencySettingName Mirror `
    -NumberOfDataCopies 4 `
    -NumberOfGroups 2

Monitor Storage Health

# Get storage health
Get-StorageSubSystem -FriendlyName "Clustered*" |
    Get-StorageHealthReport

# Get volume status
Get-Volume | Where-Object {$_.FileSystemType -eq 'CSVFS'} |
    Select-Object FriendlyName, HealthStatus, SizeRemaining, Size

# Performance metrics
Get-ClusterPerformanceHistory -ClusterName "hci-cluster" |
    Where-Object MetricName -eq "Volume.IOPS.Total"

Windows Admin Center

Deploy WAC Gateway

# Install Windows Admin Center
$wacPort = 443
$cert = Get-ChildItem -Path Cert:\LocalMachine\My |
    Where-Object { $_.Subject -match "CN=wac.contoso.com" }

msiexec /i WindowsAdminCenter.msi /qn `
    SME_PORT=$wacPort `
    SSL_CERTIFICATE_OPTION=installed `
    SME_THUMBPRINT=$($cert.Thumbprint)

# Register with Azure
Register-WindowsAdminCenter `
    -TenantId "your-tenant-id" `
    -GatewayEndpoint "https://wac.contoso.com"

REST API for Automation

# Get auth token
$token = Get-WACAccessToken -GatewayUri "https://wac.contoso.com"

# Query cluster nodes
$headers = @{
    "Authorization" = "Bearer $token"
    "Content-Type" = "application/json"
}

$response = Invoke-RestMethod `
    -Uri "https://wac.contoso.com/api/nodes/all/features/servers/inventory" `
    -Headers $headers `
    -Method Get

$response.servers | Format-Table Name, Status, Memory

Monitoring with Azure Monitor

Configure Insights

# Enable Azure Monitor for cluster
$workspace = Get-AzOperationalInsightsWorkspace `
    -ResourceGroupName "rg-monitoring" `
    -Name "log-analytics-workspace"

# Install monitoring extension on each node
$nodes = Get-ClusterNode

foreach ($node in $nodes) {
    Set-AzVMExtension `
        -ResourceGroupName "rg-azure-stack-hci" `
        -VMName $node.Name `
        -Name "MicrosoftMonitoringAgent" `
        -Publisher "Microsoft.EnterpriseCloud.Monitoring" `
        -Type "MicrosoftMonitoringAgent" `
        -TypeHandlerVersion "1.0" `
        -Settings @{
            workspaceId = $workspace.CustomerId
        } `
        -ProtectedSettings @{
            workspaceKey = (Get-AzOperationalInsightsWorkspaceSharedKey `
                -ResourceGroupName "rg-monitoring" `
                -Name "log-analytics-workspace").PrimarySharedKey
        }
}

KQL Queries for HCI

// Cluster node health
Perf
| where ObjectName == "Cluster Shared Volume"
| where CounterName == "Volume Available %"
| summarize AvgAvailable = avg(CounterValue) by Computer, InstanceName
| where AvgAvailable < 20

// VM performance
Perf
| where ObjectName == "Hyper-V Dynamic Memory VM"
| where CounterName == "Guest Visible Physical Memory"
| summarize AvgMemory = avg(CounterValue) by Computer, InstanceName, bin(TimeGenerated, 1h)
| render timechart

// Storage latency
Perf
| where ObjectName == "Cluster Shared Volume"
| where CounterName == "Read Latency" or CounterName == "Write Latency"
| summarize AvgLatency = avg(CounterValue) by CounterName, bin(TimeGenerated, 5m)
| render timechart

Azure Stack HCI provides a modern hyperconverged infrastructure platform with deep Azure integration. It’s ideal for organizations that need on-premises infrastructure with cloud management capabilities.

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Michael John Pena

Michael John Pena

Senior Data Engineer based in Sydney. Writing about data, cloud, and technology.