StarWind Virtual SAN

Score9.9 out of 10

162 Reviews and Ratings

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What is StarWind Virtual SAN?

StarWind Virtual SAN is software-defined storage for efficient storage and backup.

Categories & Use Cases

Software Defined Storage (SDS)

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Screenshot of StarWind Management Console

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Screenshot of StarWind Management Console

Tyler LeJeune View profile

Manager of Systems Administration in Information Technology at Monster Digital (501-1000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

StarWind has been such a huge win for our company. Using this software allowed us to create a two node cluster, without the need for any additional storage. We were able to create a hyperconverged cluster, with full failover capabilities, using only two servers. We now have highly available storage between the two, and VM's can live migrate freely between them. The real value comes with the Professional Support they offer. Within minutes of a node going offline, their Support reaches out to make sure everything is planned, and to offer assistance in getting the cluster back up and running. I cannot recommend StarWind enough. If you are looking for real 24/7 support, or if you have any limitations around storage, StarWind is an easy win for you and your company.

Pros

Professional Support
Hyperconverged Infrastructure
vSAN GUI
Documentation

Cons

Using the CLI to set up LUNs can be complicated
Unguided setup is not recommended for beginners

Return on Investment

Increased visibility on outages from StarWind Support
Allows the company to avoid purchasing and upkeeping SAN equipment
Gives us the ability to keep all virtual machines in highly available failover, with 24/7 uptime
The ability to migrate virtual machines from one node to the second allows us to patch mission critical systems without downtime

Usability

Dylan Friesen

Systems Administrator in Information Technology at DeVry Greenhouses (201-500 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use StarWind Virtual SAN in my clustered Hyper-V infrastructure with paired cluster nodes and replicated VM storage. The VMs are replicated between clusters and rebuilt by re-enabling replication from one cluster to the other. Essentially, StarWind Virtual SAN is the storage/HA layer that keeps VM storage available across cluster nodes and supports failover and recovery.

Pros

It supports clean, repeatable VM replication between cluster environments
It provides clustered storage that fits real Hyper-V operations, not just a theoretical HA design
It works especially well in my paired cluster-node design
fits neatly into my full VM lifecycle: provisioning, protection, backup, and monitoring

Cons

Complicated to setup even with documentation.
Requires StarWind Virtual SAN support to confidently deploy
Disks can be stuck synchronizing for days if you are not careful.

Return on Investment

risk reduction
operational continuity

Usability

Other Software Used

Veeam Data Platform, Zabbix, Netbox

Francesco Infantini

IT Administrator in Information Technology at AptGetDefence SL (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We implemented StarWind Virtual SAN in our environment, initially with VMware and later transitioning to Proxmox. This setup enabled us to take full advantage of the servers’ NVMe storage while keeping it synchronized across just two nodes. After moving to Proxmox, we also benefited from the free version’s web-based management interface, which is especially useful for those who prefer not to handle volume creation through PowerShell.

Pros

Free version exist
Two nodes only synchronization
WebGui management if using Proxmox CVM

Cons

It would be better to create a setup-script for Proxmox instead of manual commands via SSH

Return on Investment

The free version works for us, since we don't have a need for more advanced features

Usability

Other Software Used

Proxmox VE

Verified User

Employee in Information Technology (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use StarWind Virtual SAN to create hyperconverged storage using our existing server hardware for our vSphere high availability environment. We had previously looked at so many hardware SAN and NAS solutions, but all were out of our budget as a small organization. Virtual SAN allowed us to keep our costs down, while still being able to setup the redundancy and availability we need for our on prem systems.

Pros

Managing Costs
Utilizing existing server hardware
Flexible compatibility with almost all hardware brands

Cons

Lower cost versions of the software have limited support
Setup can be challenging for IT teams without dedicated network teams.
Some scenarios can be very complex. Setup is not very streamlined.

Return on Investment

Thousands of dollars of our budget that would have gone to hardware can now go to other upgrades.
Before Virtual SAN, we were not able to afford true high availability.
The complexity of setup was a challenge, but the learning curve was well worth it.

Usability

Alternatives Considered

VMware vSAN

Other Software Used

VMware vSphere, VMware ESXi, Veeam Data Platform

Verified User

Administrator in Information Technology (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use StarWind Virtual SAN to affordably repurpose old servers as a failover cluster without needing to purchase a separate SAN storage array. The free version has full functionality with no time limit but is harder to setup and manage due to being locked out of the GUI and having to rely on a collection of Powershell scripts as well as community support.

Pros

Fast and reliable storage for a failover cluster
Generous free version

Cons

Documentation could be clearer for setting up the free version

Return on Investment

Repurposed old servers as a Hyper-V failover cluster at no additional cost.

Usability

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StarWind Virtual SAN

What is StarWind Virtual SAN?

Categories & Use Cases

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Reviews

StarWind - True SAN Replacement

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

Cons

Return on Investment

Usability