Scality RING vs StarWind Virtual SAN comparison

Scality and StarWind are both solutions in the Software Defined Storage (SDS) category. Scality is ranked #13 with an average rating of 7.0, while StarWind is ranked #1 with an average rating of 9.5. Additionally, 100% of Scality users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of StarWind users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 5, 2024

Scality RING and StarWind Virtual SAN are competing storage solutions designed for modern data management. StarWind Virtual SAN often has the upper hand due to its advanced features leading to higher satisfaction; however, Scality RING frequently scores better in pricing and reliability, offering significant value for investment.

Features: Scality RING provides robust scalability and geo-replication for large-scale, multi-site deployments. It supports multi-cloud environments and ensures data durability and management. StarWind Virtual SAN is known for high-performance storage in virtualized settings, offering speed and integrated support for hyper-converged infrastructures. It is appreciated for simplicity and easy integration with various scenarios, including hybrid cloud.

Room for Improvement: Scality RING can improve its deployment approach by reducing the need for specialized expertise to shorten deployment time. Its customer support could become more responsive to enhance user experience. Additionally, enhancing integration options with diverse software environments may increase its adoption. StarWind Virtual SAN could enhance its cost model to lower initial investment barriers, broaden integration capabilities with other platforms, and potentially simplify its pricing structure for better transparency.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Scality RING uses a modular deployment approach, which may require specialized expertise, potentially extending deployment time. Its customer service is robust but can improve in responsiveness. StarWind Virtual SAN is praised for streamlined deployment with faster installations and less complexity. It also receives high marks for proactive and supportive customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Scality RING generally offers a predictable pricing model with lower initial costs, providing strong support for diverse workloads leading to high ROI. In contrast, StarWind Virtual SAN, with a higher initial investment, focuses on maximizing performance and reducing long-term costs, offering substantial ROI through improved performance efficiencies.

To learn more, read our detailed Scality RING vs. StarWind Virtual SAN Report (Updated: February 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Scality RING vs. StarWind Virtual SAN

February 2025

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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

Pure Storage FlashBlade

Featured Reviews

Eric Black

Solutions Architect at Recovery Point Systems

The ability to leverage multi-tenancy along with immutability is a huge benefit for us

The only thing I feel FlashBlade is missing is the SOS API. If it had SOS API, that would put it well over the top. Veeam Backup specifically has started to streamline their API, and they are doing that with SOS API. They have optimized it. Any of the S3 devices out there that support this SOS API can have far more API calls at once. On our side, that translates to better restoration. With SOS API, it can leverage far more restorations at a single given time or read from the device in simple terms. That results in maximizing the output and throughput from the device itself.

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Guillaume Lapouge

Cloud Architect at Claranet France

Offers UTIPI (Unified Tiered Infrastructure Per IOPS) feature in billing but lacks extensive testing

It's a very good product, but for large-scale usage, it has limitations. Scality RING's lack of extensive testing and potential hidden limitations. While Scality provides precise architecture guidelines for sizing the storage infrastructure, Orange utilizes a different processor architecture for its Ovi servers, requiring additional optimization beyond what Scality offers. In essence, the product lacks third-party optimization capabilities.

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WJHG

Soporte IT at Sildan Security

Seamless integrations, high availability, and offers a free version

Although I am generally satisfied with VSAN and its performance, there are some areas that could be improved to enhance its effectiveness even further. One area that could benefit from improvement is scalability. While the tool works well in its current configuration, allowing for greater ease and flexibility in adding new nodes to the cluster without complications would be very beneficial, especially in growing environments. Additionally, I would like to see additional features in the next version, such as better support for automated resource management. This could include proactive suggestions for optimizing storage and memory usage, as well as preventive alerts about the health status of the servers. A more intuitive interface or an improved dashboard for monitoring the cluster would also be helpful, as it would facilitate performance tracking and help identify potential issues before they affect services.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It has also helped to simplify storage for us in the way that it's easy to manage. Their automatic monitoring really helps when things break or are about to break. They see a problem coming and alert us even before our own system does."

"It performs well and it is also very fast."

"It has absolutely simplified our storage because the dashboards on the consoles show a clear understanding of where you are, and it is also very easy to provision. This been a big help for our teams."

"It uses the same platform for connectivity so integration is seamless."

"The onboarding and integrated monitoring tools are pretty good."

"The snapshots, replication, and the ability to have immutable blades are the most valuable features. You're putting data snapshots out in those blades, and they cannot be touched. Its performance is great."

"FlashBlade offers low latency, high throughput, and seamless scalability."

"The initial setup is pretty easy and simple."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade pros

"The most valuable feature of Scality RING8 is its performance and good interface."

"I think it's the economic factor. This solution has the lowest cost for storage systems."

"Another feature I like is the life cycle management that helps me with data storage efficiency."

"When it comes to ease of installation, the whole process is designed to be user-friendly and straightforward."

"The support has been amazing and quick to reply."

"StarWind has provided us with a top-notch, well-supported, robust vSAN offering when other vendors have moved to hyper-converged solutions that are outside of our average clients' reach from a financial and resource perspective."

"The best features are the software's ease of setup and the excellent technical support."

"It provided the much-needed HA on an extremely low budget."

"The best part is the easy way it operates with a very clear GUI without any unnecessary items."

"The product has improved the ability to mimic physical SAN environments to demo scenarios and troubleshoot problems."

"Highly available storage is the most valuable feature. The entire rollout is hyper-converged and requires no extra storage further than the hosts in which Hyper-V is running. Another feature that has been great is the support from StarWind in general. We have their proactive support package on the main cluster that employs Starwind Virtual SAN."

More StarWind Virtual SAN pros

Cons

"I would like to see more deduplication."

"It's on the expensive side, as expected for a niche product."

"We haven't been able to use much of the cloud area of Pure Storage. We have a storage server and it would be better if it could integrate with other cloud features of this solution."

"Pure Storage FlashBlade should improve on more cloud integration."

"The speed could be improved."

"Commvault has mainly driven the Analytics, providing data and reports. However, the product has room for improvement, especially regarding storage analytics. Upgrading firmware has caused issues, requiring feature disabling to revert to traditional backups. The firmware upgrades sometimes affect Commvault backups."

"On our dedupe during our initial buy, we were expecting a number a little higher like 4x. However, we are getting about 3.6. While it is close enough, it doesn't quite hit the numbers. So, this has been a challenge."

"I would like to see more monitoring capability included in the next release of this solution."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade cons

"Scality RING is not easy to learn for someone new. It is a little bit difficult. There are a lot of components to it, and you also need to understand them to work with it effectively."

"When we used this solution in 2015, it was not scalable at all. I don't know if they have improved on that, but at the time, scalability was just horrible."

"Scality RING8 could improve by having more features. We have to use two automation tools to meet our needs. We would prefer to use only one."

"I'd love to see more clarification for us folks who are smart enough to do some damage yet not smart enough to use CLI."

"Some configuration options still demand service restarting."

"Though I have learned some of the nuances with the upgrading of firmware/windows/etc., it would be nice to have a more efficient method of doing so."

"We just need more integration with Veeam."

"StarWind really needs to market its product more."

"The GUI deserves a little love."

"I'd love to see native export of metrics (via Prometheus or something of that nature) to allow us to get more metrics available on our existing dashboard software."

"Management tools could be improved, sometimes the usage seems to be slowed down and confusing. A native web interface could also be an option. I love to see in the future port of the software on a general Linux distribution like RedHat or Ubuntu in order to avoid windows license costs. I would also like to see features like erasure coding implemented. On the VSAN software, I would like to see some improvements in the storage pools (eliminate the usage of the file as a data container and use the raw partition)."

More StarWind Virtual SAN cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing for FlashBlade is between cheap and moderate."

"The pricing is relatively expensive due to the FlashBlade technology. However, for companies needing quick and reliable data access, the cost is justified."

"It is within reason for what you get. From what we have found comparing it to other vendors, it is in the same range as others. Given the choice, we would definitely redeploy it based on the cost."

"In my opinion, we have paid the right price for the product. I don't think that it is too much or too little."

"I rate the tool's pricing a seven to eight out of ten."

"The price of this solution could be made more affordable."

"I feel that the price could always be lowered."

"Licensing fees are paid yearly."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade pricing and cost advice

"The cost of Scality RING8 could be less expensive. It is difficult for smaller businesses to afford it."

"The initial cost (CAPEX) to set up the infrastructure is expensive due to the specific hardware required."

"It's priced fairly. It was definitely cheaper than the competition. The licensing terms are straightforward and reasonable."

"If you are looking at a traditional SAN for a small cluster, give StarWind vSAN because you will save thousands without any compromise."

"This solution has a great price for the functionality."

"This solution has competitive prices and the implementation is very easy."

"The free version is great to use for labs or test environments."

"Their pricing seems pretty good, and their licensing structure is pretty straightforward."

"StarWind is a low-cost, full-featured alternative to the traditional SAN environment, and their support will guide you every step of the setup."

"The cost, including OPEX, is lower compared to other solutions."

More StarWind Virtual SAN pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

37%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

19%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Energy/Utilities Company

Computer Software Company

17%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pure Storage FlashBlade?

The tool's most valuable feature is its fast performance, especially in handling snapshots. It helps during power out...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pure Storage FlashBlade?

The pricing for FlashBlade is between cheap and moderate. FlashBlade is worth the money due to the experience and per...

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What needs improvement with Pure Storage FlashBlade?

Its configuration should be easier. There should be easier language for the configuration.

See all answers

What do you like most about Scality RING8?

Another feature I like is the life cycle management that helps me with data storage efficiency.

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What needs improvement with Scality RING8?

It's a very good product, but for large-scale usage, it has limitations. Scality RING's lack of extensive testing and...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Scality RING8?

I work with Scality RING for storage, and we have a concrete strategy to offer it to business customers. Many custome...

See all answers

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) combin...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for StarWind Virtual SAN?

I can't give a sincere opinion on the installation and licensing costs because, as I have mentioned repeatedly, I am ...

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What needs improvement with StarWind Virtual SAN?

Although I am generally satisfied with VSAN and its performance, there are some areas that could be improved to enhan...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 21% of the time

VAST Data vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 12% of the time

Red Hat Ceph Storage vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 11% of the time

MinIO vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 11% of the time

Pure FlashArray X NVMe vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 2% of the time

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MinIO vs Scality RING

Compared 17% of the time

Cloudian HyperStore vs Scality RING

Compared 16% of the time

Dell ECS vs Scality RING

Compared 16% of the time

Red Hat Ceph Storage vs Scality RING

Compared 15% of the time

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs Scality RING

Compared 3% of the time

More Scality RING Competitors

VMware vSAN vs StarWind Virtual SAN

Compared 26% of the time

StorMagic SvSAN vs StarWind Virtual SAN

Compared 18% of the time

Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct vs StarWind Virtual SAN

Compared 17% of the time

Red Hat Ceph Storage vs StarWind Virtual SAN

Compared 9% of the time

DataCore SANsymphony vs StarWind Virtual SAN

Compared 9% of the time

More StarWind Virtual SAN Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure Storage FlashBlade

March 2025

Download Pure Storage FlashBlade product report

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined Storage (SDS)

March 2025

Download Scality RING product report

Buyer's Guide

StarWind Virtual SAN

March 2025

Download StarWind Virtual SAN product report

Also Known As

No data available

Scality RING, RING8

StarWind SAN & NAS

Overview

FlashBlade is the industry’s most advanced scale-out storage for unstructured data, powered by a modern, massively parallel architecture to consolidate complex data silos (like backup appliances and data lakes) and accelerate tomorrow’s discoveries and insights.

Pure Storage

Scality RING object storage enables enterprises and cloud service providers to run petabyte-scale, data-rich services like web applications, VOD, active archives, compliance archives, and private storage clouds. The RING is software, so you can deploy it on standard x86 servers of your choice, taking advantage of server and media innovation over time. Acting as a single, distributed system, the RING can scale linearly across thousands of servers, multiple sites, and an unlimited number of objects. Data is protected with policy-based replication, erasure coding, and geo-distribution, achieving up to 14 9s of durability and 100% availability.

Scality

StarWind Virtual SAN provides high availability and fault tolerance for virtualized environments without the need for dedicated SAN hardware. It allows for real-time replication between servers, shared storage for Hyper-V clusters, and enables vMotion and High Availability features for VMware vSphere. The solution reduces costs and leverages existing hardware while providing a scalable and reliable infrastructure. Valuable features include ease of use, scalability, top-tier support, hardware agnosticism, and the ability to use off-the-shelf standard servers to increase storage space. StarWind VSAN has helped organizations improve performance, data availability, and data security while reducing downtime and providing cost-saving storage options.

StarWind

Sample Customers

ServiceNow, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Dominos, Man AHL

Comcast, TimeWarner Cable, EuroSport, Orange, Deluxe, DailtMotion, SFR, RTL, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Telstra

Baker Tilly BVI, CMS Internet, Board Harpeth Hall School

Buyer's Guide

Scality RING vs. StarWind Virtual SAN

February 2025

Free Report: Scality RING vs. StarWind Virtual SAN

Find out what your peers are saying about Scality RING vs. StarWind Virtual SAN and other solutions. Updated: February 2025.

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