We're using Starwind as a failover cluster for load balancing and increased availability.
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?
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.
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StarWind Virtual SAN
June 2025

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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: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

CIO at a renewables & environment company with 11-50 employees
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.
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: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
StarWind Virtual SAN
June 2025

Learn what your peers think about StarWind Virtual SAN. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Director/Solutions Architect at TechOps Trinidad & Tobago LTD
User-friendly and flexible with good support
Pros and Cons
- "It has improved our organization in terms of its uptime as our main cluster has never been offline due to a SAN failure."
- "It could have a dashboard so that you can check all servers' SAN health and performance."
What is our primary use case?
This solution was implemented for a Hyper-V production build, where we used StarWind virtual SAN to create and build a redundant DataStor for our clusters. Once this was completed, management and troubleshooting were simple as the application is very user-friendly and highly flexible in terms of configurability. We have never encountered any issues with this product, as it is very reliable.
How has it helped my organization?
It has improved our organization in terms of its uptime as our main cluster has never been offline due to a SAN failure. This is a huge plus for us as we need our data available 24 /7.
What is most valuable?
There are not many futures I can recall that would stand out to me the most, as the entire application functions as one working function.
What needs improvement?
It could have a dashboard so that you can check all servers' SAN health and performance.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for approximately five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable.
How are customer service and support?
very good
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not previously use a different solution.
How was the initial setup?
Technical support was more or less straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
it was done in-house
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did evaluate VMware.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Network Specialist at Nexans aeA
With basic knowledge you can use the GUI from the node to create partitions then, creating volumes on the management console and manage it
Pros and Cons
- "PowerShell library is pretty good feature as I created with APC PowerChute a script to put volumes on maintenance mode then turning off the StarWind nodes together with the VM and Hosts when UPS reaches 15 percent, this way after a blackout or electrical problems when turning servers on again, there is no issues for syncing or data loss due to energy interrupts."
- "Android app for monitoring and receiving push notifications as alarms or monitoring I/O from any mobile device could be a good feature and nice to have as we are not always on our desk."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case is for physical to virtual environment migration, requiring a VSAN storage for a data center we had an old BLC 460 gen 6 blades with physical storage attached. If we had any issues with the hardware or operating system the downtime for production would be for hours, so we created a virtual data center with VMware vSphere and added 3 20TB storage on each host then created 3-node StarWind scenario being shared on all 3 hosts, and creating virtual machines on 3 hosts and now running on StarWind storage.
How has it helped my organization?
StarWind VSAN improved our organization as we had a project to migrate from a physical environment to a virtual environment using Vmware Vsphere 6.7 and we needed a secure VSAN storage to be able to share it over the virtual Datacenter and to be able to use the vSphere high availability feature as we needed storage visible overall host on our SITE, this way we have less downtime if one of the hosts fails and HA comes out as the VSAN storage from StarWind is our main storage where all Virtual Machines are running.
What is most valuable?
One of the best features on the management console is the way you can deploy the VSAN storage, with basic knowledge you can use the GUI from the node to create partitions then, creating volumes on the management console and manage it like, sync priority, or putting them on maintenance mode to be able to restart hosts.
PowerShell library is pretty good feature as I created with APC PowerChute a script to put volumes on maintenance mode then turning off the StarWind nodes together with the VM and Hosts when UPS reaches 15 percent, this way after a blackout or electrical problems when turning servers on again, there are no issues for syncing or data loss due to energy interrupts.
What needs improvement?
- Easy migration to ZFS system that is being presented on a new version of StarWind, migrations look complicated as this restructures the whole architecture on the raid level, but could be a good option just by having it and letting the user decide this new feature migration, as based on our experience with ZFS systems they work pretty fast and secure.
- Android app for monitoring and receiving push notifications as alarms or monitoring I/O from any mobile device could be a good feature and nice to have as we are not always on our desk.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for over four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Good stability as we have a mirrored storage.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Pretty good impressions, especially the support.
How are customer service and support?
Fast response and great attention.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We migrated from HPE StoreVirtual.
How was the initial setup?
It was straightforward if you have RAID, array controllers, and network knowledge.
What about the implementation team?
We tried at first doing it ourselves, but I recommend letting the support team the VSAN installations as we missed some configurations that based on their experience we missed as beginners.
What was our ROI?
About $3500 USD every 3 years.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
its a good option compared with other vendors as licence is perpetual and wont charge every three years as HPE.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Yes, we used HPE StoreVirtual, we moved to StarWind to reduce costs. We tried VMware VSAN and the cost was too elevated for our requirements.
What other advice do I have?
By letting the support team do it next time, as based on their knowledge we have the correct configurations.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
System Administrator at Keller Digital
The windows-based software environment allows a shared storage system to be set up at no cost
Pros and Cons
- "StarWind Virtual SAN is a very mature software that supersedes its capabilities with my use cases."
- "The console is something that I believe could be enhanced."
StarWind Virtual SAN is a very mature software that supersedes its capabilities with my use cases. When it comes to being an easy and fast-to-understand software, StarWind Virtual SAN has too many features for just using it in a few minutes - which I like, because it works.
The windows-based software environment allows a shared storage system to be set up at no cost, which also can be used productively usage with PowerShell.
The software is very deep, complex and profound with many features and the learning resources were pretty tough to find.
A web management interface would be nice, especially for those coming from other solutions that have it. All setup and configuration are done through a dedicated Windows application, so you'll need to install it on every computer you'll be using to manage your cluster.
Most documentation is primarily Windows-based, so it can be difficult to find instructions for the Linux VSA. However, support can often help you find documentation.
The console is something that I believe could be enhanced. It's technically sound, but it can be enhanced and/or made more intuitive. Adding a few right-click options to the interface is my preferred method of searching for specific menu items instead of having to search the entire interface.
Maybe some of these points are will be improved in the future. Other than that, we are very likely to continue using this software for our work.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Solutions Architect at ITsavvy
Versatile with a super-easy setup and can mimic physical SAN environments
Pros and Cons
- "The product has improved the ability to mimic physical SAN environments to demo scenarios and troubleshoot problems."
- "The configuration can a bit cumbersome."
What is our primary use case?
The solution is being used to simulate physical SAN scenarios in a ESXi environment as a platform to demo various solutions to clients.
StarWind SAN is an amazingly versatile product that eliminates the need to acquire an expensive physical SAN.
In addition to ESXi, StarWind VLAN can also be deployed in other various platforms such as Hyper-V, Citrix Xen, and Linus KVM.
StarWind vSAN allows us to start with a two-node resilient system that can be scaled up, down, or out. Even the free version of the product is very feature-rich.
How has it helped my organization?
The product has improved the ability to mimic physical SAN environments to demo scenarios and troubleshoot problems. Customer response and satisfaction have greatly improved.
StarWind SAN is an amazingly versatile product. We do not need to acquire an expensive physical SAN. In addition to ESXi, StarWind VLAN can be deployed in other platforms (Hyper-V, Citrix Xen, and Linus KVM). StarWind vSAN allows us to start with a two-node resilient system that can be scaled up, down, or out. Even the free version of the product is very feature-rich.
What is most valuable?
We like that it has the ability to mimic physical SAN environments. We able to scale up, down, or out and has an enterprise-level feature set.
What needs improvement?
The configuration can a bit cumbersome. There is a CLI learning curve for which limited documentation exists.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is highly stable and available on multiple platforms.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This product is ideal for an SMB.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support has been good.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously used Synology, which was going to EOL.
How was the initial setup?
The solution offers a super easy setup.
What about the implementation team?
We set up the solution with in-house staff with storage expertise.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product offers a super low cost of entry.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We've also looked into VMware.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Principal Systems & Storage Engineer at a tech company with 51-200 employees
Easy to set up with high availability and redundancy
Pros and Cons
- "The installation of StarWind Virtual SAN was pretty easy, and the configuration was done in no time."
- "The documentation is good. However, if compared with competitors, it could be enhanced and made more professional."
What is our primary use case?
We added vSAN capability for Hyper-V. We had a three-node standalone that used Microsoft Hyper-V and we wanted to convert them into a hyper-converged solution instead of formatting the servers and losing the windows licenses and installing VMware with the high cost of licenses (especially since we have two CPU sockets on each host).
We used StarWind Virtual SAN with was a cheaper solution while leveraging the existing all-flash standalone servers.
The installation of StarWind Virtual SAN was pretty easy, and the configuration was done in no time.
How has it helped my organization?
We were looking for a cheap vSAN solution that worked with Hyper-V. StarWind Virtual SAN gave us the capability to have shared storage between hyper-v hosts without buying external storage or using VMware instead of Hyper-V.
Using this solution improved our organization to take advantage of existing servers while we had a very low budget.
While we have a worldwide issue in the supply chain of servers, this was a very essential solution that helped the organization meet the application team requirements for the new solution installed.
What is most valuable?
We can turn Windows Hyper-V nodes into a hyper-converged solution.
I like the high availability and redundancy of the Hyper-V nodes.
This solution does not have any specific hardware or disk requirements that can be found in VMware, for example.
The solution was very easy to use and configure the three-node failover cluster - and you do need to configure the multipath and the network interfaces prior to the StarWind software installation.
It provided a way for replicating data and a way to have HA, which was very straightforward to set up.
What needs improvement?
The documentation is good. However, if compared with competitors, it could be enhanced and made more professional.
Other products like VMware vSAN have a bigger user base and more forums. It will take more customers to use Starwind Virtual SAN to change this. For example, You can find more PowerShell scripts on internet forums, and GitHub related to PowerCLI (VMware) than you can find StarWindX Powershell scripts.
Reporting capabilities of StarWind vSAN are also limited compared to VMware, which is considered a more mature product in the market.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used the solution for six months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's been so far, so good regarding stability (we've had no issues).
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The performance provided by the solution is good for SMBs and specific departmental solutions.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We are using VMware vSAN on other solutions, and we are still using it, however, it is better to use VMware only as a hypervisor (obviously). Also, the hardware requirements are very costly to be compliant with, while using StarWind Virtual SAN there are no hardware or hypervisor requirements.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward and easy to perform.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The setup is pretty easy for any mid-senior administrator.
StarWind Virtual SAN is a cost-effective solution.
Support also is very good.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated the following other options:
- Using traditional architecture by buying external storage and connecting it to the three existing nodes
- Using a VMware solution. However, this will lead to losing the Microsoft licenses, and VMware costs more than StarWind Virtual SAN
What other advice do I have?
It is good to have diversity in this market, and StarWind Virtual SAN is a good solution.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Virtualized Solutions Engineer at Quanti solutions
Improves processes, is user-friendly, and has an intuitive interface
Pros and Cons
- "The management and monitoring have been very easy since the solution's dashboard is very simple and user-friendly."
- "They need to improve the speed of the interfaces, thus allowing for better traffic on the network."
What is our primary use case?
The solution can be used for configuration and management as well as a backup repository.
I have used it for Veeam Backup and Replication and VMware NFS Datastore and it has really worked well.
One point to highlight is how easy it is to configure and manage. You don't really need to be an expert. However, it is important to know the storage concepts.
Simply by following the intuitive interface, you can configure your devices. Following a tutorial, you get the basic administration you require.
How has it helped my organization?
The process of choosing this product was not very difficult. It fit what we were looking for and it fulfilled the technical requirements for the project. As for the IT department, the management and monitoring have been very easy since the solution's dashboard is very simple and user-friendly.
What is most valuable?
In the implementations that I have carried out with StarWind, something that is noteworthy is the way in which it impacted the processes based on the way the solution was chosen to how it was implemented.
What needs improvement?
They need to improve the speed of the interfaces, thus allowing for better traffic on the network. They should continue with the development of protocols such as LACP that allow aggregation and maximal connectivity.
As for the V2V converter, it would be a good option to develop it not only as a converter but as an option for the migration of virtual machines between platforms, creating integrations with Azure, AWS, and GCP.
It could even be a way to migrate machines between HyperV, VMware, Nutanix, and other virtualization and hyper-converged environments.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used the solution for four years.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We had indeed tried a different solution, however, we opted for StarWind. Qnap did not have everything we needed at the moment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The cost-benefit ratio is really well balanced.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We looked into Qnap and Synology.
What other advice do I have?
This is a very user-friendly product that works well overall.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

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Updated: June 2025
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