We plan to switch products since the hardware nowadays is a little bit outdated and we need to scale up a bit. We are looking for better performance and storage. This is why we are examining other solutions, including VxRail.
Software Specialist at Civilpoint Oy
A stable solution with good support
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is quite stable."
- "We plan to switch products since the hardware nowadays is a little bit outdated and we need to scale up a bit."
What needs improvement?
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using VMware vSAN for at least 10 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is quite stable. We have encountered some minor issues but, overall, are quite satisfied.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
While the solution is scalable, I feel that this can be better.
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VMware vSAN
March 2025

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How are customer service and support?
Although we have not made much use of the technical support, we found them to be good and helpful in finding solutions.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
The solutions we previously used were dissimilar to the current one. We had VMware for an extremely long time, at least 15 or 16 years. First, there was VMware servers, followed by us building and setting up VMware custom within a couple of servers.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I feel the pricing to be reasonable. We pay monthly.
What other advice do I have?
We have 50 users making use of the solution in our organization.
I rate VMware vSAN as an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Good replication, deduplication, and compression features, with remarkable support
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features are Erasure Coding, Deduplication and Compression, and the advancement in stretching regarding replication."
- "They should provide Deduplication and Compression over the hybrid drives."
What is our primary use case?
We are service providers.
vSan is a system with defined storage, it doesn't work on a public cloud. It works and is built in your private cloud.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are Erasure Coding, Deduplication, and Compression, and the advancement in stretching regarding replication.
What needs improvement?
They should provide Deduplication and Compression over the hybrid drives. The Deduplication and Compression are locally only on all flash drives.
When you compare with Nutanix, you will find the performance in the Deduplication and Compression is over hybrid and on the flash drives. This feature is needed in vSan.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with VMware vSan for five years.
We are using the latest version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
VMware vSAN is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's scalable up to 96 nodes. We have over 500 users in our company who are using this solution.
How are customer service and technical support?
VMware technical support is remarkable.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not work with a similar software preciously. We were working with traditional solutions such as storage, and servers, but not software-defined storage like vSAN.
How was the initial setup?
The vSAN is very easy to deploy.
To deploy a full cluster in a data center, can take four hours.
We are all engineers. We don't need a team to maintain this solution, as everyone services themselves.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price could be lower. vSAN has many versions with standard and advanced including Enterprise and Enterprise Plus. Regarding the Enterprise and the Advanced, it could be lower.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
VMware vSAN
March 2025

Learn what your peers think about VMware vSAN. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
842,690 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Systems Engineer at Stellariz
It is stable and easy to work with, but it is expensive
Pros and Cons
- "It is easy to work with, easy to handle, and easy to manage."
- "Its price could be improved. It is too expensive for our clients."
What is our primary use case?
We have around 70 to 100 VMs, and we use VMware vSAN to store our data. We have a lot of daily data.
What is most valuable?
It is easy to work with, easy to handle, and easy to manage.
What needs improvement?
Its price could be improved. It is too expensive for our clients.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for around a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is quite stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We didn't increase our storage.
How are customer service and technical support?
Their technical support is really helpful. They are very efficient. I didn't have any problem.
How was the initial setup?
Its initial setup is not difficult.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is too expensive.
What other advice do I have?
It is a good solution to implement if you have a lot of data. It is quite stable and not too difficult to manage.
I would rate VMware vSAN a seven out of ten. It is a good solution, but it is too expensive.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
Works at AAnnex
A cost-effective storage solution with great support, but updating Cisco drivers could be smoother
Pros and Cons
- "The newer versions of this solution are much more stable and easier to manage."
- "This solution would benefit from better collaboration with Cisco for driver updates."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution exclusively for our VDI.
We are running vSAN on six Cisco C240 M4 servers.
How has it helped my organization?
The newer versions of this solution are much more stable and easier to manage.
We had a near meltdown with 5.5, upgrading firmware and vSphere versions is a hassle.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of this solution is that it is cheap storage.
What needs improvement?
This solution would benefit from better collaboration with Cisco for driver updates.
For how long have I used the solution?
Five years.
How are customer service and technical support?
The support from VMware is phenomenal.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Sys Admin II at a retailer
Being able to do maintenance on the fly is a key benefit for us
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is that it is software-defined storage. Also, being able to do maintenance on the fly is a real benefit: migrating off, updating, and then moving the guest back on to the nodes."
- "It needs to be vanilla. There shouldn't be any custom drivers, any custom anything. It should just be, "Hey, you know what? These drivers are going to work for this version, the next version, and the following version after that." That's the difficulty in this. It takes too much upkeep... The main issue is drivers. Every time we move to a new vSAN version, we're having problems finding the correct drivers for the vendor."
What is our primary use case?
We use if for our primary infrastructure. In terms of performance, vSAN is fine.
How has it helped my organization?
Being able to do maintenance on the fly is a real benefit: migrating off, updating, and then moving the guest back on to the nodes.
What is most valuable?
Software-defined storage.
What needs improvement?
Everything that has been mentioned as part of Update 1 solves part of the HCL list issue. They're handling the firmware version but, at the moment, they're only handling the storage IO. They're not handling the rest, which would be firmware, the BIOS, the fNIC, and so forth. After speaking with them, they said they're looking at that for a future update.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Because of the vendor, we are very neutral on the stability at this moment. The main issue is drivers. Every time we move to a new vSAN version, we're having problems finding the correct drivers for the vendor.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is fine. Adding new nodes is very simple.
How is customer service and technical support?
Our experience with technical support has been excellent. Every single time we've had an issue so far, they've been able to find the issue with the vendor.
What was our ROI?
Because of the time that we've had to spend dealing with the vendor, we haven't seen a return on investment yet.
What other advice do I have?
Go with the full managed support, something like VxRail or, if you go with Cisco, get their full central management system.
vSAN alone, with the current features and version we're at, rates an eight out of ten. The vendor would be a definite one out of ten.
To make the solution a ten, it needs to be vanilla. There shouldn't be any custom drivers, any custom anything. It should just be, "Hey, you know what? These drivers are going to work for this version, the next version, and the version after that." That's the difficulty in this. It takes too much upkeep.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
CIO at Dataprev
We're using it to develop both public and private clouds for the Brazilian government
What is our primary use case?
Dataprev has a strategic partnership with VMware and the federal government of Brazil. We're developing a new public cloud and private cloud for the whole government of Brazil.
What is most valuable?
There are so many valuable features.
What needs improvement?
I need some additional features, and to learn more, to develop best practices for the Brazilian federal government.
I would like to see machine-learning. This is the biggest problem because, in Brazil, our federal government doesn't know about moving to the cloud. We have city, state, and federal governments to move to the cloud. Dataprev is beginning the work towards a private cloud and machine-learning would be an important feature, one I really need.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I'm really impressed with the stability of vSAN.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
My team is starting to develop and make use of the scalability. The team in Brazil is very big in cloud performance but we are just beginning to move into a cloud program.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical account team works with my team in Brazil, together, whether in London, China, India - many teams working with us in Brazil. I would rate technical support as very good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
In Brazil, our strategy is that we need to move to the cloud. But there are federal rules and, connected to the government's strategy, there are some questions with many of the solutions. All governments have a problem moving to AWS, to Google, or to Microsoft. Dataprev's strategy, in the employment of the federal government, is to apply the new features while staying within the principles set by the federal government. All governments have a big problem with many data centers, a lot of code, with auditors, etc. I can't go into our strategy in depth here.
The government decided to move to the cloud but there are many problems with regulations, with agencies' sensitive information. VMware provides primary and strategic development features, in working with us in the federal government.
When looking at vendors the most important criterion for us is trust. We need to be able to trust the vendor, the solution, the whole technical development team, because the technical account manager and other teams work with my team inside my data centers.
How was the initial setup?
I can't comment on the initial setup.
What other advice do I have?
I rate vSAN a 10 out of 10 because the VMware team works with my team to develop a better, more timely response. We have made improvements for the federal government. We have been working with VMware for almost 15 years
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Works at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
It is easier to deploy than the traditional SAN
Pros and Cons
- "It is easier to deploy than the traditional SAN."
- "Dedupe in non flash drives can be improved."
What is our primary use case?
We are thinking of using vSAN instead of the traditional SAN. We are just starting to explore how vSAN can benefit us.
How has it helped my organization?
This is not yet deployed, we are just starting to explore how vSAN can benefit us. it seems very expensive to obtain a vSAN license.
What is most valuable?
Based on my findings, it seems easier to deploy than the traditional SAN. I was told vSAN can be deployed in a few minutes.
What needs improvement?
Dedupe in non flash drives can be improved. The raw capacity for PFTT two is only able to use 67% of the raw capacity.
For how long have I used the solution?
Trial/evaluations only.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior IT Systems Administrator at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Concentrates our virtual platforms. Provides different levels of high availability.
What is most valuable?
The valuable features are:
- It concentrates all our virtual platforms into a really small number of servers.
- It gets rid of dependencies of expensive SAN storage units which decrease our electricity and cooling expenses in a very drastic way.
- It gives us an extra layer of comfort by providing different levels of high availability.
How has it helped my organization?
We can deploy new servers faster than ever. Our capacity to grow is bigger than when we had SAN storage dependency. We are now able to deploy a pool of QA virtual machines for testing purposes in minutes rather than in hours.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see faster re-sync and recovery times after a host failure. It’s so difficult to restore a normal situation after a failure. There is a large amount of data to re-sync after a host failure. We have a 1Gb vSAN network, and the restore process can last several hours or days.
I would also like to see a granular sync system, rather than the current “all data” transfer.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution since 2014.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
During normal activity, the vSAN’s behavior is excellent. Performance and stability are awesome.
We have only encountered some issues related to the host update process because they increase the data movement between cluster hosts and it ends up collapsing the network.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The vSAN solution has scalability inside its core. Although it has a widely supported HCL, you have to choose the new components when adding nodes to ensure that you won’t have any bottlenecks. With our vSAN installation, we didn’t encounter any issues like that.
How are customer service and technical support?
We haven’t required help from VMware technical support yet. At the beginning, there was not much information about troubleshooting available on the internet.
This product is now more mature and there is a lot of information available, such as VMware or independent blogs and forums, that help with vSAN problems.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used the traditional solution of a pool of hypervisor hosts with a common storage attached (iSCSI class). It did the job until we had scalability problems that were related to storage.
The cost of buying a new iSCSI storage was more expensive than rethinking our current solution. For this reason, we changed to vSAN technology.
How was the initial setup?
The installation was as complex as any iSCSI scenario can be. However, it was radically simple in terms of the networking part.
In our case, we passed from our standard virtual switches to distributed ones in order to meet the vSAN’s requirements. We had to take into consideration the disks/RAID controller configuration. We chose an acceptable balance between performance and cost, creating a RAID 0 with each disk of each server on the cluster and made them available for vSAN.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We adjusted the pricing and licensing costs based primarily on the physical processors per server. We chose each node of the cluster with one physical processor since vSAN is licensed per processor. We calculated the performance requirements of our entire virtual platform to decide if one processor solution was a good decision.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We didn’t evaluate other options, except for the line of traditional iSCSI storage solutions. We wanted to continue working with the same virtualization-based system. We wanted to get a solution with the smallest possible footprint. The vSAN solution met these requirements.
What other advice do I have?
This is a very good solution if you have the adequate budget to provide for the related requirements or recommendations, e.g., a 10Gb network. It has a wide catalog of uses that fulfill the highest requirements of performance at all levels. Without any doubts, I recommend this solution.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

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Updated: March 2025
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