I just updated #MSLab scenario where I explore #Dell Azure Stack HCI patching. It's a deep dive that demonstrates at-scale inventory and patching! The interesting part that I just updated is authenticated web request to download latest DSU and IC - very useful if you are behind proxy. github.com/microsoft/MSLab/b…. And for those who want to have a robust, future-proof solution we recently introduced APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure that has its own, unique lifecycle manager! #IWorkForDell

Yesterday we released APEX Cloud Platform (ACP) for Microsoft Azure. You might ask - what is it? It is a tightly integrated solution that was co-engineered with Microsoft and Dell. Well, what does it mean for #AzureStackHCI? It is still Azure Stack HCI! Just consistently deployed and managed. (Sounds like Azure Stack HUB, right?) 1) ACP is consistently deployed (and maintained) with APEX Cloud Platform Foundation Software (a VM that is running containers and is responsible for entire environment orchestration). It uses a new deployment process developed by @troettinger and his team. You can try it in this scenario github.com/DellGEOS/AzureSta… 2) ACP is the first in the market to deliver end-to-end lifecycle management. learn.microsoft.com/en-us/az… 3) ACP is first in the newly created category - Premium Category for Azure Stack HCI. azurestackhcisolutions.azure…. What does it mean? The hardware you will purchase is in our labs and in Microsoft. Microsoft releases both feature update and Firmware and Drivers update using one pipeline. learn.microsoft.com/en-us/az… 4) In new deployment process (link above) you can see, that WDAC (Windows Defender Application Control) is enforced. This is a new level of security, and each node has this feature enabled, together with enforced Encryption on both OS and Data volumes (BitLocker). And since you are an admin, you are in control and these features are optional. WDAC requires extra validation, so our (Dell) software is signed and works on ACP nodes as expected. 5) Let's start a discussion! I'm thrilled to answer your questions!