Cluster Deployment Parameters
Deploying Lightbits storage from the Azure Marketplace is the simplest way to deploy a Lightbits storage cluster on Azure. There is no need to contact Lightbits to do so. You can simply browse through the Azure Marketplace and subscribe. See the Azure Managed Application Installation Guide for additional information.
During the deployment of the Lightbits SDS Marketplace offer, there are parameters that you will need to fill in for the deployment to work properly. Below is the parameters list as shown in the Azure portal.
Basics Tab

Parameter | Description | Default | Optional or Mandatory |
---|---|---|---|
Subscription | The Subscription where you will be billed for the Lightbits cluster and all managed resources. | Your default Subscription | Mandatory |
Resource Group | The Resource group where the managed application will be deployed. | Mandatory from Existing or Create New (please note that for Create New, you will need RBAC permissions to create a new resource group). | |
Region | The Region where the Lightbits Cluster will be deployed (see the Lightbits SDS Supported Regions for additional information). | Your default region | Mandatory |
Deploy Multi AZ Cluster | Deploy the cluster in on all three Availability Zones in the region. Note that this is only supported in regions that have Zones. | Disabled | Optional |
Availability Zone | The AZ where the Lightbits cluster will be deployed. Note that in regions that do not have AZs or if MultiAZ was enabled, this field will not be available. | Zone 1 | Mandatory (if available) |
Application Name | The name of the Lightbits cluster managed application (this is the name you will see in your resource group). | Mandatory | |
Managed Resource Group | The managed resource group that will be created by Azure. This will hold all of the resources required for the Lightbits cluster. | Mandatory |
Cluster Settings Tab

Parameter | Description | Default | Optional or Mandatory |
---|---|---|---|
Vnet | The selected Vnet where the cluster will be deployed. | None | Mandatory (you can also create a new Vnet). |
Cluster Subnet | The selected subnet where the cluster will be deployed. | None | Mandatory - should be at least /24 with 128 available IPs. |
Function App Subnet | The selected subnet where the cluster's maintenance function apps will be deployed | None | Mandatory - should be at least /28 with 14 available IPs. |
Instance Type and Size | The type of storage instance to deploy.* | L32s_v3 | Mandatory |
Instance Count | The number of VM instances in the cluster. | 3 | Mandatory (minimum is 3 and maximum is 16). |
Username | The username associated with the SSH key. The username will be deployed on all of the cluster's VMs. | azureuser | Mandatory |
SSH Public Key source | The source of the SSH Key (New Key, Existing Key stored in Azure, Existing External Key). | New Key | Mandatory |
Key Pair Name | The name of the new Key to create or the name of the Existing Key or the Actual Key. | Mandatory | |
User Assigned Identity | The managed identity you created with permissions on the Vnet. | Mandatory (only when an existing Vnet is being used; when creating a new Vnet there is no need for a managed identity) |
- Supported instance types for the cluster are Ls_v3 and Las_ v3 storage-optimized VMs (specific instance types of instances in each class). The selected instance type will determine the storage, network, and CPU configuration of the instance during the deployment - and will impact the performance, capacity, and throughput of the storage cluster.
Not every region supports both types of instances (see the Lightbits SDS Supported Regions for additional information).
Advanced Settings Tab
This is for advanced users who require specific naming convention for resources.

Parameter | Description | Default | Optional or Mandatory |
---|---|---|---|
Resource Prefix | This is a short prefix to give to resources that are created by the managed application. | lbcluster | Optional (can leave the default) |
Network Security Group Name | The name for the created NIC network security group in the managed resource group. | lbcluster_VMnsg | Optional (can leave the default) |
Support Settings Tab
In the Support section it is recommended to add contact details of the owner so we can contact you in case of required support or maintenance.

Parameter | Description | Default | Optional Mandatory |
---|---|---|---|
All Support to SSH to the Cluster | This will create a jumpbox that will be shut down and started up in case Support needs to access the cluster servers. | Enabled | Optional |
Customer Name | Name of the person to contact in cases that require support. Requirements:
| - | Optional |
Customer Email | Email of the contact person. Requirements:
| Optional | |
Customer Phone | Phone number of the contact person. Requirements:
| Optional |
AVS Setup Tab
The AVS Setup tab is only required if you are using AVS (Azure VMware Solution), and you are creating a new Vnet for the cluster. In this tab you need to give information so that during the deployment process we will be able to set up an ExpressRoute Gateway. See the AVS Guide for additional details.

Parameter | Description | Default | Optional or Mandatory |
---|---|---|---|
Create Gateway (Checkbox) | Only for AVS customers that create a new subnet during the cluster deployment. If you want the cluster deployment to also create the UltraGateway, you can create this by yourself later. | Disabled | Optional |
Express Route Key | The Key to connect to the ExpressRoute Circuit (should be taken from the ExpressRoute Circuit configuration in your tenant). | Mandatory (if you marked the checkbox) | |
Express Route Address ID | The ExpressRoute Circuit Address ID (should be taken from the ExpressRoute Circuit configuration in your tenant). | Mandatory (if you marked the checkbox) | |
Gateway Subnet | As part of the UltraGateway, we need to assign a subnet to it. Here you select the preferred subnet range (it should be inside the range of the new Vnet we created and different than the subnet for the cluster). For example if your Vnet is 10.0.0.0/16 and the default subnet is 10.0.0.0/24, then the UltraGateway subnet can be 10.0.1.0 /27. | Mandatory (if you marked the checkbox) |
The Lightbits SDS deployment takes approximately 15-20 minutes to complete. Once complete, the storage cluster is active and you can start using it.
If the deployment fails, refer to the Troubleshooting Deployment Failures section of this guide.