Hyper-V Cluster Upgrade for SCADA Infrastructure Modernization

Modernizing Water Treatment Plant Virtualization Infrastructure with High-Availability Hyper-V and Storage Spaces Direct

Replacing End-of-Life SCADA Infrastructure Without Disrupting Operations

This regional water utility relied on a Hyper-V and Storage Spaces Direct (S2D) cluster to support critical Water Treatment Plant (WTP) Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) operations. As the existing infrastructure approached end of life, the organization faced the challenge of modernizing its virtualized environment while maintaining the availability and reliability required to support essential water treatment processes.

Because SCADA systems play a vital role in monitoring and controlling plant operations, downtime was not an option. The organization required a new infrastructure platform that would provide redundant compute, storage, networking, and power resources while minimizing service interruptions during migration. Security requirements further complicated the project, as all deployment and migration activities had to be performed onsite within the secure operational environment.

To address these requirements, the utility partnered with Data Networks to implement a comprehensive Hyper-V cluster upgrade that would replace the aging infrastructure with a modern, highly available platform designed to support long-term operational needs.

Hyper-V Cluster Upgrade Delivers High Availability and Redundancy

At the core of the project was the deployment of a new Hyper-V cluster upgrade built on two Dell PowerEdge AX650 servers configured with Windows Server 2022 Hyper-V and Storage Spaces Direct. The new solution was designed to provide redundant fault domains across compute, storage, networking, and power resources while delivering more than 4 TB of usable storage capacity and 128 GB of memory.

Data Networks performed all deployment activities onsite, including rack installation, server configuration, networking setup, and cluster creation. The two Dell AX650 systems were configured as a highly available Hyper-V and Storage Spaces Direct cluster, providing a resilient virtualization platform capable of supporting critical SCADA workloads.

To simplify administration and monitoring, Data Networks also deployed and configured Windows Admin Center, enabling centralized management and health monitoring of the new cluster environment. Once deployment was completed, extensive testing validated cluster functionality and confirmed that services would remain available in the event of a node failure.

The resulting infrastructure provided a modern foundation for critical operational technology systems while eliminating risks associated with aging hardware and unsupported software.

Migrating Critical SCADA Workloads with Minimal Downtime

A major component of the Hyper-V cluster upgrade involved migrating up to fifteen virtual machines from the existing Windows Server 2019 Hyper-V and Storage Spaces Direct cluster to the new Windows Server 2022 platform. Because many of these workloads directly supported water treatment operations, Data Networks developed a phased migration strategy designed to reduce risk and maintain service continuity.

The migration process was executed in multiple stages, beginning with foundational systems such as the Ignition platform and domain controller, followed by backup infrastructure, SCADA historian services, business applications, and supporting workloads. The final migration phase focused on critical plant control systems and remaining virtual machines.

Throughout the process, Data Networks maintained the ability to revert workloads to the legacy environment if issues arose, ensuring operational continuity and reducing migration risk. Following each migration stage, customer personnel performed validation testing and user acceptance reviews to confirm successful operation before proceeding to the next phase.

Once all workloads were migrated, Data Networks conducted comprehensive testing to validate virtual machine functionality, cluster performance, high-availability operations, and overall system reliability. The project concluded with detailed documentation, knowledge transfer sessions, and project closeout activities.

The completed Hyper-V cluster upgrade delivered a modernized infrastructure platform built on two Dell PowerEdge AX650 servers supporting up to 15 migrated virtual machines. The new environment provides enhanced resiliency, improved performance, redundant fault domains, and a scalable foundation for future growth while helping ensure the continued reliability of critical SCADA operations within the water treatment facility.

Tags: SLG, local government, utilities, data center, datacenter, Microsoft