About This Documentation

This guide describes how to deploy and configure Hammerspace in Microsoft Azure. It walks through deploying the Hammerspace Data Platform from the Azure Marketplace, validating the deployment, configuring the system through the Management GUI and Admin CLI, accessing shares over SMB, NFS, and Parallel NFS, and configuring DSX high availability with an Azure Load Balancer.

The guide is organized into four areas: deploying Hammerspace in the Azure Marketplace, configuration examples, client access over SMB and NFS, and a reference appendix covering terminology, high availability, and architecture.

This guide is intended for infrastructure engineers and storage architects deploying Hammerspace in Microsoft Azure. Readers should be familiar with Azure concepts such as resource groups, virtual machines, virtual networks, and load balancers, as well as general storage and file-sharing concepts.

For support resources, see the Hammerspace Support Hub and the Hammerspace Licensing and Delivery Portal.

Do not install additional or third-party software, agents, or packages directly on Hammerspace Anvil (metadata) or DSX (data) nodes. These nodes run a managed appliance software stack; anything installed outside that stack is unsupported and is removed during a software upgrade. Such software can also interfere with node operation. If you need monitoring or integration with an external tool, contact Hammerspace Support for a supported approach.

How This Guide Is Organized

This guide is organized into three parts plus reference appendices:

Part 1 — Deployment. Deploy and validate Hammerspace in Azure: Introduction and Deploying Hammerspace in Azure.
Part 2 — Configuration. Common post-deployment configuration tasks: Configuration Examples.
Part 3 — Client Access. Access shares over SMB, NFS, and Parallel NFS: Accessing Shares from Clients.
Appendices. Definition of Terms, High Availability Configuration, Architectural Reference Diagrams, and Documentation and Support.