Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct Reviews

Name: Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct
Brand: Microsoft
Rating: 3.6 (9 reviews)

3.6 out of 5

9 reviews
75% willing to recommend

325 followers

What is Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct?

Storage Spaces Direct uses industry-standard servers with local-attached drives to create highly available, highly scalable software-defined storage at a fraction of the cost of traditional SAN or NAS arrays. Its converged or hyper-converged architecture radically simplifies procurement and deployment, while features like caching, storage tiers, and erasure coding, together with the latest hardware innovation like RDMA networking and NVMe drives, deliver unrivaled efficiency and performance.

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Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct is the #8 ranked solution in top Software Defined Storage (SDS) solutions. PeerSpot users give Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct an average rating of 7.2 out of 10. Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct is most commonly compared to Red Hat Ceph Storage: Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct vs Red Hat Ceph Storage. Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 56% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a computer software company, accounting for 13% of all views.

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct

February 2025

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Helped 838,713 peers since 2012

Featured reviews

Stanislaw Mielicki

Solution architect at Netland

I am working with Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct for applications, SQL, and VRS. I am an integrator for this solution The price performance is the best advantage of Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct. They introduced the All-Flash array using SSD or NVMe drives without cache drives. It is…

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Lawrence Tse

Founder, Professional Services Director, Lead Architect at Falcon Consulting

This solution has an on-premise clouding bridge, but actively, there is no cloud version. Overall, on a scale from one to ten, I would give this solution a rating of nine. For me, it's very difficult to deal with marketing, I need to handle it for Microsoft. When we try to engage with customers, they are not interested because Microsoft doesn't have the corresponding credit, and due to this, we lose customers. If I am going to be confident enough to promote this Microsoft solution, I need my customer to have 100% trust in me. I am not comfortable promoting this solution to new customers.

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Grzegorz Kedziora

General Manager and CTO at SIIT

I use this solution to make a few-to-one storage from the internal disk to the servers The integration is not difficult because there is no GUI, but we need to use a PowerShell command. This makes it difficult to monitor and to see the components' statuses. There are strict compatibility methods.…

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Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct mindshare

As of February 2025, the mindshare of Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct in the Software Defined Storage (SDS) category stands at 8.4%, up from 7.7% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Software Defined Storage (SDS)

PeerAnalyst reports

Type	Title	Date
Category	Software Defined Storage (SDS)	Feb 22, 2025	Download
Product	Reviews, tips, and advice from real users	Feb 22, 2025	Download
Comparison	Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct vs StarWind Virtual SAN	Feb 22, 2025	Download
Comparison	Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct vs Red Hat Ceph Storage	Feb 22, 2025	Download
Comparison	Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct vs Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)	Feb 22, 2025	Download

Title	Rating	Mindshare	Recommending
Red Hat Ceph Storage	4.1	20.3%	81%	25 interviews Add to research
StarWind Virtual SAN	4.8	8.8%	100%	190 interviews Add to research

Valuable Features

Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct offers resilience with no single point of failure, advanced caching with storage-class memory, flash capabilities for tiering without license limitations, and storage expansion in hyper-converged setups. Users appreciate its reliability, performance, easy installation, and affordability. It integrates with Windows Data Center using SSD or NVMe drives and is similar to vSAN. Certified hardware from vendors like Dell, IBM, and Fuji is supported, enhancing its price performance.

"The price performance is the best advantage of Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct."
"The price performance is the best advantage of Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct."
"The initial setup is straightforward."

Room for Improvement

Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct faces challenges with RDMA deployment, documentation, and network capabilities. Users encounter difficulties with hardware compatibility certification, the need for costly hardware, and complex PowerShell commands. Improvements could address high-performance tuning expertise, incomplete management interfaces, and lack of full API support. While the platform integrates extensive cloud capabilities, it lacks intuitive streamlined features and requires documentation enhancement. Shared cluster support has been discontinued, impacting usability for certain configurations.

"Microsoft closed the shared cluster support, which is important for the solution."
"Microsoft closed the shared cluster support, which is important for the solution."
"The integration is not difficult because there is no GUI, but we need to use a PowerShell command. This makes it difficult to monitor and to see the components' statuses."

Pricing

Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct provides cost-effective solutions, especially for enterprises transitioning from VMware to Hyper-V. While some users find it relatively costly due to data center licensing, others highlight its affordability within its category. It is bundled with Windows Server, offering no ongoing costs and free upgrades. Pricing can be handled through one-time purchases or on a subscription basis, with options for monthly or yearly licenses depending on software assurance.

"The solution is expensive."
"Cost-wise the product is one of the more affordable within the category of products."
"With the data center licensing and everything that is connected to that, this solution is relatively costly."

Popular Use Cases

Users primarily employ Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct for consolidations, focusing on Application Centric Infrastructure and Electronic Data Interchange. They integrate SQL Server, databases, and a few-to-one storage approach. It offers high IOPS performance, supporting site recovery and hybrid infrastructure expansion. System integrators handle diverse storage cases, including VMware alternatives to optimize costs. Users prefer Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct to form hyper-converged infrastructure and to reduce VMware fees.

Service and Support

Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct support varies based on contracts. Medium to large businesses benefit from Microsoft Premier support for critical services, while Dell and Lenovo customers usually bypass Microsoft directly due to their support agreements. Assistance depends on the contract level, allowing a higher tier like premium to reach developer-level support. Some feel the focus is more on Azure, which affects the service quality for Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct. Support is rated four out of five by some users.

Deployment

Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct's initial setup is mostly straightforward but varies in complexity. Linux administrators find it simpler due to command-line familiarity, while Microsoft administrators may face challenges due to the lack of GUI. Equipment compatibility, especially with RDMA and different hardware brands, can complicate the process. Expert knowledge in storage is essential for optimal network performance. Despite these challenges, online resources and clear documentation assist in the setup, enabling maintenance to be managed easily.

Scalability

Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct offers significant scalability benefits. Organizations can expand up to 16 nodes per cluster and use Cluster Sets to combine clusters. Different generations of hardware can be utilized, and storage can be increased without adding compute power. Challenges include the process of creating new volumes and migrating workloads after adding hosts. Scalability improves with more than two nodes, increasing potential while considering cluster and node configurations.

Stability

Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct experienced initial stability challenges during migration, needing thorough network configuration and training to ensure confidence. While some entities report seamless performance with Ready Nodes, others emphasize the necessity of proper management and training, noting rare incidents when running specific small applications. Lenovo Ready Nodes and properly maintained systems show heightened reliability. Users rate its stability between seven and eight, acknowledging occasional glitches.

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

Download our Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct Buyer's Guide for additional reliable information.