Do you need rugged, compact-sized hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) enabled servers to run your branch office and edge workloads? Do you want to modernize your applications and IoT functions with container technology? Do you want to leverage Azure’s hybrid services such as backup, disaster recovery, update management, monitoring, and security compliance? 

Well, Microsoft and HPE have teamed up to validate the HPE Edgeline EL8000 Converged Edge system for Microsoft’s Azure Stack HCI program. Designed specifically for space-constrained environments, the HPE Edgeline EL8000 Converged Edge system has a unique 17-inch depth form factor that fits into limited infrastructures too small for other x86 systems. The chassis has an 8.7-inch width which brings additional flexibility for deploying at the deep edge, whether it is in a telco environment, a mobile vehicle, or a manufacturing floor. This Network Equipment-Building System (NEBs) compliant system delivers secure scalability.

HPE Edgeline EL8000 Converged Edge system gives:

• Traditional x86 compute optimized for edge deployments, far from the traditional data center without the sacrifice of compute performance.
• Edge-optimized remote system management with wireless capabilities based on Redfish industry standard.
• Compact form factor, with short-depth and half-width options.
• Rugged, modular form factor for secure scalability and serviceability in edge and hostile environments including NEBs level three and American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) level three/four compliance.
• Broad accelerator support for emerging edge artificial intelligence (AI) use cases, for field programmable gate arrays or graphics processing units.
• Up to four independent compute nodes, which are cluster-ready with embedded networks.

Modular design providing broad configuration possibilities

The HPE Edgeline EL8000 Converged Edge system offers flexibility of choice for compute density or for input/output expansion. These compact, ruggedized systems offer high-performance capacity to support the use cases that matter most, including media streaming, IoT, AI, and video analytics. The HPE Edgeline EL8000 is a versatile platform that enables edge compute transformation so as use case requirements change, the system’s flexible and modular architecture can scale to meet them.

Seamless management and security features with HPE Edgeline Chassis Manager

The HPE Edgeline EL8000 Converged Edge system features the HPE Edgeline Chassis Manager which limits downtime by providing system-level health monitoring and alerts. Increase efficiency and reliability by managing the chassis fan speeds for each server blade installed in addition to monitoring the health and status of the power supply. It simplifies firmware upgrade management and implementation with HPE Edgeline Chassis Manager.

Microsoft Azure Stack HCI:

Azure Stack HCI solutions bring together highly virtualized compute, storage, and networking on industry-standard x86 servers and components. Combining resources in the same cluster makes it easier for you to deploy, manage, and scale. Manage with your choice of command-line automation or Windows Admin Center.

Achieve industry-leading virtual machine performance for your server applications with Hyper-V, the foundational hypervisor technology of the Microsoft cloud, and Storage Spaces Direct technology with built-in support for non-volatile memory express (NVMe), persistent memory, and remote-direct memory access (RDMA) networking.

Help keep apps and data secure with shielded virtual machines, network microsegmentation, and native encryption.

You can take advantage of cloud and on-premises working together with a hyperconverged infrastructure platform in the public cloud. Your team can start building cloud skills with built-in integration to Azure infrastructure management services, including:

• Azure Site Recovery for high availability and disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS).

• Azure Monitor, a centralized hub to track what’s happening across your applications, network, and infrastructure – with advanced analytics powered by AI.

• Cloud Witness, to use Azure as the lightweight tie breaker for cluster quorum.

• Azure Backup for offsite data protection and to protect against ransomware.

• Azure Update Management for update assessment and update deployments for Windows virtual machines (VMs) running in Azure and on-premises.

• Azure Network Adapter to connect resources on-premises with your VMs in Azure via a point-to-site virtual private network (VPN.)

• Sync your file server with the cloud, using Azure File Sync.

• Azure Arc for Servers to manage role-based access control, governance, and compliance policy from Azure Portal.

By deploying the Microsoft and HPE HCI solution, you can quickly solve your branch office and edge needs with high performance and resiliency while protecting your business assets by enabling the Azure hybrid services built into the Azure Stack HCI Branch office and edge solution.