StarWind Virtual SAN Reviews & Product Details - Page 2

VSAN is very scalable, starting with one node and about as little storage as you want. Scaling up and out can be done from the start, or later on, which gives VSAN a huge amount of flexibility for use cases. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Documentation is lacking for the scripted install and configuration. If you're using the scripts to configure and install, be prepared for a lot of digging, forum searching, forum posting, and trial and error. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The most helpful aspect of StarWind Virtual SAN is its ability to extend the life of existing hardware while reducing costs. Here are the key upsides of using StarWind Virtual SAN:

Cost-Effective Repurposing of Old Servers: StarWind Virtual SAN allows us to repurpose older servers with significant disk capacity, transforming them into valuable resources rather than letting them go to waste. This significantly cuts down on hardware expenses, aligning with both budgetary constraints and sustainability goals.

Seamless Integration with vSphere: The solution integrates effortlessly with vSphere, enabling efficient storage virtualization within a three-node cluster. This integration supports a wide range of environments, from proof of concept (POC) setups to full production workloads, providing the flexibility and scalability needed for diverse IT needs.

Linux-Based Operation Reduces Licensing Costs: Running on CentOS Linux instead of a Windows-based system further reduces costs by eliminating the need for additional software licenses. This makes StarWind Virtual SAN not only economical but also suitable for organizations looking to optimize their IT infrastructure without incurring high software expenses. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Complex Setup and Configuration: The initial setup and configuration, especially with the free version, require a deep understanding of vSphere and virtualization concepts. This complexity can be a barrier for organizations without in-house expertise, leading to longer deployment times and potential errors during implementation.

CentOS End of Life (EOL) Risk: StarWind Virtual SAN runs on CentOS, which has reached its end of life. This presents a significant downside as it introduces potential security vulnerabilities and the need for future migration to a supported Linux distribution. This uncertainty could impact system stability and require additional resources to manage the transition.

Limited Out-of-the-Box Usability: Unlike some other virtualization solutions, StarWind Virtual SAN does not offer a simple, plug-and-play experience. It requires careful planning, and customization, and may involve a steep learning curve, particularly for smaller teams or those without specialized IT skills. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Starwind's customer service is exceptional. From day one, their support team has been responsive, knowledgeable, and proactive. They quickly address issues, minimizing downtime, and offer tailored solutions that fit our specific needs. The team's professionalism and courtesy make even complex problems manageable. Extensive documentation and resources further enhance our experience. Starwind's commitment to customer satisfaction is evident in every interaction, making their support truly outstanding. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

While StarWind Virtual SAN offers many advantages, one area of improvement could be its initial setup and configuration, which can be somewhat complex for users unfamiliar with virtualized storage solutions. Additionally, while the documentation is comprehensive, it can sometimes be challenging to navigate for specific troubleshooting needs. Enhanced, more intuitive user interfaces and more streamlined setup processes would significantly improve the overall user experience. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There are various reasons which lead us to pick Starwind VSAN 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 VSAN 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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The Starwind VSAN solution is versatile and offers broad support of different hypervisors and deployment formats. During our evaluation in our on-premises setup, we did not find any significant flaws. 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). Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Is a very reliable storage solution, many features. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Actually there is nothing to dislike. I implemented over 5 years ago, no issued so far. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Overall it was a great experience dealing with the various StarWind team members from the pre-sales all the way through to implementation. This was our first experience with a hyperconverged failover cluster and the team at StarWinds made it easy for us. Before making the choice we were weighing out all the cluster options and everything kept coming back to StarWinds. I'm glad it did as we definitely feel we made the right choice. We test live failovers every week and so far everything has been running smooth without anything unexpected. A special thank you to Hanna from the implementation team who was not only friendly and extremely patient through the process but also very knowledgeable. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Pricing is a bit high but the support is worth it. It's really hard to point out any other negatives. I do think the licensing and support pricing structure could have been laid out a little simpler and then pricing could have been less of course but the truth is the support really does make up for the cost in our opinion. We did decide to go with 3 years of 24/7 support due to implementation in a critical communications center, but feel like we won't need to use them for much at all since the products just works. Because of this the pricing could have been better especially with us purchasing all 3 years at once. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

This cloud solution can eliminates any need for physical shared storage by mirroring internal hard disks. It's has many features and it works very well. It's a great success for our customers. Top Job!! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

maybe the maintenance a little expansive Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Needed a cheap solution for recommission of commodity equipment in disaster recovery location. We were moving away from vSAN to a hardware dHCI appliance which freed up hardware for use in our DR site. Starwind vSAN allowed us to redeploy existing hardware in our disaster recovery site without incurring additional costs or complexity to get the environment up and running smoothly. Licensing costs were reasonable and support during setup and migration to the target site were responsive and effective. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Nothing, I found the product performed as advertised and support was great! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It helps leverage storage on servers instead of getting a deticated SAN, saving costs and space. Support is effective and friendly. The fact that it is now possible to have a witness host for election is great. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Setup is not always traightforward, guides are constently changing du to product changes and can sometimes not be precise. Need to purchase a seperate licence for witness host, if you renew a licence from before the witness, you need to repurchase the licence Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What we like best about it, is that's the only true two node Hyper-V cluster solution that's available. On both produciton locations we have a 2-node setup over 2 different Server room.

Our main goal was that we want to have all VM servers available on one Cluster host ,in case of a disaster in one of our server rooms.

Microsoft SSD (Storage Space Direct) always needs a 3rd witness (SMB or Cloud) but in our a two node solution this is not ideal. Direct connected fiber connections

between the nodes makes everything fast and makes the chance of a Cluster split-brain fault less likely. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I can not think of anything that I dislike about the product. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.