Hey everyone! I'm seeking some guidance on migrating our infrastructure as our renewal costs for VMware came in unexpectedly high. We had plans to transition to Azure Local but are now in a rush to make this happen due to the early renewal. Thankfully, we recently had some capacity freed up with a spare host available, and we have 11 hosts in total supported by our HP SAN. My goal is to convert our spare host into an Azure Local machine. I've worked with Hyper-V in the past and understand its similarities with Azure Local; we mainly use clusters, hosts, and various storage setups. Could anyone point me to some good training resources or share their experiences with Azure Local? I'm particularly interested in any challenges you've faced or things you would have done differently. Thanks in advance!
3 Answers
Honestly, I'm not convinced Azure Local is the right path for you. It seems to require hardware from approved partners. If you’re just looking for a quick migration, Hyper-V could be a better fit. Consider collaborating with a vendor for assistance since you’re in a bit of a time crunch!
You might want to check in with your Microsoft reps. They often have onboarding resources. While validated hardware is preferred, I’ve seen setups that don’t strictly adhere to that. We constructed a two-node UCS instance that’s currently in testing, but it was a hassle getting everything running. Keep in mind, initial image deployments can take a long time, but once you're set, it's pretty standard and performs well.
First off, keep in mind that Azure Local requires validated hardware for support. Trust me, you’ll need that support because the system has its quirks. Starting with Hyper-V might be a more straightforward initial step for you, and then you could transition during your next hardware refresh.
I get that, but if you want any support, validated hardware will be crucial. When I dealt with this, support was a nightmare without it. It’s vital to have a reliable channel for assistance.