AzureStack HCI, what is it?

Conclusion

Microsoft unwantedly created a challenge in communicating about AzureStack with this move, but at the same time shows how much focus they have on Azure by extending the Azure brand to their traditional server-based product line.

Some of the software components (Operating System and Storage Spaces Direct) are about the only things the two offerings have in common. Azure Stack is an on premises implementation of Azure Resource Manager, the core software that runs the public Microsoft Azure cloud. While some of the technologies under the hood might be the same, there really is no comparison beyond that. AzureStack is a locked-down, highly standardized, managed environment, meaning you really can’t use the lower-level virtualization tools or look under the hood as deep as you might like.

The confusion around AzureStack and AzureStack HCI, is that although the basic building blocks are similar, the use cases and management tools are quite different. Comparing the two, the biggest pieces “missing” in HCI, when compared to the earlier released AzureStack, are the PaaS services provided by Azure Resource Manager and the management portals.

You can’t develop a software application based on Azure services and deploy those to Azure Stack HCI. You could conceivably develop container-based applications and integrate those into a large Azure-based solution, but that would be a complicated journey. This doesn’t mean Azure Stack HCI doesn’t have its place in the datacenter spectrum when it meets a functional need of customers.

One of the main areas where HCI excels, is flexibility. Where AzureStack is completely locked down from a hardware management perspective, you have full control with AzureStack HCI. Furthermore, when your organisation is paying big money for traditional storage, you could achieve significant savings when you move to an Azure Stack HCI SDDC (Software Defined DataCenter) or SDS (Software Defined Storage) solution.

Final thouth

Azure Stack HCI is a great product on its own and can connect with and use services from the Azure cloud, but don’t expect it to be a lower-cost Azure Stack with some of the bells and whistles from the public Azure Cloud.