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StarWind Virtual SAN

Score9.9 out of 10

148 Reviews and Ratings

What is StarWind Virtual SAN?

StarWind Virtual SAN is software-defined storage for efficient storage and backup.

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Categories & Use Cases

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Screenshot of StarWind Management Console
Screenshot of StarWind Management Console
Screenshot of StarWind Virtual SAN
Screenshot of StarWind Virtual SAN

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Screenshot of StarWind Management Console

Who Buys & Uses StarWind Virtual SAN

StarWind Virtual SAN Reviews

What users are saying about StarWind Virtual SAN.
View all StarWind Virtual SAN reviews

Pros

  • High availability and reliability for critical workloads
  • Significant cost savings compared to traditional SANs
  • Simplified deployment and ease of management

Cons

  • Limited monitoring and alerting capabilities, lacking detailed notifications
  • Complex or difficult-to-access deployment documentation
  • User interface could be more intuitive with better step-by-step guidance

Affordable and reliable High Availability for virtualised environments

Verified User
Director in Information Technology (11-50 employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use StarWind Virtual SAN to provide a resilient platform to host business critical VM's. We came across StarWind Virtual SAN when evaluation Hyperconverged storage providers and it allowed us to repurpose our existing hardware which was great. We have had it running reliably for 3 years now and its a key piece of our infrastructure that just works.

Pros

  • Solid reliable platform
  • Fantastic support compared to other vendors
  • Cost effective compared to hardware SAN storage

Cons

  • I would like to see some more monitoring / usage info in the management console
  • The SAAS license renewal method is a bit clunky having to purchase from distributors and then manually apply licensing files.

Return on Investment

  • StarWind Virtual SAN allowed us to eliminate the need for expensive SAN hardware reducing IT expenditure by approximately 30%
  • By leveraging synchronous replication, we achieved near-zero downtime for critical workloads, aligning with our business continuity objectives.
  • StarWind Virtual SAN with their pro active support reduced complexity in storage management, freeing up IT resources and lowering operational costs.

Usability

Alternatives Considered

StorMagic SvSAN, Nutanix AHV, HPE 3PAR StoreServ and HPE MSA

Other Software Used

ESET PROTECT, Windows Server, HPE Aruba Networking Switches

StarWind Virtual SAN The Perfect SAN Replacement for Small Cluster

Incentivized
Verified User
Administrator in Information Technology (11-50 employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I am using StarWind Virtual SAN for my small Proxmox Cluster. The StarWind Virtual SAN can be installed on commodity hardware or existing hardware. The StarWind Virtual SAN can be my shared storage cluster. So, my small Proxmox Cluster can do live migration or HA. Besides, StarWind Virtual SAN has replication ability for data protection

Pros

  • Replication
  • Easy installation
  • Easy configuration
  • Intuitive web-based

Cons

  • Please add NFS replication as well
  • Native application like install directly from apt or yum

Return on Investment

  • uses commodity server
  • Eliminates expensive SAN hardware for small cluster
  • High availability (HA)

Usability

Alternatives Considered

LINSTOR and TrueNAS

Other Software Used

LINSTOR, TrueNAS

10 Years of StarWind Experience

Incentivized
john perez
Senior IT Specialist in Information Technology at Panoptic Services Inc. (1-10 employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We have been working with StarWind for over 10 years now. We have deployed their SAN software on physical Windows storage servers, Virtual Windows Storage Servers and as a storage appliance on VMware. We have deployed it as a single box solution for small customers and 2 and 3 way HA storage clusters for VMware environments for larger customers. In every scenario we have deployed StarWind, it has been the best solution we have found to push the full potential of the hardware for maximum data throughput and IOPs, while maintaining data integrity and availability with HA. We have worked with their support staff on many occasions. They are always quick to respond and they have always come through with a solution to our issues. They are always committed to ensuring the performance and functionality of their product. I would highly recommend StarWind to anyone! A+

Pros

  • High Reliability multi node iSCSI SAN
  • Allows you to use your own hardware
  • easy to deploy
  • can run at the full speed of the underlying hardware for data through put and IOPs

Cons

  • needs better reporting
  • needs a built in SMTP provider for email alerts
  • needs more detailed alerts

Return on Investment

  • It allows for storage maintenance during business hours which reduces the high cost of after hours maintenance and downtime
  • Keeps the infrastructure running when there is a hardware failure which prevents costly downtime
  • Fast and easy to deploy reducing costly deployment services

Usability

Alternatives Considered

FreeNAS, Dell EqualLogic PS Series, Synology DiskStation and QNAP NAS

Other Software Used

VMware vSphere, Microsoft Azure, Hyper-V

Great solution with great support

Simion VladimirView profile
Tehnical Pre-Sales in Sales at MoD (201-500 employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Great product with great support at a fair price, This StarWind Virtual SAN solution is working great and is easy to deploy, with detailed documentation. I recommended this solution for a VDI deployment that needed shared storage also not costing an arm and a leg like Vmware VSAN.

Pros

  • Fair price
  • Great support
  • Detailed deployment documentation

Cons

  • More regional visibility

Return on Investment

  • Saved a lot of many comparing to the competition
  • Tiered licensed model means great predictibility and business use

Usability

Alternatives Considered

VMware vSAN

Other Software Used

VMware vSAN, Dell AppSync

StarWind Virtual SAN - Great Solution at a Reasonable Price

Incentivized
Tom EskerView profile
IT Manager in Information Technology at Wyatt Early Harris WHeeler LLP (11-50 employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

StarWind Virtual SAN is our production storage running on two VMWare ESXi hosts.

We are in the process of downsizing on site storage, moving as much as possible to the cloud - and there were not any affordable options available from NetApp a replace our out of production NetApp SAN. VMWare vSAN requires 3 host servers so it also was not a good fit. StarWind Virtual SAN has turned out to be a great soltuon that works just as well as what we had before but at a fraction of the cost.

Pros

  • High Availability
  • Good performance
  • It's reliable with little need to do much to maintain

Cons

  • Difficulty understanding some support people over the phone due to heavy accent
  • Datastores do not work after power outage with non-graceful shutdown - manual steps required to bring back online
  • Full sync required after power outage with non-graceful shutdown resulting in degraded performance until completed.

Return on Investment

  • We paid less than half for hardware and software to implement StarWind Virtual SAN than our previous NetApp SAN 6 years before - and about 1/3 as much as it would have cost to buy the lowest cost replacement NetApp SAN
  • The Software has already been purchased so we only need to buy hardware when it's time to refresh.
  • Buying onboard storage for servers is cheaper than buying a separate SAN

Usability

Alternatives Considered

NetApp FAS Storage Arrays, Dell Unity XT Unified Storage and Nfina Hybrid Cloud

Other Software Used

Mimecast Advanced Email Security, PDQ Deploy & Inventory, Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows

StarWind Virtual SAN Alternatives

Products similar to StarWind Virtual SAN that may also meet your needs.
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