Item: StarWind Virtual SAN
Rating: 10
Author: Giedrius Gedeikis

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We deploy StarWind Virtual SAN to create a shared storage pool from the existing hardware resources. We install StarWind Virtual SAN software on the ESXi hosts and configure them to use local storage devices, such as SSDs and HDDs, to create a highly available storage cluster. By doing so, we achieve several benefits. First, we can improve the performance of virtualized environment by leveraging the local storage devices. Second, we reduce the costs associated with upgrading existing SAN, as StarWind Virtual SAN allows to use existing hardware resources. Third, we improve the scalability of storage environment by adding additional hosts and storage devices as needed.

Pros and Cons

High Availability: StarWind Virtual SAN is designed to provide high availability for mission-critical workloads
Performance Optimization: StarWind Virtual SAN optimizes storage performance by using a variety of techniques, such as write-back caching, automated tiering, and deduplication
Easy Scalability: StarWind Virtual SAN allows organizations to scale their storage infrastructure easily and cost-effectively
Flexible Deployment: StarWind Virtual SAN can be deployed in a variety of configurations, including hyper-converged, converged, and storage-only
Cost-Effective: StarWind Virtual SAN is a cost-effective solution for storage virtualization

Complexity: StarWind Virtual SAN can be complex to set up and manage, especially for organizations with limited IT resources
Limited protocol support: StarWind Virtual SAN supports a limited number of protocols, primarily iSCSI and SMB3
Limited scalability for storage-only deployments: In storage-only deployments, StarWind Virtual SAN has a limit of 32 nodes per cluster
Lack of reporting and analytics: StarWind Virtual SAN has limited reporting and analytics capabilities, which can make it difficult to monitor and troubleshoot performance issues
Limited backup and recovery options: While StarWind Virtual SAN provides some basic backup and recovery options, it lacks advanced features such as snapshot management, backup scheduling, and offsite replication

Return on Investment

StarWind Virtual SAN has helped many organizations reduce their total cost of ownership (TCO) for storage. This has been achieved through cost savings in areas such as hardware, power, cooling, and maintenance
Provides high-performance, low-latency storage that is optimized for virtualization, which can help improve the speed and responsiveness of applications
Provides synchronous replication, automated failover, and real-time replication monitoring, which helps ensure that data is always available and accessible

Support Rating

If we have any questions, we can lookup to knowledgebase or write to StarWind for necessary assistance if needed.

Alternatives Considered

VMware vSAN

StarWind Virtual SAN is generally less expensive than VMware vSAN, especially when it comes to licensing costs. StarWind Virtual SAN is licensed per node, whereas VMware vSAN requires a license for each CPU core in each node. This can make VMware vSAN significantly more expensive for larger deployments. Also StarWind Virtual SAN is a vendor-agnostic solution that can work with a wide variety of hardware and software, including VMware vSphere

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

Other Software Used

Hyper-V

Likelihood to Recommend

Very well suited for Remote Office/Branch Office (ROBO): StarWind Virtual SAN is a good fit for organizations that have remote offices or branch offices (ROBOs). The solution can help improve the availability and performance of ROBO workloads by providing local storage that is synchronized with the main data center. Less Appropriate in small workloads, where organizations with small workloads that don't require high availability or performance, StarWind Virtual SAN may be overkill.

Products Replaced

Key Differentiators

Cloud Solutions
Scalability

Evaluation Lessons Learned

I would choose this product straight away. It is tested already, so we do not have the need to look for any more alternatives

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 Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response	None

Premium Support

We did not purchase premium support because we are able to solve ongoing questions on our own or using knowledgebase. However, if we ever have the urgency to do so, we would consider buying premium support.

As a IT professional, I have the opportunity to work with a variety of software solutions, and I must say that StarWind Virtual SAN is truly exceptional

Overall Satisfaction with StarWind Virtual SAN