StarWind Virtual SAN

When you budget cannot support an appliance SAN and would like to build a fully redundant SAN on the hardware you already own

StarWind Virtual SAN is supported and effective for the users they want the HA and the features of the integration with the virtualization platforms. Virtual SAN is preferred for the organization they have less budget for their storage and they want best and cost effective solution in their premises then StarWind Virtual SAN is recommended.

StarWind fits extremely well in an environment with limited resources and cost is a strong driving force. StarWind does not fit well within organizations that do not need an HA environment.

If you're looking for a simple and budget friendly SAN then StarWind is a great option. StarWind is very easy to use if you had no experience in using a SAN before. It's very easy to create groups, targets, and review logs. If you're new to virtualization StarWind is a great choice for the backend storage.

One of the key features of StarWind Virtual SAN is its ability to create a highly available and fault-tolerant environment, which is achieved through synchronous data replication across multiple nodes. This ensures that data is always available, even in the event of a node failure. Additionally, StarWind Virtual SAN provides a flexible storage solution that can be easily scaled up or down as per the changing needs of the organization. StarWind Virtual SAN is a hyperconverged solution, which can be tailored to meet specific organizational needs. The software is also compatible with different hypervisors, such as VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V. While there may be some challenges with setup and configuration, these can be overcome with proper planning and support from StarWind Software Inc. The software is not suited for environments & organizations that do not use Virtualized Storage. In terms of performance, StarWind Virtual SAN is able to deliver high throughput and low latency, which makes it suitable for demanding workloads such as virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), databases, and high-performance computing (HPC).

It is very well suited to scenarios where you need high availability virtualized systems, where any Disaster Recovery needs to be done fast and without much intervention from the administrator. I would recomend for any virtualized systems using two or more hosts that is capable of having an external VSAN Hardware or not. It is very easy to implement and manage and run under a Windows Platform.

Scenarios where StarWind Virtual SAN is well suited:
Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs): StarWind Virtual SAN is well-suited for SMEs that need an affordable, flexible, and scalable storage solution. Its software-defined nature means that SMEs can take advantage of existing hardware resources and avoid the high costs associated with traditional storage arrays.
Virtualized Environments: StarWind Virtual SAN is well suited for virtualized environments, such as VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V, as it supports multiple virtualization platforms and can be deployed as a virtual machine.
High Availability Requirements: StarWind Virtual SAN offers built-in high availability features, making it well-suited for organizations that need to ensure their data remains accessible and protected in the event of hardware failures or another unplanned downtime.
Scenarios where StarWind Virtual SAN may not be the best solution:
Large Enterprises: While StarWind Virtual SAN can be scaled, it may not be the best solution for large enterprises with extremely demanding storage requirements, as it may not offer the same level of performance, scalability, and advanced features as more specialized storage solutions.

We needed a V SAN that could provide very high speed for some of our medical applications and be confident it will always provide real time support around the solution. It does and it does not let me done, I would recommend it anytime

From my point of view, we offer this product, installed, tested and configured on our client hardware who are located in the public and private sector in the UK, StarWind is known for its good technical support and customer service. This helps us to offer a solution that is supported by a reliable vendor, which in-turn improves customer satisfaction and ensure sticky and repeat business for future activities. StarWind Virtual SAN fills a gap for our clients who cant justify the expensive hardware from Nutanix / HPE etc, Virtaul SAN offers an opportunity to repurpose hardware or use non-badged hardware for a very high-end storage solution. This directly benefits me and my company since we are able to cater for this gap in the market.

StarWind Virtual SAN is good cost effective solution if youre using Hyper-V or VMware cluster. Thanks to easy implementation you can save your costs and deploy the software with your internal sources with assistance of vendor.

Based on my experience: - Virtualized environments: As a storage solution for virtualized environments, StarWind Virtual SAN excels. It is designed to integrate seamlessly with virtualization platforms like VMware and Hyper-V, and its ability to deliver fast, reliable storage for virtual machines is a major advantage. - Organizations looking for a scalable, flexible storage solution: With its ability to create and manage storage pools and virtual disks directly from the management console, StarWind Virtual SAN is a great choice for organizations that need a storage solution that can grow and evolve with their needs. - Companies that require high availability: The software's ability to create a highly available storage cluster helps to ensure that virtual machines remain up and running, even in the event of a failure in one of the storage nodes. This makes it a good choice for organizations that can't afford any downtime. Here are some scenarios where StarWind Virtual SAN might be less appropriate: - Organizations with limited IT resources: While StarWind Virtual SAN is generally easy to set up and manage, it may require some technical expertise to get the most out of it. Organizations with limited IT resources may find it more challenging to implement and maintain the software. - Companies that need a more specialized storage solution: While StarWind Virtual SAN is a versatile storage solution, it may not be the best fit for organizations with very specific storage needs. For example, if an organization requires a storage solution that is optimized for a particular workload or application, a more specialized solution might be a better fit. - Organizations with strict compliance requirements: While StarWind Virtual SAN includes a range of security features, it may not be the most robust option for organizations with strict compliance requirements. These organizations may want to consider other storage solutions that offer more advanced security features.

VSAN seems to in my opinion be suitable and good for any storage system where SDS is preferred.

I use StarWind Virtual SAN free edition which fully meets all my business needs, but the paid features are well worth the cost if you were to need them. Although I don't use the StarWind Virtual SAN anymore, based on company business decisions and current contracts, I would highly recommend the free version for SMBs and the paid version for mid to large companies. Enterprise-level companies can definitely benefit and StarWind Virtual SAN is on a direct path to becoming a top-tier contender in the storage arena.

Based on my personal opinion and point of view: SOHO / Branch Offices, the best place also sites with poor or unstable communications lines, for the Async comm mode I would be less appropriate, for virtual machines or servers with too much storage needed, I would recommend then dedicated storage for stability and performance.

StarWind Virtual SAN is the most cost effective solution I could find for creating a highly available, highly scalable storage solution using existing hardware. This product is great if you have a VMware cluster, or a hyper-v cluster and you need shared storage without increasing the budget. This software is great for small, medium sized businesses.

I have been using for sometime StarWind vSAN, and the experience is great, in terms of simplicity, the features it offers, and the little time it takes to set up everything and prepare the system. It includes every feature that traditional san offers, and also many more. I'm happy that I'm working with this product

I believe that is best for small branch offices, where is difficult to justify expensive hardware e solutions for it. It is simple to use and reliable, normally we admin don't have a lot of time to keep checking on everything, and the StarWind Virtual SAN is one of those solutions you can rely on to be always on, always available, and problem free. And labs use as I use on my home lab, we always have some old hardware we can use for testing.

StarWind Virtual SAN just works. It does exactly what it's meant to do, and we haven't needed to touch the management console since it was set up due to the fact it just works perfectly. It's the most reliable SAN system we have used to date. We would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new SAN/Virtual SAN.

StarWind Virtual SAN is especially effective in a Hyperconverged environment where you want to have the best possible scalability while keeping an eye out on your budget. We utilize all hard drive slots for our cluster as redundant iSCSI storage and have the option to expand it anytime, for example, via storage enclosures.

Another factor in our cost-driven decision was the maximum utilization of hardware, such as network interface and performance-boosting caches, such as RAM and SSD. Those requirements were met as well.

The third and, in my opinion, most important factor was the support, which was fantastic. Even though we did not have a support license, a technician offered us help in correctly setting up StarWind Virtual SAN and checked our configuration. This positive experience is the reason we will be staying with StarWind Virtual SAN for a while.

We needed a solution to be able to share storage across multiple ESXi hosts, and VMware vSAN was not an option (Price is outrageous). But StarWind Virtual SAN does everything we need! and More!

I think the vSAN software is excellent if you need to keep costs down. You can convert an older server into a full blow SAN. ESXi or other hosts don't know any different. If you were running a large environment with hosts in double figures, I would recommend using a full-blown SAN like a NetApp product, or a HP 3PAR product, but for smaller set ups, or testing/lab environments, this fits the bill perfectly.

We use it for the GEO failover cluster for creating multiple SAN disks that help us create real-time replication between two sites. We were searching for Virtual SAN that is reliable and works with windows server 2019, we found all that in StarWind Virtual SAN. Creating and installing StarWind Virtual SAN is very easy; a rookie can do it with the help of PowerShell scripts that you get free with installation.

Whenever you are running short on budget and cannot afford to buy new storage hardware, this is the way to go. Easy to manage and deploy, almost all the features you will get from a physical storage box. The best product for test environments as well, where you have to wipe the data time and again for testing purposes.

The management interface is good enough to use mostly the basics of Storage Area Network technology. It also has an iSCSI (Internet Small Computer System Interface) initiator and target technology. It also has a multipath with round robin and the least connection technology. Thin and thick provision. It can also be used as samba. It also offers NFS (network file system technology) for sharing. For block storage, you can use iSCSI. Creating volumes and LUN (logical unit number) is also good practice and feel and can compare to other storage.