Storage Spaces Direct (S2D) and Windows Server Software Defined (WSSD) Solutions from HPE [VIDEO]

[Willa]

You have probably heard about Storage Spaces Direct (S2D), one of the exciting new features found in Windows Server 2016 Datacenter. But do you know what S2D is? Today we look at how Storage Spaces Direct works, the benefits it can provide your customers, and the Windows Server Software Defined (WSSD) Solutions from HPE that can help simplify the software-defined transition.

S2D is a software-defined storage solution and is the evolution of Storage Spaces, which was first introduced in Windows Server 2012. It leverages many of the features you know today in Windows Server, such as Failover Clustering, the Cluster Shared Volume (CSV) file system, Server Message Block (SMB) 3, and of course Storage Spaces. It also introduces new technology, most notably the Software Storage Bus.

So, how does it work? Storage Spaces Direct uses clustered, industry-standard servers, such as HPE ProLiant Gen10 Servers, with locally attached drives to create highly available, highly scalable software-defined storage at a fraction of the cost of traditional SAN (storage area network) or NAS (network attached storage) arrays.

Migrating your customers to software-defined datacenters can help them overcome many challenges related to system management, security, and operational costs by pooling resources (compute, storage, and network) on a group of clustered servers—also known as “hyper-converged infrastructure”—to simplify, scale, and more easily orchestrate resources across the data center.

 Key Benefits
- Simplicity
- Unrivaled Performance
- Fault Tolerance
- Resource Efficiency
- Manageability
- Scalability

However, even with all of these benefits, many organizations simply do not have the time, budget, or expertise to implement such a business-critical transformation… But we've got a great solution for them!

To simplify the software-defined transition, HPE and Microsoft have joined forces to deliver a solution… As a Windows Server Software-Defined (WSSD) partner, Hewlett Packard Enterprise offers you a choice of ready-to-go WSSD validated solution configurations based on specific HPE ProLiant Servers and components which are tested, optimized, and WSSD validated with Windows Server Datacenter’s Storage Spaces Direct to deliver reliable solid performance, and high availability for HCI.

These new offers enable automation and simplified infrastructure management to streamline and speed operations of pooled, secured, scalable resources, along with a single point of HPE contact for lifecycle support. Learn more about HPE Windows Server Software Defined Solutions.

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[Mike135]

When can we expect solutions based on WS 2019?

[Willa]

Hi Mike135, We are excited to announce that Windows Server 2019 OEM licensing will soon be available from HPE! Our teams are working hard to create great solutions based on Windows Server 2019 and they should be available soon after OEM licensing availability. 

Learn more about Windows Server 2019 OEM licenses from HPE: http://hpe.to/6006Ep1c8 

[SEBO-so-geht-es]

Dear Willa,

we are currently running two HPE ProLiant DL380p Gen 8 with Microsoft Windows 2012 R2 Datacenter Edition and Hyper-V-Replica of our Windows 10, Windows 2012 R2 with Microsoft SQL 2016 Server and Windows 2016 Servers between those hosts. And further, we are running one HPE ProLiant DL360p Gen 8 as well as two HPE MSA enclosures with HPE and Samsung SSD storage and HDD storage.

Unfortunatly a Windows failover-cluster is not possible with those two HPE ProLiant DL380p Gen 8 and Microsoft Windows 2012 R2 Datacenter Edition without

1) buying a HP P2000 storage enclosure as LUN for cluster shared storage (CSV)

or

2) buying two new HPE ProLiant 380p Gen 9 or Gen 10 and with Microsoft Windows 2016 or Microsoft Windows 2019 Server and building a Windows failover-cluster with a virtual cluster shared storage with the help of Microsoft S2D (Microsoft storage spaces direct) with (new) local storage for Gen 9 or Gen 10 in those new HPE ProLiants.

I was wondering if you might let us know what above mentioned steps (or other steps) will be (in comparison) the better invest for us to get HA (high availability) virtual machines running instead of vm (virtual maschine) replica?

I further was wondering if an HPE consultant might come and visit us and consult us regarding how long we can use our currently running HPE ProLiants 380 and 360p with Microsoft Windows 2012 R2 Server operating system without upgrading.

Further I was also wondering if an HPE consultant can come and visit us and consult us regarding a change in HPE server generation and upgrade of the operation system or invest in currently using Generation (Gen8) for a clustering and HA (high availability) virtual machines.

Maybe we do not need the also mentioned vistit of a HPE consultant by getting answered the above mentioned questions by a binding advice or a binding official statement regarding Gen 8, 9 and 10 and the end of support of Windows 2012 R2 Server operating system? Our Gen 8 is meanwhile out of warranty.

Maybe thank you in advance for this and

best regards,

DL

[Willa]

@SEBO-so-geht-es 
Would you please email us at coffeeco@hpe.com so we can gather a more information and further assist you?

Thank you,
Willa

[Thabo maruma]

my server HPE ml350 gen server not switching on

[Willa]

Hello Thabo maruma, 
Apologies for the inconvenience. To better facilitate your concern, we recommend contacting our support team hpe.com/support as they have the tools and resources at their disposal to assist you accordingly.