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Azure Stack HCI / Azure Local with Stretched Cluster support?
Hi, i need to propone an Azure Stack HCI solution in streteched cluster mode. I see that the stretched cluster is available only in 22h2 version.. It's an old version.. When the Stretched cluster m...
With this announcement, please abstain from Stretched Cluster and design for rack aware cluster, if suitable.
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/azurearcblog/evolving-stretch-clustering-for-azure-local/4352751
Hello,
Does it mean that Azure Local now does not address at all active-active solutions over long distance? Rack aware cluster has a 4+4 nodes limit, while the old stretched clustering in 22h2 has a 8+8, so RAC is not as scalable as SC.
The secret is to create more clusters. Azure Local makes it easy to manage and secure multiple clusters.
Large clusters like 8+8 are the maximum supported by Azure Local but you save a lot of money rather creating use based clusters instead.
Example: you would require a GPU in each node if one has it for AVD.
You might not require same storage performance as NVMe for large cold data (if you don't want to outsource), so you might rather create a cluster for cold data or large data such as SoFS.
All of this does have to operate on a large cluster.
With each node you have you raise the statistical rate of error as your failure Domains do not scale. For Stretched Cluster and 4+4 the max was 2 disks on each site. Not much if you have 10-24 disks each node at each site.
Thank you Karl. Unfortunately, we're implementing a project which has a 2 site long distance active-active requirement, so basically we have to stick with 22h2. On top of Stack HCI we have to deploy several AKS clusters, and also we'll have Arc managed VMs. If I am not mistaken, the max number of AKS clusters deployed in one 22H2 HCI cluster is 4 right?
Please note that 22H2 will reach the end of support in May 2025. To remain in a supported scenario and continue receiving monthly updates, you need to upgrade the operating system to 23H2. The solution should remain as is.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-local/update/about-updates-23h2
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-local/upgrade/about-upgrades-23h2#supported-workloads-and-configurationsThe question is whether one would want to operate something like this. Just my 2 cents.
