Microsoft has unveiled its Premier Solutions for Azure Stack HCI, marking yet another milestone in its successful partnership with infrastructure collaborators. Through Azure, Microsoft empowers its customers by delivering a slice of Azure’s cloud-native capabilities wherever they’re needed, thanks to a diverse suite of services, tools, and infrastructure via Azure Arc. For those seeking a seamless Azure experience in hybrid cloud and edge environments, Azure Stack HCI offers a meticulously designed infrastructure stack inherently compatible with Azure Arc.
In this article, we’ll delve into the intricacies of Premier Solutions for Azure Stack HCI, shedding light on some lesser-known advantages of Azure Stack HCI. But first, a brief overview of Microsoft Azure Stack HCI.
Understanding Azure Stack HCI
Azure Stack HCI stands as a hyper converged infrastructure (HCI) cluster solution, designed to host virtualized Windows and Linux workloads. It seamlessly merges on-premises infrastructure with Azure cloud services, creating a hybrid cloud and edge environment.
Built on tried-and-tested technologies like Hyper-V, Storage Spaces Direct, and Azure-inspired SDN, Azure Stack HCI is a top-tier virtualization stack. It’s tailored to support Azure Arc-enabled services, including AKS hybrid (Azure Kubernetes Services) and Azure Arc-enabled data services. This ensures clients can efficiently run and modernize workloads at the edge, whether in virtual machines, Kubernetes containers, or various Azure PaaS offerings both on-premises and at the edge. For a deeper dive, explore Microsoft Learn
Azure Hybrid Benefits with Azure Stack HCI
Azure Stack HCI boasts numerous advantages, but a standout feature is the Azure Hybrid Benefit. This program is crafted to optimize the cost-efficiency of cloud-based workloads. With the Azure Hybrid Benefit, businesses can leverage their existing on-premises licenses and transition to Azure Stack HCI and AKS hybrid without incurring extra expenses.
In essence, businesses with active Software Assurance on their Windows Server Datacenter licenses can activate the Azure Hybrid Benefit. This enables them to operate Azure Stack HCI and AKS hybrid both on-premises and at the edge without any added costs.
Note: Ensure to cross-check all licensing details on official platforms.
Extended Security Updates on Azure Stack HCI
Another significant advantage of Azure Stack HCI is the provision of Extended Security Updates for both Windows Server and SQL Server. This program facilitates crucial security patches for legacy Microsoft products that have surpassed their support tenure. And the best part? Azure Stack HCI offers this service at no extra charge.
For businesses operating on Windows Server and SQL Server versions like 2008, 2008 R2, 2012, or 2012 R2, these Extended Security Updates come free when run on Azure Stack HCI.
Note: Always verify licensing details on official platforms.
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