StarWind Virtual SAN Reviews

Our primary use case of this solution is the deployment of a highly-available Microsoft Hyper-V environment. Using the StarWind Virtual SAN product allowed us to deploy a Hyper-V cluster that provides uninterrupted failover between nodes that would have otherwise not been possible. Additionally, we have implemented the same redundancy on our dedicated file storage systems.

The Virtual SAN product has greatly improved the organization's infrastructure by allowing us to create a scalable, highly-available, and cost-effective storage system. It has integrated flawlessly into our Microsoft Hyper-V environment, which, among other limitations, previously required manual intervention to move virtual machines. Our file storage systems also benefited tremendously from the seamless failover we were able to deploy with StarWind.

The product's core feature of virtualizing our storage is by far the most valuable. The abstraction allows us to use commodity hardware, and upgrade/modify it on demand without impacting SLAs. It also provides a high degree of mobility, as the virtual SAN can be moved relatively painlessly between on-site devices and the cloud.

It's been a while since I checked the associated PowerShell module, but I would like to see an extensive set of cmdlets that could allow for easier automation as well as status management. 

No, the only bug that was encountered over the course of several years was due to our negligence in updating the software in a timely manner. Support engineers were very knowledgeable and able to pinpoint the issue quickly.

No, we can add additional nodes and hard drives at will without downtime. This is the beauty of virtualizing the storage.

Technical support has been fantastic on the very few occasions we've had to call them. The engineers aren't just well versed in the product, but also in Microsoft systems as well as storage/networking architecture.

Response times have been fast, and the support engineers follow-up consistently to make sure the issue is resolved.

Yes, we were using a non-clustered Hyper-V setup. The two main problems with that deployment that caused us to switch were:

• Single points of failure in both our virtualization and storage systems.
  The loss of one node in either system didn’t allow for seamless failover.
  

The initial setup was very straightforward and quick. The engineer used a remote session to quickly get the environment configured and provided insight into the architecture. 

Implementation was handled by an in-house team with help from the StarWind engineer.

Our ROI has been very impressive, as the only recurring costs have been the support contracts. As hard drives become cheaper and cheaper, expanding the capacity of our systems has been trivial.

As a nonprofit with a limited budget, we are very satisfied with the licensing model provided by StarWind. The initial setup was quick and mostly effortless. Additionally, the support has been superb on the few occasions we've had to reach out to them.

We were unable to evaluate other options because the dedicated SAN systems that provided the same level of redundancy were out of our price range.

The product is solid, simple to use, and well engineered. Very impressed and looking forward to future releases.

We use StarWind vSAN software storage solutions to run two hypervisors in an HA clustered environment. 

This is a cost effective solution that allows us to have an HA clustered environment with redundancy and scalability. Storage has been very stable, and without issues, failures, or  bugs.

Ten gigabit Ethernet compatibility, support, ease of use, and management. This solution can be used with hardware RAID. Additionally, there are many white papers and informational studies about how to utilize the software.

Updates seem to be non-existent. The software is stable, but I do not get any updates or emails about new releases.

I've used StarWind Virtual SAN software in two different solutions for several years. Both were highly critical production environments requiring 100% uptime and fast performance. In both solutions, this platform satisfied those requirements.

The software is easy to configure. The more resources you throw at it, especially network throughput, the better it will perform. I'm using SSDs behind it and I am still very happy with the performance.

The StarWind tech support is extremely helpful, especially during the initial setup. They make sure to be part of the install and configuration so that your experience is positive and productive. 

It is difficult to control all of the hardware components. I went through a couple of different NICs before I found the one that would work with my hardware and server OS, and yield the necessary throughput for the StarWind portion.

We use StarWind for storage on our Hyper-V cluster. We started with their free offering in a test environment and found the performance and stability so attractive that we built a three node cluster using Dell 720s and ten gigabit copper ethernet. It has now been running continuously for four years with essentially zero downtime. As it approaches end-of-life we will be migrating to their managed appliances.

We were originally in a legacy environment of stand-alone servers. StarWind has allowed us to virtualize our environment without the huge expense of a dedicated SAN (the typical choice in the past), putting cluster technology and its benefits within our reach. Server downtime was a constant threat to our operation before StarWind, but has never been a problem since.

Without question, the support. StarWind has been a valuable technology partner for us from the beginning. On the rare occasion when we have had a problem, or have simply needed to do an upgrade, they have provided first-rate support. Anyone who has dealt with common off-shore support understands the frustration in dealing with incompetent and difficult to communicate with support staff. This is not so with StarWind, as their support staff is comprised of true experts who can also communicate clearly. For highly technical products this is essential.  The best part about their tech support though, is that you probably won't need it much!

On the technical side, the performance has been excellent.  I have never found a reason to regret not going with a traditional SAN. The configuration is so much simpler, with fewer points of failure to worry about. Integration with Microsoft clustering has been perfect, allowing us to leverage our investment in MS server licensing to the fullest. Updates to server hardware are now painless and done during working hours with zero stress. We had a RAID failure a few months back, and nobody in the building even noticed and there was no after hours time used for repair. It's the best!

Very few aspects of this solution need improvement. Sometimes documentation on their site can be out of date, and it is always good to check with support to make sure that whatever you are looking at is current. The good news here is that this is very easy to accomplish. If we stay with the Virtual SAN instead of the managed appliances it would be great to have more automated tooling around managing the iSCSI connections in Windows, which can be a bit confusing at first.

Zero. It runs like a rock.

The current non-managed solution is limited to 3 nodes.

Their customer service at every level, both in terms of our account and technical support is very good. Everything has always been timely and first-rate. I have learned many things about not just StarWind but also Microsoft clustering, iSCSI, and even Hyper-V from Starwind support staff. They are true geek pros!

Before StarWind we were still in a non-virtualized environment of standalone servers with disparate hardware.

These are complex products to set up by nature. StarWind's excellent support makes it easy, but we were able to get our test setup running in just a few hours by reading documents and their forum.

We implemented with our in-house team and StarWind support only. Their expertise not just with their own product but with Microsoft clustering and Hyper-V was amazing. We didn't need any other support to get the job done.

It has paid for itself many times over in reduced downtime and maintenance costs.

Make sure that you understand what all of the pieces do and don't make the assumption that you can drop support once setup is complete.

Yes, we looked at Nutanix and several traditional dedicated SANs.

Make sure that you understand your performance requirements clearly. Learn how to measure your performance needs in your existing environment BEFORE you shop, so that you can be sure that you are looking at the right solution. In all of the planning that goes into making the correct decision on these types of products, understanding performance (and not just making assumptions) is the most neglected part. There is no quicker way to over or under build your solution than to not have real performance numbers for planning.