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reviewer1684866 - PeerSpot reviewer
CIO at a renewables & environment company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Excellent support, great performance, and offers very good resiliency
Pros and Cons
  • "Having the ability to scale horizontally if needed is a huge plus for future growth."
  • "Although minor, some of the documentation could be rewritten to be clearer."

What is our primary use case?

I use the solution for running vSphere for a highly tech-driven SMB. We are running a 2-node vSAN for running ~40 VMs servicing mostly internal users. We are running VMs/apps that are either compute-intensive, storage-intensive, or memory-intensive.  

We have limited staff and staff time for managing infrastructure so it was important for us to find a solution that works well and doesn't require a lot of daily human interaction.  We like rock-solid solutions that just work. StarWind vSAN provides us with exactly this.

How has it helped my organization?

StarWind vSAN has provided us with improved performance (since the storage is Direct Attached and therefore faster than a SAN). It has reduced single points of failure (the compute and storage are fully duplicated) and reduced maintenance since we no longer have to manage a separate SAN or storage networking. Furthermore, our hardware is simplified taking up less room in our rack and requires far less wiring.

On another note, StarWind vSAN has improved our organization by providing us with third-party proactive support to help us diagnose issues quickly - especially when we don't notice them right away.

What is most valuable?

The solution offers fully redundant computation and storage.  

We are now more tolerant of hardware failures without vastly reduced performance or increase human workload.  

We are very sensitive to making sure our infrastructure is reliable, bulletproof, and resilient to issues. StarWind vSAN helps with this since we now have two identical nodes with compute and storage that can both independently serve our needs without and a drastic reduction in available services or reduction in performance.  

On top of that, having the ability to scale horizontally if needed is a huge plus for future growth.

What needs improvement?

Although minor, some of the documentation could be rewritten to be clearer. Some of the documents are not the best at describing how the StarWind vSAN system is designed or implemented, and although unimportant (as "long as it works") it is still nice to read the nitty-gritty details.  

Some of the documentation is a bit rough in spelling or sentence structure. I would imagine this is due to translation and non-English as the primary language. These are not deal breakers since the support staff is very helpful.

Buyer's Guide
StarWind Virtual SAN
February 2025
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For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for less than 6 months.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We switched products due to an expiring warranty as well as the need for a general hardware refresh. We were also looking for newer and better; we wanted to improve resiliency, improve server/application performance, reduce rack space utilization and wiring, and just get an all-around new solution since the IT market has changed quite a bit since our previous refresh (about 6 years prior).  Ultimately, the new StarWind solution reduces our single points of failure and improves our system performance.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The cost structure for us was on par with just a general server plus a SAN purchase, however, we would not have received the pre-configured software, the reduced single points of failure, the reduced wiring complexity, or the proactive support.  

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We looked at VMware vSAN and a generic server plus SAN solution.

What other advice do I have?

I would highly recommend StarWind vSAN for pretty much any SMB infrastructure project.  The reduced single points of failure, increased performance, and reliable support is great.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Jordi - PeerSpot reviewer
Netwerkbeheerder at a construction company with 201-500 employees
User
Top 20
Robust and easy to manage with great support
Pros and Cons
  • "Starwind support is excellent. They are very fast and have very good knowledge of Starwind and Hyper-V Cluster software."
  • "If it's possible to make a driver/solution that does not make use of the iSCSI targets of Windows, that would be great. I don't know if that's possible, however, it could make the configuration a little easier."

What is our primary use case?

We are using Starwind as a virtual SAN Solution for our Microsoft Hyper-V Cluster environment. We have multiple clusters in a couple of different locations over the country. 

We wanted a robust HA environment that could run all of our servers on one node without the need for a third witness and without multiple other SAN appliances that need to be managed by a small IT team. We want to make a HA solution with a KIS (Keep it Simple) approach and Starwind has managed to accomplish this for a reasonable price.

How has it helped my organization?

We were previously using HP Storevirtual which was very hard to configure and support and the performance was very bad, plus updating was horrible.

We wanted a simple robust easy-to-manage HA software and have been using a Starwind Virtual SAN (vSAN) at two production locations with a Hyper-V Cluster for almost five years now. It has given us very good performance and hasn't had any issues in the past few years.

Starwind support is excellent. They are very fast and have very good knowledge of Starwind and Hyper-V Cluster software.

What is most valuable?

What we like best about it is that it is the only true two-node Hyper-V cluster solution that's available. On both production locations, we have a two-node setup over two different server rooms.

Our main goal was that we wanted to have all VM servers available on one cluster host in case of a disaster in one of our server rooms.

Microsoft SSD (Storage Space Direct) always needs a third witness (SMB or Cloud), however, in our two-node solution, this is not ideal. Directly connected fiber connections between the nodes make everything fast and make the chance of a cluster split-brain fault less likely.

Pros include:
- Starwind Support will install and configure the software;
- Starwind will do the updates for you, and this all without any downtime of hosts/VMs
- It's the only a two-node cluster scenario available
- It is compatible with the latest Windows Server versions

What needs improvement?

I don't think there is much change needed with Starwind vSAN. The product works very well as it is. I haven't got any new features that I would like to add. 

If it's possible to make a driver/solution that does not make use of the iSCSI targets of Windows, that would be great. I don't know if that's possible, however, it could make the configuration a little easier.

The support is excellent and all the people I've contacted have good knowledge of the product. There is nothing to change there. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've have 10 years of experience with the product, and seven years of using it at my current company. We still like this software in 2024

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
StarWind Virtual SAN
February 2025
Learn what your peers think about StarWind Virtual SAN. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
839,422 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer2037507 - PeerSpot reviewer
Global Infrastructure Business Analyst at Intrum
User
Agentless with great integration capabilities and is rather affordable
Pros and Cons
  • "It integrates (fully) with VMware and Veeam, my hypervisor, and backup vendors, so for me, all the puzzle pieces simply fit and work smoothly."
  • "They require more media visibility."

What is our primary use case?

My primary use case was for a SOHO deployment.

We wanted the branch offices to have software-defined storage. For our needs, performance, and costs, StarWind vSAN met our requirements as it was incredibly cost-effective with the best features ever and we did not need a witness for small deploys so the money we spent was on licenses and deployment, with less spent on purchasing another host and licenses for it. 

How has it helped my organization?

StarWind Virtual San has improved our organization by giving us access to a product and technology that is very affordable, easy to use and understand, and is covering our backs by offering awesome premium support behind all our operations. You can easily learn the platform, however, you are always being watched by an expert, guiding you all time.

The hardware compatibility list is huge, so everything fits well into what we wanted, and it was just a matter of price and considering future expansions to choose the right product for us.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature, with no competitors, is the two nodes without an agent needed. It is a game changer, I can deploy anywhere with just two hosts (SOHO or small office) and no extra licenses, communication lines, third-party host, or anything else, it just works and does its job correctly.

It integrates (fully) with VMware and Veeam, my hypervisor, and backup vendors, so for me, all the puzzle pieces simply fit and work smoothly.

We are not locked to any vendor. We are free and work with whoever we normally work with, and deploy it on top.

What needs improvement?

A big improvement would be to make it compatible with NFS protocol, not only iSCSI (for internal communication).

Regarding the free community version, I would love to see a better console/web environment, like the production one, with, of course, limitations - like using it only for lab or internal purposes or limiting the size. Still, I'd like it to be more like the paid version.

They require more media visibility.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for more than two years.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Lead Network Engineer at consulting group
User
It's easy to configure and manage from the GUI console
Pros and Cons
  • "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."
  • "It would be helpful if StarWind provided more precise and detailed documentation explaining how to configure the solution in various scenarios, including the advantages and disadvantages of each."

What is our primary use case?

We're using Starwind as a failover cluster for load balancing and increased availability.

How has it helped my organization?

We had no failover solution before, so if our standalone VMware server went down, we'd be out of operation until we restored from backup. Now we have a Hyper-V cluster with shared storage. We can lose one server and stay online. Failover happens smoothly, recovery and maintenance are less stressful, and we no longer need to worry about downtime. When we tested StarWind, we confirmed that the high availability performs as expected. That level of confidence helps me sleep better at night. 

What is most valuable?

We only had to purchase two new servers and no other storage or networking equipment. 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. StarWind has specialized in storage solutions for many years, and its track record reassures us that the solution will continue to exist and be supported in the future. I scheduled an interactive validation and tuning session before we went live. I found this to be very valuable, and it proved to us how much the company is committed to its product.

What needs improvement?

It would be helpful if StarWind provided more precise and detailed documentation explaining how to configure the solution in various scenarios, including the advantages and disadvantages of each. 

I'd also like a mechanism for notifying us when updates are available as well as a visual interface for iSCSI and physical storage. A mobile app for alerts and notifications would be helpful, too. We should still have access to security patches even if we don't pay for support. Lastly, StarWind should make it easier to perform an orderly shutdown of the entire environment in a power outage when everything is running on battery.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using StarWind Virtual SAN for less than a year

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We had an old standalone VMware server hosting several virtual machines that we wanted to replace with something highly available at a low cost. I researched and found StarWind Virtual SAN to be the best solution. We only had to purchase two new servers and no other storage or networking equipment. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I'd recommend purchasing at least one year of support. It helps to have support on the initial configuration.

What other advice do I have?

I rate StarWind Virtual SAN nine out of 10. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Andrey Naumov - PeerSpot reviewer
System Administrator at Craft Group
Real User
Made it possible to deploy a new infrastructure in the shortest amount of time and at a low cost without purchasing expensive hardware storage
Pros and Cons
  • "It has a nice, simple control panel. You can clearly see the state and health of storage along with the synchronization."
  • "This solution made it possible to deploy a new infrastructure in the shortest amount of time, at a low cost without purchasing expensive hardware storage, and use unused servers."
  • "In the next release, they could make some graphs of the real-time loading, speed of storage, and interfaces. Of course, these can be viewed in other places. But, in the event of a malfunction or troubleshooting, this would be convenient."

What is our primary use case?

We needed to deploy the new infrastructure in our new data center as soon as possible. As a reliable, fault-tolerant storage, we chose StarWind solution. I took two old Supermicro servers and installed them in RAID controllers and SSD drives, then installed Windows Server 2012 R2 with the Hyper-V role. Then, I made StarWind the two-node iSCSI target. The servers were connected to the VMware cluster via the iSCSI 10 GbE interfaces. The storage showed very good speed results with SQL databases, file servers, and MS Exchange, which completely satisfied us.

How has it helped my organization?

This solution made it possible to deploy a new infrastructure in the shortest amount of time, at a low cost without purchasing expensive hardware storage, and use unused servers. As a result, we got a reliable fault-tolerant storage with good performance and placed virtual machines that are important for business on it. This solution has been working for several months without a single failure. 

What is most valuable?

It has a nice, simple control panel. You can clearly see the state and health of storage along with the synchronization. 

StarWind installs on the Windows Server host where I can monitor RAID using various software already installed in my organization. 

  • Easy to install and configure.  
  • A lot of documentation, video instructions, and excellent technical support. 
  • The ability to install on almost any type of equipment, including legacy. 
  • Fast delivery compared to hardware storage facilities, which have a delivery time of four to six weeks.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see all the network adapters in the console with their assigned roles as sync, Heartbeat, and iSCSI, then their link speeds and real-time loading.

In the next release, they could make some graphs of the real-time loading, speed of storage, and interfaces. Of course, these can be viewed in other places. But, in the event of a malfunction or troubleshooting, this would be convenient.

For how long have I used the solution?

Three months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

For three months, there has not been a single failure. Testing was performed and restarting one server did not affect the performance of the storage and important virtual machines.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I didn't have that task.

How are customer service and technical support?

They are very friendly and have quick support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

No, I haven't used such solutions before.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

I installed everything myself. Later, the technical support connected with me and to the servers to inspect the installation.

What was our ROI?

This is the best priced solution for an SMB.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

This is a very good solution for small businesses.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We also considered the option of VMware vSAN, but it is very expensive.

What other advice do I have?

Everything works. I am completely satisfied with the reliability and speed.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Head of Software Development Department at Everest
Real User
Reliable, cost-effective, and offers high performance replication for redundancy in clusters
Pros and Cons
  • "StarWind vSAN is a great solution to create a redundant two-node-only Hyper-V cluster, both for domain or workgroup scenarios."
  • "Being able to run StarWind vSAN on top of any free UNIX operating system to build a resilient iSCSI/FTP/SMB storage system would be useful."

What is our primary use case?

Our company, an IT integrator in Ukraine, conducted a pilot deployment of five two-node Hyper-V failover clusters with CSV build with VSAN for Microsoft Hyper-V. Each cluster consisted of only two hardware nodes with redundant 10Gb/s direct DAC links (no switch) and 1Gb/s uplinks. After four months of testing, we have no doubt in using this exact solution in our customer’s production environment.

We are going to deploy three similar installations this year. Also, we are planning to test the new VSAN for VMware vSphere.

How has it helped my organization?

Being able to create reliable virtual environments with less hardware and no need to pay for expensive enterprise or datacenter grade software. This expends our portfolio with a solution for those customers with low budgets and a lack of highly qualified administrators.  

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are:

  • Clear licensing model;
  • Rich PowerShell integration for scripting and testing;
  • No need for RAID controller-level mirroring and BBU. Thus we significantly increase effective storage space and speed;
  • Great synchronous replication speed in addition to RAM volume cache;
  • Reliable failover solution with MPIO which requires just two servers running Windows Server 2019, Standard edition.

What needs improvement?

If we could get more within its price, it would be useful to:

  • Be able to collect operational logs with external dedicated syslog or SNMP servers;
  • Be able to encrypt separate LUNs/iSCSI targets with a key stored on external KMS/KMIP servers;
  • Being able to run StarWind vSAN on top of any free UNIX operating system to build a resilient iSCSI/FTP/SMB storage system would be useful.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using StarWind Virtual SAN for four months.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Previously, we had to use Storage Spaces Direct or VMware vSAN for similar projects. Those two are worth mentioning, but they are more expensive and have a larger administrative footprint.  

How was the initial setup?

Fast and simple installation using GUI with all required manuals, video guides, and a great support team explaining every step of a process. There is no need for highly qualified professionals.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

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

What other advice do I have?

StarWind vSAN is a great solution to create a redundant two-node-only Hyper-V cluster, both for domain or workgroup scenarios.

You should be totally sure to avoid "split brain" in a two-node clustering with a redundant heartbeat, but without any external witness/arbitrator it is not against the solution`s concept.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
SAO Dept. Head at LLC BIT
Real User
High performance, high availability, and redundancy from our re-purposed servers
Pros and Cons
  • "Active-active work mode leads to true redundancy of storage and allows us to distribute the load between multiple nodes."
  • "Some configuration options still demand service restarting."

What is our primary use case?

We use 2-Node software-defined storage clusters with iSCSI access to 30 TB in HA-targets, and 140 TB in flat targets.

Our environment includes eight vSphere hosts and more than one hundred Windows VMs (file servers, MS SQL servers, Oracle Database servers, MS Exchange servers, etc.) are connected to StarWind's iSCSI targets.

How has it helped my organization?

Existing common-purpose servers were transformed into flexible, redundant, high-performance storage clusters.

We upgrade our storage by ordinary disks, RAID-controllers, 10G network cards, and disk shelves at a low cost. We have no hardware vendor dependency.

What is most valuable?

Active-active work mode leads to true redundancy of storage and allows us to distribute the load between multiple nodes.

Using common-purpose servers and components reduces CapEx.

RAM and SSD caches help to improve performance.

High Availablity targets allow for flexible storage capacity.

Support works fast and solves issues completely.

What needs improvement?

Some configuration options still demand service restarting. For example, changing of cache settings.

Multi-tiering needs to be improved. There is option to use SSD for cache only currently.

For how long have I used the solution?

Seven years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

High-Availability targets in earlier versions had issues when disk array degrades, or the RAID-controller breaks. In the current version, we have no troubles with such things.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability is great. Just add disks to nodes to create new targets or expand existing ones.

We didn't test targets with multiple devices.

How are customer service and technical support?

Support wants to solve your issue, and they are successful at it. Complex issues are escalated to the next support level in a straightforward manner.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We used direct-attached storage before StarWind vSAN.

How was the initial setup?

Setup is simple, especially when you understand the basics of iSCSI technology.

What about the implementation team?

All of our clusters were implemented in-house.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Setup is simple, so it's cheap.

Licensing is based on nodes rather than TBs, which means that the users are free to increase storage capacity without putting thought into licensing.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I had read an article about Intel X520 network cards performance testing with StarWind vSAN, and we chose it. No other options were evaluated.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
IT EngineerIT at Confidential
User
Flexible and cost-effective with good performance
Pros and Cons
  • "Without the need for any downtime, enterprises can simply grow their storage infrastructure using StarWind Virtual SAN by adding new servers or disks to the current infrastructure."
  • "The interface of the management console of the StarWind Virtual SAN is complex, and it's difficult for the novice user to interact with the management having less knowledge or training in the product."

What is our primary use case?

Our organization was using physical storage platforms where we were facing slowness issues, and the cost of a conventional platform was high. 

We heard about the solution from one of our partners, and we got a demo of the product. 

The core features of the product resolved our issues, like high availability and integration of the solution with the virtual platforms. 

The StarWind Virtual SAN solution is cheap compared to conventional physical storage platforms. StarWind Virtual SAN is a good product when it comes to virtualization.

How has it helped my organization?

StarWind Virtual SAN helps us to improve our organization as most of our infrastructure is on the virtualization platform. 

StarWind Virtual SAN helped us in the integration with the virtualization platforms. By using common X86 servers instead of pricey proprietary hardware, StarWind Virtual SAN lowers the cost of storage infrastructure.

It is straightforward to configure, monitor, and administer the storage infrastructure with StarWind Virtual SAN's intuitive administration interface.

When their data storage requirements increase, enterprises may quickly enhance storage capacity with the help of StarWind Virtual SAN without having to pay additional fees for specialized storage gear.

What is most valuable?

There are different features that helped our organization as compared to conventional storage platforms. These include:

Scalability. Without the need for any downtime, enterprises can simply grow their storage infrastructure using StarWind Virtual SAN by adding new servers or disks to the current infrastructure.

Flexibility. A variety of deployment options, including hyper-converged infrastructure, two-node cluster configurations, and conventional SAN designs, are supported by StarWind Virtual SAN.

Performance. The usage of RAM and SSD caching, as well as the capability to offload storage traffic from the network using RDMA technology, allow StarWind Virtual SAN to operate at a high-performance level.

Cost-effectiveness. By using common X86 servers instead of pricey proprietary hardware, StarWind Virtual SAN lowers the cost of storage infrastructure.

Usefulness. StarWind Virtual SAN offers a straightforward and user-friendly administration interface that makes it simple to set up, keep track of, and administer the storage infrastructure.

What needs improvement?

The interface of the management console of the StarWind Virtual SAN is complex, and it's difficult for the novice user to interact with the management having less knowledge or training in the product. 

The troubleshooting guide of the product is also for the technical resources. 

The product needs to improve its features in terms of customer support and the management interface. The improvements in the management interface for the product help the user to work with the storage node having less knowledge or interaction with the product.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the StarWind Virtual SAN solution for the last six months.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free StarWind Virtual SAN Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: February 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free StarWind Virtual SAN Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.