Azure Stack HCI is the Microsoft solution that allows you to create hyper-converged infrastructures (HCI) for the execution of workloads in an on-premises environment. Azure Stack HCI, in addition to seamlessly integrating into on-premises datacenters, offers an important added value: the ability to connect with Azure services to obtain a hybrid hyper-converged solution. Among these services we find Azure Monitor and this article reports the benefits and features of the solution to monitor the Azure Stack HCI environment in a complete and effective way.
The solutionAzure Stack HCI Insights is able to provide detailed information on integrity, on the performance and usage of Azure Stack HCI clusters. The version of the clusters must be 21H2, must be connected to Azure andregistered for related monitoring. Azure Stack HCI Insights stores your data in a Log Analytics workspace, thus providing the possibility to use powerful filters and aggregations to better analyze the data collected over time.
Benefits of the solution
The main benefits of adopting Azure Stack HCI Insights are:
- Managed by Azure. The solution is accessible directly from the Azure portal, it is constantly updated and no additional infrastructure components or third-party software are required.
- Scalability. This is a very scalable solution, able to load more than 400 cluster information set, located on multiple subscriptions, and without limits of domain or physical location.
- Advanced customization. The user experience is based on Azure Monitor workbooks. Workbooks allow users to change views, the query, set specific thresholds according to your needs and save these customizations. Furthermore, workbook charts can be added to dashboards in the Azure portal.
Activation requirements
In order to use Azure Stack HCI Insights the following steps must be completed:
- Azure Stack HCI cluster registration with Azure. This step ensures that every server in the cluster is automatically Azure Arc-enabled. This action allows Azure Monitor to retrieve details not only of the cluster, but also of the single nodes that compose it.
- Enabling Log Analytics, to connect the cluster to a Log Analytics workspace, in which the necessary logs for the monitor will be saved.
- Enable monitoring, to allow Azure Monitor to begin collecting the necessary events for the monitor.
Figure 1 - Configuration of the Log Analytics Agent extension and monitoring
Environment monitor
After completing the necessary configurations, you have the possibility to view the monitor data of a single cluster directly from the Azure Stack HCI resource page or you can use Azure Monitor to obtain an aggregate view of multiple Azure Stack HCI clusters.
Figure 2 – Aggregated view of multiple Azure Stack HCI clusters
Is offered the ability to monitor the health of the cluster , the status of individual nodes and virtual machines.
Figure 3 - Overview of the status of the cluster nodes
By accessing the specific tabs it is possible to obtain further detailed information regarding virtual machines and storage (health, usage, and performance).
Information regarding the performance of the Azure Stack HCI environment is also reported. The following performance trends can be consulted through the panels integrated into the solution:
- CPU usage
- Average latency of storage volumes
- IOPS of storage volumes
- Storage volume capacity
Figure 4 - Consultation of performance trends
Costs of the solution
There are no specific costs for the use of Azure Stack HCI Insights, but the cost is calculated based on the amount of data that is entered in the Log Analytics workspace and the related retention settings.
Conclusions
Having an effective monitor system for such environments, that allows to detect and prevent anomalous conditions and performance problems is of fundamental importance. This further possibility, offered through the integration of Azure Stack HCI with the Azure Monitor service, makes the solution more and more complete and integrated. This is a further added value compared to other competitors who propose solutions in this area.
