Exploring StarWind Virtual SAN as an iscsi Server Solution
May 27, 2024
Exploring StarWind Virtual SAN as an iscsi Server Solution
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with StarWind Virtual SAN
I have utilized Starwind Virtual SAN (VSAN) as an iscsi server alternative in a Hyper-V based installation. We ran a 30-day trial license in a lab environment. The StarWind Virtual SAN solution was used as a software-defined iSCI storage solution for an imminent SQL Server cluster installation. This allowed us for a fairly quick integration solution for our SQL Server Cluster shared disk requirements, without the need to invest in a high-cost Storage Area Network (SAN) solution. There are various reasons which lead us to pick StarWind Virtual SAN for our implementation. Firstly, because it offers a robust iscsi-based virtual server which is software-defined and comes at the fraction of the cost, as compared to buying an expensive hardware Storage Area Network (SAN). Secondly, because it is compatible with KVM. We do implementations based on the KVM hypervisor besides HyperV and VMware, and StarWind Virtual SAN is among a limited number of platforms which offer native support for KVM . Last but not least, because it offers a fully functional trial license to test the product in a lab environment in a variety of deployment options, including both Linux-based virtual appliance and Windows-based executable.
Pros
- Lower time to market
- Lower costs as compared to high-end hardware-based SAN systems
- Validated stability, scalability and performance
- Native support for HyperV, VMWare and KVM
Cons
- One point for improvement is to increase the performance capabilities of the Windows-based executable, as compared to its Linux Controller Virtual Machine (CVM) equivalent.
- Another point for improvement would be to incorporate a more granular Role-based access control system (RBAC) natively inside the software to allow for more granular administration.
- Yet another point would be to achieve tighter integration and automation with cloud-based platforms, such as Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
- StarWind Virtual SAN allowed us to assume for less than one third of the overall implementation costs as compared to a hardware-based SAN solution.
- StarWind Virtual SAN allowed us to complete an implementation and market it (total time to market) in less than 50% of the time it would have taken with a hardware SAN, due to zero procurement time (as compared to long procurement times in a SAN system).
- The StarWind Virtual SAN system boosted our administrator's productivity up by 25%, as compared to the administration overhead required for more complex implementations based on hardware SAN appliances.
StarWind Virtual SAN offers more fine-grained features and better performance and stability as compared to the Microsoft Windows Server iSCSI storage server on Windows Server 2019. It also adds the significant benefit of supporting not only HyperV but also VMware and KVM. This allows for more flexibility in terms of the hypervisor platform.
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
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