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Scale Computing Platform vs StarWind Virtual SAN comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Scale Computing Platform
Ranking in HCI
16th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Edge Computing Platforms (1st)
StarWind Virtual SAN
Ranking in HCI
4th
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
189
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Storage (SDS) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the HCI category, the mindshare of Scale Computing Platform is 1.3%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of StarWind Virtual SAN is 2.3%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
HCI
 

Featured Reviews

Benjamin Bodenehim - PeerSpot reviewer
The solution is user-friendly, stable, and easy to deploy
The snapshot technology takes up 500 times more space compared to other solutions. The snapshots are working on the byte level and not the bit level. The solution has three detriments, there is no performance, we can't see how much CPU each node is using, and we have no technical data on anything that happened on the server. Additionally, replication is also lacking and does not work well, partially to the fact of the snapshot technology.
Ahmed Hosni - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides a cost-effective way to run an HCI storage platform for almost any hypervisor
You can maintain and update it with little to no fuss, even the free version is incredibly capable whilst it brings the cost of a Highly Available HCI solution down to a very cost-effective point. Having used Starwind Virtual SAN for many years both for clients and for internal systems, it has always done exactly what it set out to do. It provides a cost-effective way to run an HCI storage platform for almost any hypervisor, but it is most effective with Hyper-V. It's simple and easy to use, The software monitoring should be web-based to be reachable from any VLAN workstation.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is scalable."
"The product's initial setup phase is too easy."
"It gives the ease of management for a small IT department."
"I rate Scale Computing support 10 out of 10. They're accessible and responsive."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the nice GUI."
"The most valuable features are the appliance-type feel and that you don't need additional licenses as everything is built-in."
"The most valuable feature of Scale Computing HC3 is if one of the devices fails, you won't even notice, the service maintains operation. The customers don't have to waste two, or three days on delays. Additionally, you do not have to waste time with recovery software, it is a lot easier."
"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."
"StarWind support has been great in helping resolve other issues not caused by their software."
"The solution offers easy one-click PowerShell scripts that are ready to run."
"The product creates opportunities with hybrid on-premise solutions."
"The most valuable features are high availability and real-time replication between two servers."
"Virtual SAN runs on iSCSI, which is free and easy to configure. It's easy to manage from StarWind's GUI console, and it only required a few extra switch ports."
"The failover redundancy is why we bought this product and it has never let us down."
"High Availability is the best feature of product."
"The configuration is so much simpler than that of a traditional SAN with fewer points of failure to worry about."
 

Cons

"Scale HC3 improvements would involve literally fixing up the replication."
"The snapshot technology takes up 500 times more space compared to other solutions."
"The product could use a better control center."
"There could be an easier way to see which servers are on each node"
"Scale Computing HC3 said in an announcement they were going to integrate with a backup service which would be good. If they could do this it would be beneficial."
"The product struggles to cope with bigger workloads. In the next release, I'd like some backup solutions to be added."
"On the fly, you cannot do anything on Scale Computing HC3, though it is a very rarely needed area."
"I've had so many issues with the sales team when I was looking to make some improvements, and improve the performance. They would create so many excuses to force me to buy new nodes all the time and not let me add more memory to each node."
"Proper training sessions should be included with the licensing."
"There is no IPv6 support. That is our only issue at this time."
"It would help us if the vendor continues to release software updates for earlier versions of the Windows operating systems."
"Ongoing improvements in read and write performance would help meet increasingly demanding workloads."
"Scaling the product is fairly easy except for the computing aspect. It would entail another appliance. While not a show stopper, it isn't as easy as dropping in a few extra SSDs."
"The console is something that I believe could be enhanced."
"To enable the proactive support capability that is part of our support agreement, I would ask that the terms and conditions be revised and made acceptable to corporate security."
"The Command Center, a free guest VM for management and monitoring, leaves something to be desired. It could have more accurate real-time information and better reporting visuals, which seem to be an afterthought."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I pay for Scale Computing HC3 and it includes customer service for one year. We paid for an additional year for customer service but that includes the updates and everything for the software. Additionally, the licensing is for Windows, which is the same for everybody."
"I give the pricing a nine out of ten."
"rate HC3's pricing a five out of ten since it is affordable."
"The product is worth the money, but I would not say it's very cheap or very expensive."
"There are two tiers of support and in my opinion, support is worth the cost."
"The cost seems a bit steep, and I wish it was less expensive."
"We are happy with the price."
"The Price/Performance ratio for this solution is outstanding!"
"The licensing is a bit weird. If you license the standard version of StarWind, it allows you four terabytes. Then, they have a pro version, but with the pro version, the only difference is it doubles the terabytes to eight."
"I would suggest that you download the free version, deploy in your lab, and play with it."
"The free version is great to use for labs or test environments."
"For two nodes, it cost us $10,000, and we spend $2,000 a year on support."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
39%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Scale Computing HC3?
The product's initial setup phase is too easy.
What needs improvement with Scale Computing HC3?
There could be an easier way to see which servers are on each node. It shows you a small graphical interface, but you have to see them all, and you have to really struggle to figure out which nodes...
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?
Choose StarWind Virtual SAN, it is the most flexible, reliable and cheap solution.
What needs improvement with StarWind Virtual SAN?
While using StarWind Virtual SAN so far, I have not found anything missing. It is true that we are using it in a very strict project in which we were looking for a solution that would satisfy a str...
 

Also Known As

Scale Computing HC3
StarWind SAN & NAS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Resorts World Las Vegas, Stena, Telford Offshore, Goodwill, Sandals, Jerry's Enterprises, Mendard's Royal Farms, Delhaize, Benchmark Electronics, Classic Hotels, Genting Casino, Lindt, Sainsbury's, Landmark Cinemas, Golden Queen Mining, Coca Cola. Holiday Inn, Iron County School District, Sevier County Bank, City of St. Cloud Minnesota, Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly, KIB Electronics, Brake Masters, Lincoln County Hospital, Ohio Summit County Board of Elections
Baker Tilly BVI, CMS Internet, Board Harpeth Hall School
Find out what your peers are saying about Scale Computing Platform vs. StarWind Virtual SAN and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,067 professionals have used our research since 2012.