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HPE Alletra dHCI vs StarWind Virtual SAN comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

HPE Alletra dHCI
Ranking in HCI
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
StarWind Virtual SAN
Ranking in HCI
5th
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
200
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Storage (SDS) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the HCI category, the mindshare of HPE Alletra dHCI is 4.6%, up from 3.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of StarWind Virtual SAN is 2.0%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
HCI Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
StarWind Virtual SAN2.0%
HPE Alletra dHCI4.6%
Other93.4%
HCI
 

Featured Reviews

Antonin Pavlik - PeerSpot reviewer
Effortless upgrades with one-click feature while new server deployment needs a smoother process
I have a data center, and all the servers are connected to HPE Alletra dHCI. I use it for data management with VMware running on the servers The most valuable feature of HPE Alletra dHCI is the one-click upgrade function, which allows all drivers and services to be downloaded to all servers…
Vladimir Simion - PeerSpot reviewer
Achieving seamless cost-saving implementation with exceptional support
The best features that StarWind Virtual SAN offers include the price because comparing to other virtual SAN solutions, this one is the best, and it also has a great support team behind it. My experience with their support has been positive, as their guides regarding the integration are very useful. They have some awesome guides online that show you exactly how to configure the product, how to do the initial setup, and you can speak with them directly. They will be able to connect and verify your setup, run its parameters and see exactly what's working and what is not, and they really help you with that. StarWind Virtual SAN has positively impacted my organization and my customer through initial cost saving. They use this product in a dark site, so I'm not able to provide any additional details about this, but they were really glad about it, they're still using it, and they asked for extending the capacity for it and the support. They really want to use it and are enjoying using it.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Nimble Storage is a capable platform with high availability."
"HPE Alletra dHCI is very comfortable with high performance and quick installation."
"We have this feature in Nimble dHCI, wherein we can upgrade individual components in the infrastructure."
"Nimble is easy to use, but hard to install. Once it's installed, it's user-friendly. Reporting is another advantage because we get a lot of statistical forecasting. It helps us see into the future with that."
"The solution works well."
"We have the ability to increase the storage without any additional costs."
"The most valuable feature of HPE Alletra dHCI is the one-click upgrade function, which allows all drivers and services to be downloaded to all servers easily."
"The latency is very low."
"The ProActive support gives me peace of mind because I am a one man shop, but with the technical support behind me, I feel like more than just one person. We spent two to three hours, depending on what we have to do, always on the phone, and they do not push to end the call."
"The best feature is its ease of installation and integration within a current infrastructure."
"Integration with virtualization platforms helped us to resolve many issues we were facing while using the physical storage."
"Starwind made it easy to deploy fully redundant, highly available storage at a low cost."
"The license price is one of the cheapest in the market."
"This solution enables us to make better cost-effective use of our existing hardware and leverage the current infrastructure at a higher level than we could before."
"The most important feature is the ability to experience the loss of one node or one storage device, and not lose the entire cluster."
"Using our own choice of HW allowed us to price our service to answer our customers' needs."
 

Cons

"The implementation process was problematic due to firmware incompatibilities and lengthy support intervention."
"Their documentation needs to be simpler to read yet more detailed so it's easy to compare models and easier for clients to pick."
"Companies in small countries face problems with spare parts."
"The initial setup is a little bit complicated."
"HPE Nimble Storage dHCI's website does not open properly or work consistently."
"I'm not sure if there are features lacking."
"The product is expensive."
"The solution could improve by providing better file-level restoration and DVX system options."
"Including their own hyper-visor would be a valuable improvement over simply integrating with Hyper-V."
"The software could benefit from more tooling to help with initial deployment."
"I would like to see different levels of support offered."
"I think the setup could be streamlined a bit."
"I struggled when bit figuring out how to go about doing the evaluation."
"Management of VSAN itself could be improved. A Web UI for management would be great rather than an application installation. StarWind is testing a command center virtual appliance that I have installed in my environment."
"While we had little to no issues in setting up StarWind and received excellent support from the StarWind technicians, we would have appreciated a clearer guideline for a setup with the free version of StarWind Management Console or, in other words - for the setup with the PowerShell."
"Although minor, some of the documentation could be rewritten to be clearer."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost of the licensing is reasonable."
"The solution’s pricing was very good."
"I think it's priced right and it's extremely intelligent."
"The price of HPE Nimble Storage dHCI is expensive."
"I would rate the licensing model a three out of ten, where one is extremely expensive, and ten is cheap."
"The product licensing costs vary depending on whether VMware or other solutions are used."
"The product is very affordable."
"The prices are very high."
"If you are looking at a traditional SAN for a small cluster, give StarWind vSAN because you will save thousands without any compromise."
"This is the best priced solution for an SMB."
"I would suggest that you download the free version, deploy in your lab, and play with it."
"The Price/Performance ratio for this solution is outstanding!"
"When we did all the analysis for StarWind, it was approximately 20 percent less than any of the other solutions that we looked at."
"The cost was ultimately low to implement, which allowed us to be 3-2-1 complaint."
"The pricing is fine for the work that it does."
"The StarWind VSAN business model is very cost-effective."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business162
Midsize Enterprise54
Large Enterprise33
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE Nimble Storage dHCI?
Pricing is rated at six, which is normal. The price is appropriate for the capabilities and features that the customers receive.
What needs improvement with HPE Nimble Storage dHCI?
I would like the HPE Alletra dHCI to provide options to install products separately. When extending or when servers are already present, normal Alletra systems are more suitable. dHCI projects ofte...
What do you like most about StarWind Virtual SAN?
It is easy to use and can monitor system synchronization and check Storage status. StarWind Virtual SAN (VSAN) combines flash and disks of the cluster and forms a virtual shared storage “pool” acce...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for StarWind Virtual SAN?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for StarWind Virtual SAN was okay.
What needs improvement with StarWind Virtual SAN?
Currently, StarWind Virtual SAN is working perfectly fine, so there are no changes I would suggest.
 

Also Known As

HPE Nimble Storage dHCI
StarWind SAN & NAS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Baker Tilly BVI, CMS Internet, Board Harpeth Hall School
Find out what your peers are saying about HPE Alletra dHCI vs. StarWind Virtual SAN and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
871,408 professionals have used our research since 2012.