To initialize an HCI cluster (ordinary or stretched cluster), you need to set up the network as instructed in Installation and Networking, activate the license, create the cluster, and configure the overlay network interface. Then, configure an ordinary or stretched datastore as needed.

Conditions

1. You need to purchase sufficient licenses based on the number of CPU cores of all hosts in the cluster.
2. Virtual storage is not supported for a single host. An ordinary cluster requires at least two hosts. To use striping or multiple virtual datastores, you need at least three hosts. A stretched cluster requires at least four hosts and one witness node. In actual deployment, make sure that the configured host location is the same as the actual physical location; otherwise, protection at the server room level is unavailable. Layer 2 connectivity is required for two fault domains at the server room level but not the witness node. Only network connectivity is required for the latter.
3. If you use external storage instead of virtual storage, the external storage you use needs to support sharing (concurrent accesses from multiple hosts) and vStorage API for Array Integration (VAAI, mainly the ATS attribute); otherwise, you cannot add a shared datastore.
4. We recommend that you set up clusters separately for production and test environments.
5. A cluster can house up to 64 hosts and ideally 48 to prevent a fault domain from being too large.
6. Don't deploy an HCI cluster with only one host.
7. License key check: Remind users to renew in time if the validity period of their license key is shorter than one year.
8. Health check: You must perform a health check against all check items after initialization.
9. aDeploy check: You must perform a health check against all check items after initialization.