DataON Integrated Hybrid Cloud Solutions for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI

DataON, a division of Area Electronics Systems, Inc., announces integrated hybrid cloud solutions for the Azure Stack HCI.

Azure Stack HCI is a host OS in the Microsoft Corp.‘ hybrid portfolio that delivers HCI with hybrid cloud capabilities built in. It delivers innovation that is focused on being a 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.

Click to enlarge

Azure Stack HCI is a member of the Azure Stack family with the same core OS components, management track, and hardware catalog available to customers in early preview. However, the new host OS features an Azure-based subscription model with benefits such as pricing that scales down for edge.

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 an 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.
Familiar for Hyper-V and server administrators – Leverage existing virtualization and storage concepts and skills; works with System Center, AD/GPO, and PowerShell; and works with popular third-party backup, security, and monitoring tools.
New product experience – No more waiting for new features: updates are at no cost, one-click, and non-disruptive.
Run key virtual applications and workloads – Highly available and resilient performance for SQL Server databases and virtual desktops with edge-local access.

The company is one of the first Microsoft partners to offer an integrated solutions for the Azure Stack HCI. Integrated solutions provide a complete and turnkey experience that the firm is already renowned for by its customers who have deployed Windows Server-based solutions. These multi-node solutions consist of premium-level Windows Server-certified hardware components and pre-installation of Azure Stack HCI. They will be jointly supported by the company and Microsoft for over 5 years, with ongoing testing and validation from the 2 companies. Drivers and firmware can be updated in a one-click process via Cluster Aware Manager. Integrated solutions from the company are orderable through both DataON and Microsoft.

The firm has been offering customized, turnkey solutions for Windows Server software-defined solutions since the launch of Storage Spaces with Windows Server 2012. From 2-node solutions for SMB, ROBO, and edge environments to 4-node solutions for enterprise environments, the company is one of the few Microsoft partners to have offered all versions of Microsoft-validated software defined solutions: Window Server Software-Defined, Azure Stack HCI, and Azure Stack HCI solutions.

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

The firm provides support for Azure Stack HCI with MUST extension for Windows Admin Center. The second-gen MUST extension for Windows Admin Center 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 your entire Azure Stack HCI environment, enhanced disk mapping, alert services, and call home service.

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, DataON. “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 tighter integration with Azure will provide faster innovation for customers.“

Tim Isaacs, partner GPM, 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 such as DataON who have developed solutions for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI that meet the needs of customers who are shifting to hyper-converged infrastructure and hybrid scenarios for better data center efficiencies.“

Click to enlarge