Recommendations on Network ATC vs without Network ATC

Shoaib Anwer 1 Reputation point
2023-08-21T07:26:32.2566667+00:00

Hello All.

 I am following this step-by-step video series:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDk1IPeq9PPdd1Al9VitnrFrr5DnTI5sZ

 

Here, they are not using Network ATC.

So, I need recommendations on whether should I deviate from the video and use the Network ATC or not?

 

So, far I have just joined the servers to the domain, configured MGMT and Compute switches. I was preparing the script for configuring the Storage switches. But I am not sure (since it's my first deployment of Azure Stack HCI) whether to use Network ATC or not.

 Please advise.

 Thank you.

Azure Stack HCI
Azure Stack HCI
A hyperconverged infrastructure operating system delivered as an Azure service that provides security, performance, and feature updates.
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Windows Network
Windows Network
Windows: A family of Microsoft operating systems that run across personal computers, tablets, laptops, phones, internet of things devices, self-contained mixed reality headsets, large collaboration screens, and other devices.Network: A group of devices that communicate either wirelessly or via a physical connection.
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  1. Trent Helms - MSFT 2,541 Reputation points Microsoft Employee
    2023-08-21T12:00:43.0433333+00:00

    Hi Shoaib,

    In my opinion, I would highly recommend using Network ATC to deploy your host networking. There are many reasons for this.

    First, Network ATC will automatically deploy your host networking using Microsoft-recommended settings. While configuring the management/compute network is relatively basic, using Network ATC, all you need to do is specify the intent types (in this case, management and compute), the NICs you intend to use for this intent and give the intent a name, and Network ATC will deploy the Switch-Embedded Team (SET) virtual switch for you across all cluster nodes. But when it comes to the storage network, there are MANY more steps that involve configuring RDMA and QoS. The big advantage to using Network ATC here is that you don't have to remember all of those steps. Network ATC just does it for you.

    That brings me to the second advantage of using Network ATC. Let's say that you need to update a setting with your storage NICs. To do that manually, you would have to update your script then redeploy that script across all of the cluster nodes. And what happens if the script fails to update one of the nodes? If you are using Network ATC, you can simply update the intent with the change (or override), and Network ATC will ensure the change gets propagated to the other cluster nodes. And if there is an issue, Network ATC will tell you both via the output from Get-NetIntentStatus and also within the Network ATC event logs.

    Finally, what happens if you forget to run the script against one of the nodes? Or what if someone makes a change to a node but doesn't ensure that change gets done across the remaining nodes? As good as a script can be, it is still easy for configuration drift to occur. Drift is one of the most frequent causes of communication issues and network instability in an S2D environment. With Network ATC, you do not need to worry about drift. If a change is made outside of Network ATC to any cluster node to any of the settings that Network ATC monitors, Network ATC will change that setting back within 15 minutes.

    As you can see, there are many advantages to using Network ATC (and more I didn't list here). For more information, I would recommend checking out our docs - https://video2.skills-academy.com/en-us/azure-stack/hci/concepts/network-atc-overview.

    Hope this helps!

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