StarWind HyperConverged Appliance Reviews

Name: StarWind HyperConverged Appliance
Brand: StarWind
Rating: 4.8 (66 reviews)

4.8 out of 5

66 reviews
98% willing to recommend

369 followers

What is StarWind HyperConverged Appliance?

For SMB, ROBO and Enterprises, who look to bring in quick deployment and operation simplicity to virtualization workloads and reduce related expenses, our solution is StarWind HyperConverged Appliance (HCA). It unifies commodity servers, disks and flash, hypervisor of choice, StarWind Virtual SAN, Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct or VMware Virtual SAN and associated software into a single manageable layer. The HCA supports scale-up by adding disks and flash, and scale-out by adding extra nodes.

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StarWind HyperConverged Appliance is the #9 ranked solution in top Software Defined Storage (SDS) solutions and #12 ranked solution in HCI Software. PeerSpot users give StarWind HyperConverged Appliance an average rating of 9.6 out of 10. Based on the analysis of the 66 most recent StarWind HyperConverged Appliance reviews, the overall sentiment is positive, with a sentiment score of 7.8. (Among the highest in the category). StarWind HyperConverged Appliance is most commonly compared to Red Hat Ceph Storage: StarWind HyperConverged Appliance vs Red Hat Ceph Storage. StarWind HyperConverged Appliance is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 53% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a computer software company, accounting for 15% of all views.

Buyer's Guide

StarWind HyperConverged Appliance

October 2024

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Featured reviews

Russ Le Puill

IT Manager at St Peter's Church of England Aided School

There was a long delay with shipping, which we weren't expecting, but we were kept updated throughout. It wasn't made clear to us that we needed to provide our own SFP modules to connect to our infrastructure, so that could have been a bit clearer. It would be amazing if there was, perhaps, a more automated process for updating the hosts themselves, although the maintenance mode works well. Our StarWind command center doesn't seem to have all the options available currently, which support is investigating for us.

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Igor Beck

IT-Administrator at Milchwerk Jäger GmbH

It would be nice if it were possible to do the ISCSI setup that you do on Windows directly in the management GUI of StarWind. Further, it would be nice if you expand the storage of one target, the corresponding CSV would rise the capacity as well. This would lead to lesser missed or wrong configuration steps in the loopback configuration. They could program some checkups for the ISCSI configuration that the management GUI would do and could show you possible misconfiguration that someone evidently has done.

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reviewer2084550

Senior System Administrator at Inflexion

I honestly don't have anything to complain about. Nothing is perfect, though, over the past three years, there were two instances where our cluster had an issue, yet StarWind proactively notified me of those issues and effortlessly guided me through the process of correcting the issue with minimal effort on my part. Best of all, there was zero downtime to any of our VMs. The reliability of their product combined with the proactive support means we've basically had almost three years of smooth sailing and 100% uptime.

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StarWind HyperConverged Appliance mindshare

Product category:

As of November 2024, the mindshare of StarWind HyperConverged Appliance in the Software Defined Storage (SDS) category stands at 2.5%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Software Defined Storage (SDS)

Key learnings from peers

Last updated Nov 21, 2024

Valuable Features

StarWind HyperConverged Appliance's most valuable features include live migration, easy management, high availability, proactive support, cost-effectiveness, seamless storage integration, redundancy, and hardware flexibility. Users appreciate its user-friendly interface, significant performance increase, minimal downtime, and reduced management complexity. The system's reliability and excellent support with proactive monitoring enhance operational efficiency and ensure business continuity. It offers a comprehensive solution with a small footprint, providing peace of mind and streamlined operations.

"The StarWind command centre is a very handy tool to have. It allows less skilled staff to have a view and manage our virtual machines."
"StarWind's proactive support is my favorite feature."
"The high-quality hardware options, directly affecting performance, have significantly improved the user experience and are well worth the cost."

Room for Improvement

StarWind HyperConverged Appliance could improve with hardware subscription plans, better power outage processes, enhanced monitoring with web consoles, customized GUI, clearer documentation, and improved user interface. Pricing expectations and shipping logistics need attention. Communication and tech support experiences could be improved. There's a call for greater multisite capacity management and automated processes for updates. Some find certain management tasks cumbersome and prefer more straightforward implementations, while others note challenges with Windows reliance.

"It would be amazing if there was, perhaps, a more automated process for updating the hosts themselves, although the maintenance mode works well."
"Over the past three years, there were two instances where our cluster had an issue, yet StarWind proactively notified me of those issues and effortlessly guided me through the process of correcting the issue with minimal effort on my part."
"The only area that surprised me had to do with the fact that each host runs a StarWind virtual machine used to maintain the health of the vSAN, which individually uses 24GB of memory per host. You should keep this in mind when determining the resources you will need when selecting hardware and components for your specific setup. If I knew that, I would have chosen to add more memory per host to make up for the use."

ROI

Many found StarWind HyperConverged Appliance beneficial by reducing manpower and avoiding additional purchases. It improved stability and reduced points of failure. Some highlighted cost savings in hardware and management. ROI is often difficult to quantify, but many experienced financial or operational benefits. Some anticipate breaking even within a year, while others have already saved by reducing their data center footprint. Peace of mind and improved disaster recovery were frequently mentioned as added values.

Pricing

Enterprise users found StarWind HyperConverged Appliance to offer excellent value with competitive pricing. The cost typically includes setup, hardware, and support, with many reporting overall savings compared to alternatives like Nutanix and Dell EMC. The ability to operate with two nodes rather than three reduces initial costs. Flexible support and service plans cater to different budgets, making the solution accessible for organizations with diverse financial constraints while providing straightforward, all-inclusive pricing.

"I was able to bring the price per year down by going out to a five-year plan."
"The HCA price is all-inclusive (setup, hardware, support, warranty), except for your standard Microsoft Server licensing."
"We didn't have any issue with pricing or any of the sales process."

Popular Use Cases

StarWind HyperConverged Appliance is primarily used for transitioning from standalone systems to virtualized infrastructure, addressing needs for high availability, redundancy, and failover capabilities. It consolidates servers, supports critical applications and databases, and simplifies infrastructure management. Companies appreciate cost-effectiveness, ease of integration, and improved uptime. They utilize it for managing virtual environments, maintaining business continuity, and achieving enhanced performance, storage, and scalability while operating within budgetary limits.

Service and Support

StarWind HyperConverged Appliance boasts exceptional customer service and tech support. Users commend its proactive approach, quick response, and knowledgeable staff. Support is available 24/7, ensuring issues are resolved promptly. Some note language accents but emphasize the team's friendliness and expertise. Proactive Premium Support aids in monitoring, freeing time for other tasks. Users appreciate the seamless handling of queries and system configuration assistance, rating the service among the best experienced compared to competitors.

Deployment

The initial setup of StarWind HyperConverged Appliance is straightforward with most configurations handled by StarWind's team. The appliances often arrive pre-configured, requiring minimal user involvement. Users appreciate the support offered during the process, which includes guidance and assistance for network specifics. Some found adding redundancy at the switch level manageable, though others experienced minor complexity with their network configurations, which was smoothly resolved with StarWind support. Most found setup time efficient, achieving operational status within a few days.

Scalability

Many organizations find StarWind HyperConverged Appliance scalable. It easily meets the needs of small to medium-sized businesses. Users appreciate the ability to expand by adding more nodes, RAM, or storage as needed. Scaling can be achieved on-premise or towards the cloud. While some advancements may require investment, it allows for a seamless no-downtime process. The scalability suits various deployment requirements, accommodating different businesses' expansion plans efficiently.

Stability

Users report exceptional stability with StarWind HyperConverged Appliance, noting zero downtime, no crashes, and high resilience. Many have experienced no issues for years, highlighting its robustness even during power outages or external disruptions. Any minor issues are resolved efficiently, often attributed to external factors rather than the appliance itself. StarWind's proactive monitoring and support effectively prevent and manage potential concerns, ensuring minimal impact on operations.

These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.

Download our StarWind HyperConverged Appliance Buyer's Guide for additional reliable information.

Review data by company size

By reviewers

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Top industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Educational Organization

14%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Retailer

Healthcare Company

Construction Company

Non Profit

Government

Insurance Company

Real Estate/Law Firm

University

Comms Service Provider

Wholesaler/Distributor

Recreational Facilities/Services Company

Sports Company

Energy/Utilities Company

Legal Firm

Hospitality Company

Logistics Company

Renewables & Environment Company

Outsourcing Company

Marketing Services Firm

Aerospace/Defense Firm

Transportation Company

Consumer Goods Company

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Learn more about StarWind HyperConverged Appliance

StarWind HyperConverged Appliance consists of StarWind Virtual SAN, Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct or VMware Virtual SAN “Ready Nodes”, targeting those, who are building their virtualization infrastructure from scratch. In case there is an existing set of servers, we offer a “software only version”, which is essentially our years proven StarWind Virtual SAN. Basically, it’s the fuel powering StarWind HCA.