StarWind Virtual SAN Reviews

We were looking for a Microsoft Windows 2016 Hyper-V clustered solution that didn't require an external SAN network. Something that could utilize the local storage on each server, and also allowed us to configure the storage as we required it. We had looked at Storage Spaces Direct, but it was too restrictive in terms of configuration.

We are operational 24/7, every day of the year, so prior to having a clustered system, our users were faced with downtime anytime we applied patches or upgrades to the system.   With the StarWind VSAN software and Hyper-V Guest Cluster, we are able to create an environment where we can perform system updates without any downtime to the users.

We are not a very large organization and have a limited budget available for infrastructure.  

The most valuable feature for us is having the ability to configure our local storage using a limited number of disks and using the StarWind VSAN software to keep the cluster nodes in perfect sync.

The system performs as expected, but we're always looking for performance improvements regarding the best utilization of NVMe disks.

We have not experienced any failures or problems with the software.

It handles our environment very well and I don't see any reason why it wouldn't handle a much larger environment.

Their software support team had been very helpful in the initial setup of the system and also helped to reconfigure the system after we lost one node in the cluster.

Overall, their support has been excellent. They will stick with you until your issues are resolved!

We did not use another solution prior to this one.

Their technical support team was available to install the software both during the demo phase and when we installed the licensed version. It would have been complex for us, as it was our first cluster experience, but their support team made it look easy.

We evaluated Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct, but it was too restrictive in terms of configuration.

So far, the software is doing everything we need.

We use VMware ESXi and needed a SAN replacement. Our old SAN is an HPE StoreVirtual VSA, but we are running out of space and it's getting old, so our support will be ending soon.

We will use the storage for our main cluster including OS and data drives. 

This has helped us gain a resilient and robust SAN for much less than anything else we could find. It also allows us to add storage without any license penalty. We will move from using six servers to three. We will also be able to stop using several stand-alone iSCSI devices. 

The best thing about the StarWind SAN is the HA we setup. We can lose a site or even two of our three, and we would lose no data and have no outage.

In testing, we found some features in the Linux appliance were missing. So, for full functionality, you will want to use the Windows version. Server-side snapshots are one thing the Linux appliance can't do yet. I hope the feature is added in the next update release.

Adding storage after its all setup is a little difficult.

So far, I have seen a service fail on one system during our test phase. Synchronization stopped and I had to start the service again. This was during a power outage but the server never went down. It has never happened again. 

The way we have this setup, scaling is difficult. We use three systems that are all synchronized and using MIMO iSCSI. Adding storage means adding it to all three, rather than just tossing another server at it. You can architect it differently, which would make scaling easier.

Technical support is great. They are very responsive, they always reply quickly, and seem very knowledgeable.

We used an HPE StoreVirtual VSA. Its support is ending and a replacement was going to cost too much for us.

The setup was easy, but afterward, support walked us through a bunch of settings that I would have missed.

The setup was all done by local IT staff with a final remote check with support, where they changed many advanced settings. 

It all cost about twenty-five percent less than the other solutions we looked at.

The basic setup is very easy and the cost is reasonable for support. 

We looked at Nimble, HPE VSA, and Tegile storage.

If you're at all interested then build a few systems using old hardware, or just spin up a few VMs. You get ninety percent of the features for free so there is no cost to try it out. The free version is great to use for labs or test environments.

The use of the StarWind solution does not have to be just a strictly IT domain.
In my case, we needed to find and implement a solution that guaranteed the supervision of security systems in the scenario of a full disaster of our main center of supervision.
To achieve that, we needed to use technology that would give us fast and reliable data replication between two supervision centers and would not ruin our security department budget. On the other hand, the solution must be easy to administrate with the tools we had.

StarWind Virtual SAN was a bulls-eye. Now, we can transfer the full spectrum of information to remote infrastructure that allows us to ensure continuity, which means better security for the company. The StarWind Virtual SAN management console is intuitive and easy to use.

Since the implementation of StarWind Virtual SAN, we achieve fast and reliable data replication in the full spectrum. The main operations security center is backed up to maintain the continuity of security systems operations in case of loss of the main operations center.

The most valuable feature is the fast and reliable data replication between main and backup operations centers using a virtual environment.

Second: Good price :-) 

Third: The StarWind Virtual SAN management console is intuitive and easy to use in day to day administration.

It would be great if the Linux version of the management console offered the same features as Windows.

StarWind Virtual SAN meets all of the expectations in terms of stability for data replication and failover tests.

The scalability is very good.

Our experience is that we get a fast response from technical support.

No other solution was used for data replication.

The initial setup was straightforward.

Implementation was performed through a vendor team with a high level of experience.

This solution has a great price for the functionality.

No other options were evaluated.

In my case, in the day-to-day use, I don't see much area for improvement for StarWind Virtual SAN solution. It's fast, reliable, and almost meets all of my expectations.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

We didn't test targets with multiple devices.

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.

We used direct-attached storage before StarWind vSAN.

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

All of our clusters were implemented in-house.

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.

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

We had to build a highly available Hyper-V cluster.

As I work for a charitable organization, the most important part is keeping costs as low as possible. I have looked into a few solutions and none was as easy to deploy because it allows us to use hardware that we already have and not invest a lot of money. 

Building a High Availability cluster required that we set up a cluster on our hardware and shared space for file access. Using the StarWind VSAN solution allowed us to reduce the cost by using hardware that we already owned. Instead of managing two server boxes, the SAN device, and SAN backup, we have everything included in two servers with shared disk space.

The most important feature is the ability to experience the loss of one node or one storage device, and not lose the entire cluster. This is great if you think about data redundancy and failover. It gives you time to rebuild node that is offline and keep your business running. Time is money!

Scalability is a great feature because if you need more space and more redundancy then can easily add another node!

We would like to see the documentation more fully developed. Most subjects are covered but if you do not know something then you may need to contact their support.

Since the initial setup, I've had no problems with the software. I am constantly checking new versions and what updates it includes. Update one node, then another, and you can forget about it again. To be honest, if you install the current version and it works then you can forget about it right away. This solution just works. I have had no problems at all for the whole time that I've used it.

Scalability is great and easy. You need more space to deploy another node, which gives you more fast storage. Redundancy will also improve.

Customer service is very helpful and polite. They will help you with pricing and to find the proper license that suits your needs.

I have used technical support once for a general question. I received a reponse fast and it was very technical, covering all of the questioned subjects.

I have never used different solutions.

Initial set up was easy and straight forward. Read all of the how-tos and FAQs. Having basic knowledge about the subject will allow you to go through the setup process hassle-free.

I installed everything myself.

I would suggest that you download the free version, deploy in your lab, and play with it. If you like it then you will definitely like the more advanced, full paid version.

I have read about different solutions, especially VMware vSAN. In comparing these two, it is easy to choose StarWind for a company the size of mind, with needs that StarWind can easily cover.

I have done some research on that subject and everything directed me to StarWind VSAN. Now, I can clearly state that I do not regret my decision.

Technical support is the thing that completes a good product. If the software is good but you can also count on fast and accurate resolutions then you have got everything you need.

I used their Virtual SAN software to add new SANs to my VMware environment. I began working for a company that had a Virtual Environment already in place and there was no documentation regarding the configuration of the system. The storage was not managed correctly and I had to find a way to make space with what hardware I had at the time.

The storage space in the VMware environment I walked into was mismanaged and we needed immediate access to more storage. There was a Dell PowerVault that had plenty of space, and this software enabled me to make the most of my storage.

Given that I could not purchase new equipment I had to find a way to make this PowerVault become the storage without disrupting things. StarWind Virtual San allowed me to achieve this quickly.

The most valuable feature is the ability to make new SANs on the fly. When we need additional storage but want to keep the size of the SANs manageable, the StarWind Virtual SAN has allowed me to do everything needed. There are times when we still need storage to be controlled and the software allows me to make the needed changes. It can be done right from their application and then pushed directly over to the hosts.

The only thing that I have any difficulty with is that in order to perform upgrades, it is required that the SANs be detached from the Hosts before that can happen.

In my industry, having one hundred percent uptime means that I must either migrate everything off of the existing SANs so I can perform the upgrade, or shut everything down, detach the SANs and then reconnect them after the upgrade is complete.

At this point, while I am running an older version and the features still work within the latest versions of VMware, I won't see it as being a problem until I add more storage to allow for the proper migration and upgrade to happen.

I have never had any downtime. This software has managed the SAN connection to my VMs perfectly for the last four years.

This software has done everything I need. It saved me a lot of time when I was given an extremely short time to add additional space to my Virtual Environment.

I have only needed to reach out to the support team a couple of times since this software was implemented. They responded within a couple of hours and everything was figured out quickly. 

There were no previous solutions in place. The setup of the VM Environment was mismanaged initially. This software helped me regain control of the management of storage quickly. 

Straightforward setup and the configuration was no problem.

We implemented this solution in-house. 

I saw an immediate ROI as I had storage that was not being utilized. Instead of having to spend $10K-$20K to add new storage to the existing environment, wait on the hardware to arrive, and then configure it directly as a new LUN, I was able to use this solution. I purchased the software, installed it on the system that I had with excess space, and created a few new SANs the same day the request was being made with an urgent time frame.  

The timeline to get the storage was extremely limited so I didn't have time to do evaluation testing.

Their support team is terrific. I have only had to reach out to them on a couple of occasions. They responded quickly and helped me to get things resolved right away. 

We have a four-host VMware environment with over one hundred and forty virtual servers that runs everything on our network except for backups and video storage. We are using Dell R730xd servers filled with a combination of hard drives and SSDs, as well as some PCIe storage for high-performance VMs.

We were able to create a much faster SAN with much more storage while saving a lot of money. It cost less to build an entire new SAN based on StarWind than to upgrade our old SAN. Now, when we want to expand, we can add storage in any way we want. This allows us to find the best prices without being tied to proprietary hardware.

The most valuable feature is the fact that the nodes are Active/Active, and allow us to do upgrades on any node without any downtime. This solution runs on standard hardware and allows us to use servers and storage that we already have, as well as non-proprietary hardware that doesn't cost a fortune.

The ability to manage the SAN with vSphere would be nice. It would also be of benefit to have more vSAN-like features, like not having to worry about creating multiple volumes. It would be nice if we could designate pools, or tiers, for storage of different speeds, and then assign rules to new VMs that would automatically place them into the proper pool.

We have found the software itself to be highly stable. It just works.

This solution seems highly scalable, with the only limitations being management after a certain point.

I had some issues, early on, that ended up being hardware issues on my end. The StarWind support people were more than willing to help me out with them, and this including jumping on remote sessions to figure things out whenever I needed help.

We used Compellent (bought by Dell). When we bought it, they discounted it heavily to be competitive, and it was at the low end of what they offered. When we needed to expand it, the costs to do so seemed outrageous.

This initial setup is extremely straightforward. You install the software and then create volumes, which then show up on an iSCSI scan. Nothing complex about it.

We performed the implementation in-house.

We were able to build an entirely new SAN with much greater performance and more capacity for less than the cost of just upgrading our previous SAN, so the ROI was immediate.

The licensing is pretty simple, and the costs are straightforward. Once you buy the license, you are free to build your own hardware solution based on your needs.

We looked at EMC and HP, but both were also much more expensive than a system we could build ourselves based on the StarWind software.

Unless you need a lot of special third-party integration with other systems, it is a great low-cost solution that gives you whatever level of performance you decide, based on your hardware.

We use this solution for SAN storage. We have a two-node Microsoft Windows 2016 full SSD (SATA) configuration with RAM cache (500GB each node), and iSCSI to connect HA virtual clusters. Using Mellanox network technology with two 100Gbit switches in HA mode. Also, we have more than sixty MSSQL databases hosted.

Virtual SAN has improved stability, performance, and maintenance cost. This is a great solution for replacement "Hardware", both entry-level and some mid-storage. It allows you to use ANY consumer or enterprise HDDs and SSDs, and that's a really great thing!  

The Price/Performance ratio for this solution is outstanding!

You can use most of the modern hardware. You are not restricted to use "not compatible" disks by a vendor. It has great scalability and replication features to allow building really fault tolerant solutions in your IT environment. 

I would like to see full support for iSER. This time, technical support does not recommend using iSER on NICs except on an internal (StarWind Node-to-StarWind node) connections.

High availability for direct attached hardware drives (without virtual disk layer) could be useful to increase the performance of StarWind virtual storage cluster. 

This solution is very stable.

The scalability of this solution is great!