My impressions with the StarWind HyperConverged Appliance
StarWind HyperConverged Appliance is used as shared storage in a 4 host cluster. The connection is via LAN (10Gb) and runs with good …
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What is StarWind HCA?
The StarWind HyperConverged Appliance (HCA) is a hyper-converged infrastructure solution designed to reduce application downtime on a reasonable budget.
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What is StarWind HCA?
The StarWind HyperConverged Appliance (HCA) is a hyper-converged infrastructure solution designed to reduce application downtime on a reasonable budget.
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What is StarWind HCA?
StarWind HyperConverged Appliance (HCA) is a turnkey hyper-converged platform that merges compute, storage, network, and software into a nuclear 2-node footprint. The solution is designed to simplify HCI management for Enterprise ROBO, SMB & Edge, while offering flexible scalability and powerful performance.
Users can start with two nodes, based on HeartBeat, that can be switchless and function without additional equipment. StarWind HCA is a software-centric architecture that removes the need for proprietary components. StarWind Engineers perform the configuration, testing, migration, and integration for users, free of charge.
StarWind HyperConverged Appliance:
- allows using 100% of underlying storage performance
- has no hardware compatibility lists (HCLs)
- does 2- or 3-way replication + local RAID 5/6/10
- does VAAI and ODX data offloading
- includes load balancing and data locality
- does VM-centric hypervisor-level snapshots, and more.
To minimize CapEx and OpEx further, StarWind ProActive Premium Support (included in every license) substitutes an IT squad for the sake of cluster health assurance. ProActive Support monitors user environments 24/7/365, and uses machine learning to detect abnormal behavior so issues are prevented before they can become a problem.
The vendor presents StarWind HCA as a hyper-converged world enclosed in a tiny “building block” that comes at a reasonable price.
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StarWind HyperConverged Appliance (HCA)
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StarWind HCA Technical Details
| Deployment Types | On-premise |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Windows, Linux |
| Mobile Application | No |
StarWind HCA Downloadables
Frequently Asked Questions
The StarWind HyperConverged Appliance (HCA) is a hyper-converged infrastructure solution designed to reduce application downtime on a reasonable budget.
Scale Computing Platform and Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure are common alternatives for StarWind HCA.
Reviewers rate Availability and Support Rating highest, with a score of 9.7.
The most common users of StarWind HCA are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
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Reviews
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StarWind HyperConverged Appliance is used as shared storage in a 4 host cluster. The connection is via LAN (10Gb) and runs with good performance. In this way we can virtualize an area of IT and thus relieve the hardware costs. In addition, data security is increased, although there is a stable backup and restore concept.
- turnkey hyperconverged appliance
- uninterrupted application delivery and data security
- improving the graphical interface with pnp functions
- Extension of the display to performance parameters via latency, access, etc.
January 26, 2023
StarWind HyperConverged Appliance's have been stellar for our nonprofit organization!
I am the sole sysadmin at a small nonprofit. We replaced our old VMware hosts/SAN storage with a pair of StarWind HyperConverged Appliance's and have since converted numerous physical servers to VM's and have been smoothly running about 50 VM's on our StarWind HyperConverged Appliance's ever since then. The StarWind HyperConverged Appliance's have been instrumental in helping us to simplify our server and network environment and provide the capacity, performance, and stability we need to virtualize more of our infrastructure.
- Proactive monitoring of our StarWind HyperConverged Appliances - We've only had a couple minor issues, and all have been identified early.
- Fantastic support - Support is knowledgeable and can fix things in a remote session or provide guidance.
- Very reliable - We've never had VM downtime on our cluster in our almost 3 years.
- Super easy onboarding process - Sales was knowledgeable and very helpful in helping us to pick the "right size" StarWind HyperConverged Appliance's.
- I honestly don't have anything to complain about. Nothing is perfect, but the only issues we had were promptly identified and resolved with minimal effort on my part, and were caught early and did not cause downtime. We've basically had almost 3 years of smooth sailing and 100% uptime.
September 26, 2022
Efficiency, Performance And Piece Of Mind With Minimal Cost
We had a two physical host, two SAN VMware setup on aging hardware. The SAN's setup as a pool, therefore not redundant. We wanted to simplify this setup, improve performance, reduce the single point of failure, all while dealing with a SMB budget. StarWind HyperConverged Appliance (HCA) allowed us to simply migrate our VM's over to a new set of HCA hardware. All setup and support is included and within an hour or two overall we were all setup.
- Simplifies infrastructure
- Knowledgeable support
- High performance
- Easy migration
- Better support portal
- UPS shutdown setup
- A webinar or training session on how it works.
September 07, 2022
Solid Product and Great Service!
Being a facility that hosts horse shows and restaurants we need servers in a HA solution to ensure that shows are not delayed and we didn't have any major downtime. The StarWind HCA vSAN solution gave us the product we needed to ensure we stay online. Our horse show software is necessary to run each of these shows and very necessary element for our companies success.
- Coping date every second in real time
- instant failover
- the ability to upgrade software in background without affecting users during business hours
- I can't say I know of specific areas of improvement. I like the way the systems work. Sometimes I have hard time understanding the support team on the phone but it's not bad.
September 01, 2022
StarWind HyperConverged Appliance makes even me look good!
We use them as our main servers. Load balancing between the two nodes to offer faster performance to our end users and allow me to bring once outsourced applications back on-premise. StarWind HyperConverged Appliance replaced a very outdated hodge-podge of PC-based servers that were not keeping up with the demands of our growing business.
- Redundancy
- Load balancing
- Technical Support
- Firmware updates - Though this is more of a server Manufacturer issue. Support does help when there are any questions.
- I would like to see easier to access dashboards and notification areas (This may exist currently, I just don't know about it)
August 31, 2022
Top product and good price policy
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We would like to have a cheaper solution compared to a storage system but with all the advantages and not the disadvantages. Here only StarWind HyperConverged Appliance (HCA) came into question. On average, we achieved a saving of 20% with comparable storage systems. Also the possibility to build a scalable virtual cluster that guarantees high availability. A high availability cluster was created for a data center. Active Directory Application Server DMS Pros: - cheap - Scalable - top support - the best of StarWind HyperConverged Appliance (HCA) server and storage systems Cons: - Delivery time - Limited hardware packages
- Good price policy
- best support compared to other
- the product itself
- More choice in server components
- Better set up guide
I run StarWind HyperConverged Appliance (HCA) on 2 ESX clusters each with over 100vm's for the past 5 years. I came from a traditional 3-tier architecture and Starwind simplified everything! Gone are the expensive iscsi switches and configurations, crazy tough hardward compatibility, and months to get up and running. StarWind HyperConverged Appliance (HCA) was able to single source the entire solution for me with hardware and software and remotely install it all. It was a no-brainer and support is awesome to work with. They know everything inside and out and the 24x7 monitoring keeps everything running great. I can't reccomend it enough and should always be considered when looking at other vsan type products
- cost
- ease of use
- ongoing support
August 12, 2022
StarWind HyperConverged Appliance (HCA) - It just works
We needed a solution to our ever-growing server racks. We previously had a small implementation of ESXi on a single host and many physical servers. We were looking for a solution that would help consolidate all of the physical servers and allow us to scale easily in the future.
- Scalability
- Service and Support
- Reliability
- 24/7 monitoring
- Reporting & Monitoring
- Hardware upgrades can be costly after implementation
- No product update notifications
I recently did a hardware refresh and I moved from StarWind VSAN (I have reviewed previously) to StarWind HyperConverged Appliance (HCA). Since this was during a hardware refresh it was obviously to replace old hardware. I chose StarWind HyperConverged Appliance (HCA) because of the good performance and support I had gotten when running StarWind VSAN on our own hardware. I went from a three-node cluster running VMware Horizon View to a two-node cluster with StarWind HyperConverged Appliance (HCA). One of the key upgrades with the HCA was moving to all SSD.
- It is extremely easy to set up, it comes with most options pre-configured for you. But the support group will walk through your entire setup and migration.
- It is monitored by StarWind 24x7. Instead of issues being reactive with the monitoring I'm hoping things will be more proactive.
- The performance has been outstanding. I think disk was our main limiting factor with our hold hardware.
- I prefer HP hardware to Dell hardware but that's just me.
- The documentation is a bit sparse.
I use StarWind to provide shared storage for my hypervisor cluster servers, it solves and addresses the business problem of having to manage additional shared storage solutions and the complexity of networking this requires, my use case is the norm for many IT professionals in this current day and time, and I confirm it does everything they advertise after extensive testing it performs as well as any other solution, with the added benefit of low deployment timeless management overhead and a monitored system by StarWind directly.
- Storage Sharing
- Perfect for cluster hypervisor solutions
- 24x7 monitored system
- n/a
- n/a
- n/a
May 05, 2022
Absolutely the correct decision
We moved to StarWind to allow us to simplify our environment, getting away from traditional iSCSI with compute, storage and switches, to a solution that uses less rack space but can do all of the same. <br><br>We also use StarWind as a form of redundancy, should one box have a failure, we have another ready and waiting to take over almost instantly thanks to the replication the platform provides. <br><br>
- Replication
- Redundancy
- Provide storage
- Product update notifications
May 05, 2022
Excellent product, even better support
We were running MS Dynamics AX2012 on a HP LeftHand SAN solution, but it was just too slow. We moved to an all flash StarWind solution that performed much, much better and improved the user experience greatly, and only took up 4U of rack space rather than the full rack of SAN nodes and servers.
- Very stable.
- Takes up very little physical space.
- Excellent support.
- Easy to implement and use.
- Nothing to be improved.
May 05, 2022
Great Product and Support!
We mainly use this as a failover and not have to expense for additional or separate storage. Our environment is pretty small and with less than 50 users. We only have two servers in the failover cluster that are part of the StarWind Storage. Prior to StarWind we always had to schedule maintenance windows and have all of our services down. Compare to before, our downtimes have been decreased substantially and maintenance windows have almost been eliminated. Not to mention, I no longer have to come in on weekends!
- Easy Implementation
- Easy GUI
- Excellent Customer Support
- User Training
May 05, 2022
Reliability and simplicity is good!
We use StarWind Virtual SAN on-premise to host 30+ Hyper-V VMs. We also have a test environment with 15 VMs. The product is amazing due to its ease of use and reliability. Before StarWind, we were on a traditional SAN/Switch/Server setup (AKA inverted pyramid). Obviously, storage was not fully redundant, so we wanted to address this in the new solution.
- Simplicity and ease of management were great. Much easier to maintain than other complex redundant solutions.
- Proactive support is great and available 24/7.
- Reliability have been solid (no downtime at all) for 5 years.
- Support team has slight accent but is not too difficult to understand.
- Emphasis on security can be improved. Things like default passwords were not changed initially until requested.
- Can't really think of much else...If I had to split hairs...on reboots sometimes it took a while to sync with the other node. Max was 30 minutes, but 99% of the time it's 3-4 minutes.
April 25, 2022
StarWind HCAs Help Me Sleep at Night
Virtual file server and Active Directory domain controller for the corporate office and virtual development and technical support environments for our Developers and Technical Support staff at our corporate office. Has provided our company with a fully redundant virtual environment at half the cost of a traditional SAN implementation. Previously, we had the traditional SAN environment of 2-3 virtual hosts, 2 SAN switches for iSCSI, and then one storage array/server (all Dell hardware). The problem was the single point of failure (SPoF) at the bottom which was the one storage server. Because of the cost, we could only afford one storage server but this meant that SPoF. Now we have a completely fully redundant SAN solution at half the cost and rackspace footprint.
- Reliability.
- Redundancy.
- Ease of use.
- Ease of installation/setup.
- Our use case is very simple and I can't think of anything that needs room for improvement.
- For our use, it's mainly set it and forget it and it does everything we need it to do out of the box.
April 25, 2022
Amazing product, Amazing support
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We used to have a large physical server farm. A few years ago we decided to condense this down into two, HCA, hyperconverged devices. Starwind was the obvious choice. It allowed us to decrease our overhead costs on power, cooling, network, and physical devices and focus the environment into a very manageable, very scalable machine. We can now spin up new servers in a very short time period - thus making the response to business needs nearly instantaneous.
- The appliance scale very well. If need be, we can add new appliances to the pool with ease.
- The appliance runs maintenance-free. We rarely have to touch the StarWind software or the appliances beyond routine VM maintenance
- It load balances extremely well.
- Price. It is a little expensive for small businesses to buy into - however it is on point with other solutions in this market space.
April 20, 2022
Fantastic product for a SMB
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
When I first started this role, all applications and services ran on physical servers. I migrated those physical servers to ESXi and re-deployed those applications and services as VMs. Over time, we needed more HA capabilities and StarWind HCA along with vSphere Essentials met that need at a very good price point.
- Ease of deployment
- No need to create a storage network with their Virtual SAN
- Great ProActive Support
- Virtual SAN setup requires more storage than traditional
- Steps need to do maintenance can be a little confusing
- Had to use Windows Server licenses at time of deployment
April 19, 2022
Great SMB Hyper-Convergence Solution
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use two of these appliances in a Hyper-V Failover Cluster that host all of our VMs. The two appliances replaced three Dell m630 blade servers, 2 Dell MXL Force 10 blade switches, and an EMC VNXe3200 SAN. They were the last blade switches in our environment, so we were also able to decommission the m1000e blade enclosure.
The appliances are providing nearly all the network, compute, and storage resources for our server needs.
The appliances are providing nearly all the network, compute, and storage resources for our server needs.
- Onboarding is well supported and simple. We were able to migrate all our VMs within a week of receiving the appliances.
- StarWind's Virtual SAN software gives the reliability of a failover cluster with the performance of local storage.
- ProActive Support ensures errors are detected and contact initiated automatically.
- I no longer have to troubleshoot three disparate systems when something goes wrong.
- Since Hyper-V Failover Clusters require Cluster Shared Volumes, the appliances have to be configured to access their local storage through an iSCSI connection. It adds a small amount of overhead, but is still much faster than an actual SAN.
- ProActive Support is sometimes a little too much. We were having issues with our Backup/DR software that was generating errors in the appliances' event logs, and we had a new series of emails from StarWind every morning until they were sorted out.
- Lead time on receiving the appliances was pretty long. Dell provides the hardware, so their delays are StarWind's delays as well.
- Each appliance has to be able to be able to support all of the VMs' storage/compute needs, so enough disk space needs to be purchased to house all the storage needs on each appliance. If you require 10TB of storage before taking a RAID into account, you would need to purchase 20TB of storage.
April 19, 2022
Amazing product, better support
We use StarWind HCAs as primary servers for operations. They have been used to carry the load of some of our more critical systems and have been amazing hardware. The failover clustering has performed flawlessly in testing and in production, I trust it wholeheartedly.
- Failover
- Clustering
- Customer Support
- The interface can be confusing to a novice, but their support is awesome at making sure you understand the capabilities.
March 29, 2022
Affordable and easy
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use StarWind Hyper Converged Appliance to have an easy solution for virtualisation. Since we don't need any huge setup StarWind Hyper Converged Appliance was the right solution for us. With StarWind Hyper Converged Appliance we get what we need without paying an overprice as with many of the other vendors.
- Easy to use
- Nice support
- Affordable
- Bether web manage GUI
January 28, 2022
Starwind HyperConverged Appliance Is One Of The Best Solution
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We were in the middle of an installation of a new ERP system and we were needed a stable server that would be running 24/7 since we are working round-the-clock and in multiple locations around the world. When looking for a redundant system to put some of our most important VMs (HyperV), we found a Starwind solution. We got a great demo from the StarWind sales department and we proceeded with a 2 node server. Until now, this is one of the best systems that we have and we have increased our partnership with them with another 3 node server. We had some issues with the creation of the CSV and other small issues, but the support from their customer service is really great and proactive. I say proactive because they are keeping track of the system alerts and contacting us to offer their help. "
- Strong customer focus (great support)
- Overall cost
- Proactive support / advice
- A bit hard to implement at the beginning but worked with the help of the support
- I would have purchased a 3 node instead of a 2 node to start. The 3 node is better since we can have 2 servers down and still be running.
- Since the 3 nodes are plugged together, the cabling management is a bit of a mess behind the server but not so bad either.
December 27, 2021
A rock-solid and affordable alternative to VMWare native vSAN
We settled on StarWind HyperConverged Appliance (HCA) as a less expensive alternative to VMWare's more expensive license for vSAN shared storage between our two VMWare hosts, providing full hardware redundancy of everything. The peace of mind knowing that all of our data and VMs are running on two fully redundant hosts is amazing.
- Fully redundant shared storage (vSAN)
- Proactive monitoring of all of the hardware
- 24/7 support
December 14, 2021
High Availability at an Affordable Price.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Starwind HCA is used as the primary [solution] for our virtualization environment on Hyper-V. We run a wide selection of [virtual] servers on this [hardware]. Virtualization brings a large number of [advantages] over physical servers, and Starwind's HCA solution provided a very [cost-effective] solution for creating a [highly] [available], clustered storage and [virtualization] solution. Starwind's support has been great in transitioning from our old [environment] of Cluster-In-A-Box solutions.
- Cost Effective
- Great Support
- Great Hyper-V Solution
- Easy To Work With
- Flexible Solution
- More documentation -- particularly in regards to Starwinds VSAN
- Management Console Could Use [Improvements].
- More detail into what data is reported to Starwind ongoing.
December 11, 2021
StarWind HCA is The Perfect Solution for SMB IT Departments
We were resolving longstanding issues with a traditional data center sprawl with separate compute and storage products. StarWind came in with an appliance that ran windows and provided a massive uplift in compute/storage on the same box!
- Great support.
- Lowers single point of failure.
- Competitive cost compare to other solutions.
- Documentation.
- Easier to understand adding cache or advanced options.
December 01, 2021
Great Solution, easy transition
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We migrated from a two-host replication back and forth configuration to a fully highly available solution with ease. The servers were preconfigured when they arrived, we simply plugged them in, and migrated each virtual machine over, with ease. We can now do maintenance during the day, on either host, with no downtime, and [many fewer] after-hour maintenance windows needed. Support and turn-around have been excellent. The disaster recovery plan has greatly improved after moving to this solution
- Pre-configured System
- Knowledgeable Support Staff
- Great Price point
- Nothing