Azure Local for Disconnected Environment

[asakun]

Hi Team,

I have several question for Azure Local related to HPE is not in the Premier Solution based on this blog.

1. Deployment and Operations in Air-Gapped Environments

• Initial Deployment Process: Considering the target environment is fully air-gapped, what is the initial deployment and bootstrapping process for the Azure Local solution on HPE ProLiant DL-Series servers? What prerequisites, physical media, or specialized HPE tooling are required for an installation with zero connectivity to the public Azure cloud?
• Phased Implementation: Is a phased implementation supported? Specifically, can we deploy the Azure Local solution on-premises in a fully disconnected mode first, and then establish connectivity to the public Azure cloud in a later phase if required? What are the technical procedures and considerations for transitioning from a disconnected to a connected state?
• Lifecycle Management: In a fully disconnected mode, how are critical operational tasks such as applying patches (for the OS, HPE firmware, and Azure services), monitoring system health, and applying new configurations handled? Does HPE provide offline repositories or specific synchronization mechanisms for when intermittent connectivity becomes available?
• Local Scalability: How does the architecture on ProLiant DL-Series support the addition or replacement of server nodes within a running cluster that is in an air-gapped state?

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2. Security and Compliance

• Hardware-Based Security Hardening: How do HPE's signature security features, such as the HPE Silicon Root of Trust and iLO, integrate with Azure Arc and Azure Local to ensure platform integrity and security from the firmware level up to the workload in a disconnected environment?
• Compliance Validation: Has this joint solution been validated or certified against specific compliance standards relevant to government, defense, or financial services (e.g., FIPS 140-2/3, Common Criteria) in its disconnected configuration?
• Identity and Access Management: How is identity and access management (RBAC - Role-Based Access Control) for locally-running Azure resources handled entirely offline? What mechanisms are in place to ensure security policies remain consistent without synchronization to Microsoft Entra ID?

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3. Performance for Advanced Workloads (AI & Analytics)

• Optimization for AI/ML: Which HPE ProLiant DL-Series models are specifically recommended and optimized for running AI/ML workloads (particularly inferencing) via Azure services (like Azure Machine Learning) in a local mode? How is performance managed and optimized without access to the elastic compute resources of the cloud?
• Reference Architectures: Does HPE provide validated reference architectures or sizing guides for specific use cases (e.g., computer vision at a remote site, transactional data analytics) on the ProLiant DL-Series platform with Azure Local Disconnected?
• Resource Management: What tools are available through Azure Arc on HPE servers to efficiently monitor and optimize resource utilization (CPU, GPU, memory, storage) when running intensive applications in this constrained environment?

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4. HPE's Premier Value-Add and Support

• "Premier Solution" Differentiation: What technically differentiates HPE's offering as a "Premier Solution" compared to running Azure Local Disconnected on other commodity servers? Are there specific integration plugins, automation scripts, or performance optimizations unique to the ProLiant DL-Series?
• Integrated Support Model: What does the technical support model for this solution look like? If an issue arises, does the customer have a single point of contact through HPE that will coordinate with Microsoft, especially for issues involving the interplay between hardware, Azure Arc, and local Azure services?
• Preview Program: What are the specific criteria for an organization to qualify for the preview program for Azure Local Disconnected on HPE hardware? What support and resources does HPE provide during this preview phase?