To initialize an HCI cluster you need to install the HCI system first, complete set up the cluster network, activate the license.

The creation of the cluster here is only for HCI clusters. For clusters from VMware and other vendors, please refer to the respective vendor's documentation.

1. You need to apply for sufficient licenses based on the CPU information of all nodes that will be added to the cluster.
2. Virtual storage is not supported by a single host. An ordinary cluster requires at least two hosts (two nodes need a witness node). 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 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 (Login to HCI go to System > Health Check).
9. aDeploy check: You must perform a health check against all check items after initialization. (aDeploy download link)