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StarWind Virtual SAN a good product for making high quality smaller systems more affordable. Particularly when you get an HCA
November 08, 2022

StarWind Virtual SAN a good product for making high quality smaller systems more affordable. Particularly when you get an HCA

Steve Honaker | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Reseller

Overall Satisfaction with StarWind Virtual SAN

I was approached by a client in the Pharmaceutical Industry to provide a virtualization solution for one of the areas in their facility. This is a smaller section of the facility, and cost-efficiency and space-saving were considered to be at a premium. The StarWind Virtual SAN solution, which I proposed and implemented in the form of a StarWind HCA device, was able to meet all of their needs while being much more cost-effective than a traditional setup of 3 virtual machines and a stand-alone SAN with associated switches.
  • Saves on space
  • Provides a more economical solution for smaller application
  • Excellent Customer Support
  • Can be complicated to set up
  • More Involved Startup/Shutdown Procedure
  • A virtual appliance that assisted in configuration would be a nice addition
  • This was provided as an end-client solution I can only say it was an excellent cost-saving up front, which will directly impact its ROI over the lifetime of the unit.
I worked with the StarWind Virtual SAN support team on a couple of different occasions during the process. For starters, when my Hyper-Converged Appliance arrived, StarWind support walked me through setting up the virtual appliance. The second time that I worked with them was when I was having trouble with the restart procedure for the server. They were able to guide me through the process and point me to where the process was documented. I used this when writing up procedures for my end client. I can say that on both occasions, the support calls were scheduled promptly, and the supporting technicians were competent and knowledgeable. I have no negative comments regarding StarWind Support.

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

I would definitely prefer to use this solution for smaller projects. The cost savings and the ability to take a very limited amount of rack space provide a few benefits. I was able to install the new unit in the same rack as the one that was being replaced and run them in parallel during the changeover process so that a rollback would be easy in the event of any issues.