Azure Stack HCI

9 posts

Cluster Finesse – Rename Those Cluster Shared Volume Folders

We’re in a pickle and things are really stressful. Documentation is lacking so who wants to jump into a cluster troubleshooting situation when all we see is: C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1 C:\ClusterStorage\Volume2 ETC ETC In a busy cluster environment the number of CSV folders can be quite large. What we do is once […]

Windows Server 2022 and RUFUS

We are setting up a new 2-node AMD EPYC Rome S2D (Storage Spaces Direct) cluster and hit a bit of a snag with the new version of RUFUS that lists the following options when formatting the drive: Windows 11 with TPM/SecureBoot Windows 11 without TPM/SecureBoot Our cluster nodes refused to […]

Azure Stack HCI/Storage Spaces Direct: Optimal Network Configuration

There are many ways one can go about setting up the networking for an Azure Stack HCI (ASHCI)/Storage Spaces Direct (S2D) hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) cluster. TL;DR Our rule of thumb is to start with four 25GbE ports via two network adapters for multiple nodes requiring switches or even in smaller […]

Custom Build S2D: The Elusive SlimSAS 8x (SFF-8654) Cable

Server and workstation boards have had SlimSAS 8x connectors for dual NVMe drive setups for quite a long time now. ASRock Rack EPC621D6U-2T16R (BTO Board) The SlimSAS SFF-8654 connector is to the right of the PCIe x16 slot. When they started appearing on server and workstation boards, we began trying […]

S2D ASHCI: Extend the Cluster Performance History Cluster Disk

This process may be needed as the cluster grows due to the Health Service creating a somewhat small disk to start with. The following PowerShell will expand the Cluster Performance History Cluster Disk as the initial configured size may not be enough down the road. Variables to change: $VDNewSize = […]

SSDs and Endurance

We have been using Intel SATA SSDs in server settings for a very long time now. We have yet to hit one server, all virtualization platforms, exhaust any of the SSDs we’ve deployed. We’ve also been deploying HGST SAS SSDs in production for a very long time now. Same story, […]

Data Centre SSDs: No Power Loss Protection (PLP) Means No S2D Deployments

Reading this article on Serve The Home this morning: Kingston DC450R SSD Released SATA and 3.84TB Maximum. The Kingston DC450R SSD is being released with “Data Center Series” on the sticker. But, it does not have power loss protection (PLP) so how could this be? The suspicion here is that […]