Tap into the power of Microsoft Azure Stack HCI with HPE GreenLake

[Cloud_Experts]

HPE GreenLake for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI gives you a straightforward way to deploy Microsoft’s hyperconverged infrastructure solution with all the benefits of an integrated, pre-configured, pay-per-use platform.

By Cliff Evans, Leader of HPE GreenLake Business Strategy for Hyperscalers, Colocation and Service Providers

When Microsoft introduced Azure Stack back in 2017, it was a significant contribution to the rapidly expanding hybrid cloud marketplace, enabling businesses to use apps across public cloud, on-premises and offline environments with a single consistent experience.

And Microsoft didn’t stop there. A couple of years later, they introduced Microsoft Azure Stack HCI, a hyperconverged infrastructure cluster solution that runs virtualized workloads on-prem and links up with Azure for hybrid capabilities like cloud-based backup.

Like any hyperconverged solution, Azure Stack HCI gives customers high-performance, software-defined compute, storage and networking, all optimized to work tightly together. For the hardware component, customers can choose from a catalog of Microsoft-validated solutions from Microsoft’s partner ecosystem. Azure Stack HCI is a great choice for companies looking for a simplified approach for use cases ranging from data center consolidation, to virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), to deploying and running SQL.

HPE has long been a Microsoft-validated hardware provider for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI, but in March we took it to the next level with some exciting news: the release of HPE GreenLake for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI as an integrated system. It’s pre-built and configured for faster deployment and easier integration, and delivered as a service with HPE GreenLake edge-to-cloud platform. As the press release describes it, the solution “enables businesses to transform their on-premises workloads by providing customers with a cloud experience and operating model for applications and workloads close to where the data lives, helping customers reduce costs, increase scalability and simplify management.”

Let’s unpack that a little. HPE GreenLake for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI gives you:

1. A complete, integrated system – hardware, software and services – delivered as a service with a pay-as-you-go-model. As with any HPE GreenLake cloud services, you get the flexible, self-service, easy-to-scale cloud experience, at whatever location you choose – in your datacenter, in a colocation, or at the edge. The solution comes preinstalled with Azure Stack HCI, all ready to go. HPE metering technologies monitor your use of the hardware, and you pay only for what you use, above a reserve amount.

In addition, HPE GreenLake Central, our intuitive self-service console, gives you near-real-time insight into resource usage and capacity planning needs. Maybe you want to know if you need more storage for SQL, or what resources you’re allocating to VDI – HPE GreenLake can tell you with a few clicks.

2. Your choice of three levels of service with HPE GreenLake Management Services. HPE GreenLake for Azure stack HCI has service options to match your business models and operating model. Do you want HPE to manage just the implementation, deployment and hardware? We can do that, with our Managed Infrastructure option. Want to add the operating system? We’ve got you covered under the Managed Platform option. Or we can do all of that plus your apps with our Managed Workloads option.

As a separate option, HPE can act as your Microsoft-approved cloud solution provider (CSP). In this role, among other services, we manage the client relationship with Microsoft for you and can provide a single bill covering all charges, including those for HPE GreenLake platform and Azure Stack HCI as well as optional Microsoft services, such as cloud backup.

3. End-to-end security. HPE GreenLake for Azure stack HCI delivers virtualization-based security and certified hardware to help protect your sensitive workloads and data. HPE is a leader in silicon-to-cloud infrastructure security. For example, the HPE-exclusive silicon root of trust technologies that are built into many HPE servers go well beyond the security features of basic server chipsets. Because it’s built into the hardware, HPE silicon root of trust can prevent compromised firmware from executing. (Read why HPE silicon root of trust was recognized by Marsh, a global insurance and risk management firm, for its ability to reduce cyber risk).

Start small, go big

With HPE GreenLake for Azure stack HCI, it’s easy to start small, with just two nodes, making it ideal for SMB and branch office setups. But you can also scale up to as many as 16 nodes, and we’re seeing real interest in large-scale deployments in industries such as retail, financial services and the public sector.

HPE has deep expertise and experience in the world of hyperconverged infrastructure and our own portfolio of best-in-class offerings, but we recognize that many organizations will want to run Windows and Linux VMs on-premises with their familiar Microsoft Azure tools and services. HPE GreenLake for Azure Stack HCI gives you a straightforward way to do that, with all the benefits of a pre-configured, pay-per-use platform.

View the video below to learn more.

Learn more about HPE GreenLake cloud services

Cliff Evans leads the GreenLake Business Strategy for Hyperscalers, Colocation and Service Providers, ensuring the success of partners with HPE GreenLake Cloud Services Solutions. He joined HPE in June 2021 and has extensive experience in field sales and marketing, partner ecosystem development, and business strategy leadership. Prior to HPE, Cliff has had a 14 year career at Microsoft, where his last role was leading the Azure business in the UK. He’s seen first-hand how customers and partners are digitally transforming and how the industry has accelerated to delivering hybrid solutions.

Cloud Services Experts
Hewlett Packard Enterprise

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