Item: StarWind Virtual SAN
Rating: 9
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Our infrastructure uses VMware vSphere and we use StarWind Virtual SAN as our Primary Storage solution. We have 3 hosts and use a hyperconverged setup so our compute and storage is spread across the same hosts.

Pros and Cons

StarWind Virtual SAN is Highly customizable to fit any infrastructure
StarWind Virtual SAN support is great, the support people are very knowledgeable and responsive.
It is a very affordable solution, far more then anyone else we researched in the SDS market.

The initial setup could be a little intimidating for someone just getting into SDS
Some of the bells a whistles their competitors have are missing.
The documentation on their website isn't bad, but could you a little more organization.

Return on Investment

StarWind Virtual SAN saved us about 80% over our previous SAN solution.
StarWind Virtual SAN freed up about 1/3rd of our rack space previously dedicated to storage.

Support Rating

Their support people are very knowledgeable. They offer an initial configuration service to help you implement their solution in your environment. If you have to contact support after the initial setup, you don't have to go through multiple tears of support before you reache someone who is a SME. You are directly in contact with people how know that product inside and out.

Alternatives Considered

HPE SimpliVity

HPE SimpliVity was a black box. You could never really tell what was happening behind the scenes, so you were reliant on HPE to do any troubleshooting for you. It was also tied tightly to the hypervisor and used a modified version of ESXi so you were always behind on updates, waiting for them to be supported by simplivity. StarWind Virtual SAN on the other hand isn't tied directly to the hypervisor, so you can upgrade either product without worrying about compatibility problems.

Key Insights

Do you think StarWind Virtual SAN delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with StarWind Virtual SAN's feature set?

Yes

Did StarWind Virtual SAN live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of StarWind Virtual SAN go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy StarWind Virtual SAN again?

Yes

Likelihood to Recommend

StarWind Virtual SAN would be well suited for any small to medium environment, regardless of hypervisor. Though I imagine it would make an especially good fit in a Hyper-v environment. Environments without a dedicated storage person as it takes very little interaction after the initial setup. I would recommend it for any IT department who need to accomplish a lot on a small budget, or any IT person who likes to have precise control over their infrastructure. It may not be the best option for Those with little experience as it doesn't do the same handholding as some other solutions.

StarWind Virtual SAN Customer Support Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Immediate help available Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response	None

Premium Support

We always purchase premium support with products that are critical to our production environment. StarWind Virtual SAN wasn't any different in that regard. StarWind Virtual SAN is our primary storage solution for the company, and it doesn't matter what product we are using, we wouldn't operate without support. It didn't add that much to the cost either, so purchasing support was an easy choice.

StarWind Virtual SAN is a staight forward virtual storage solution that fits into any existing infrastructure

Overall Satisfaction with StarWind Virtual SAN