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StarWind Virtual SAN Reviews & Product Details - Page 3

StarWind Virtual SAN Overview

What is StarWind Virtual SAN?

StarWind is the pioneer of hyperconvergence and storage virtualization, offering customizable SDS and turnkey (software+hardware) solutions to optimize underlying storage capacity use, ensure fault tolerance, achieve IT infrastructure resilience and increase customer ROI. StarWind has over 150 employees and caters to more than 400,000 customers worldwide. StarWind Virtual SAN (VSAN) eliminates any need for physical storage by mirroring internal hard disks and flash between hypervisor servers. Thanks to its unique features, StarWind VSAN can be deployed on or integrated in any existing IT infrastructure. By acquiring a single solution, you will get a robust fault-tolerant storage pool, constant application uptime and endless scalability options with just 2 nodes. Key Features: - Allows to achieve high availability - Eliminates any downtime even if 1 or more nodes fail - Ties the cluster into a single storage pool - Overcomes HCLs and has no restrictions on sockets or features - Offers flexible scalability, up and out - Easy management through a web console or thick client

StarWind Virtual SAN Details
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Product Description

StarWind Virtual SAN eliminates any need in physical shared storage by simply mirroring internal hard disks and flash between hypervisor servers. It reduces virtualization expenses (both capital and operational) by utilizing hardware resources for the same workload.

How do you position yourself against your competitors?

Customers overcome the need to buy physical storage as their business grows since StarWind VSAN offers robust virtual storage, tying on-prem and cloud storage resources together. There is no hidden licensing: customers pay a flat fee and can scale or boost their existing infrastructures, regardless of hypervisor or hardware architecture, without any downtime.


Seller Details
Year Founded
2003
HQ Location
Beverly, Massachusetts
Twitter
@starwindsan
8,847 Twitter followers
LinkedIn® Page
www.linkedin.com
142 employees on LinkedIn®
Description

StarWind is a pioneer in storage virtualization and hyperconvergence technologies. The company is a real innovator that has been developing and integrating IT infrastructure production optimization solutions years before virtualization hit the mainstream.StarWind combined its high-profile expertise and critical thinking about customer needs, which resulted in the creation of the trailblazing StarWind Virtual SAN. StarWind VSAN is a software-defined storage solution like no other. It completely eliminates the need for physical shared storage, like SAN and NAS, and achieves high availability on commercial hardware starting with two nodes already. It’s the only virtual shared storage on the market that has no hardware compatibility lists, works with any hypervisor, and comes at a reasonable price.To further bring enterprise-grade features without the bank-breaking price tag to ROBO, SMB and Edge, the company designed StarWind HyperConverged Appliance. StarWind HCA is a turnkey hyper-converged platform that combines storage, compute, networking, and StarWind software. StarWind enclosed the power of an entire data center in a small two-node box that brings ground-breaking rates of constant uptime and fault tolerance to organizations of any size. You also get ProActive Support that monitors your environment
4/7/365.StarWind Virtual SAN acquired the VMware Ready certification and it’s listed in the VMware Hardware Compatibility List. It is also officially certified for Windows Server
01
R
, WS
016, WS
019, as well as for Citrix XenServer 6.5, 7, and 8.Since
003, StarWind has been the solution of choice for over 30,000 global users in more than 100 countries, from SMBs, companies with ROBO scenarios, and Edge locations, to governments, Fortune 500 and Global
000 companies.You’re welcome to explore our:#StarWind_success_story #StarWind_webinar #StarWind_how_to#StarWind_handy


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Recent StarWind Virtual SAN Reviews

RJ
Ridda J.Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
5.0 out of 5
"Stanwind Virtual SAN: High-Speed Transfer and Cost-Effective Storage Solution"
It is very easy to manage and as there is no need to manage hardware so ongoing maintenance cost is almost zero and we can manage it by ourselves. ...
AJ
Aysha j.Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
5.0 out of 5
"StarWind Virtual SAN for reliable and fast data transfer solution"
Starwind Virtual SAN is a very cost-effective solution especially in terms of licensing, while it will also boost the database performance by provi...
Muhammad w.
MW
Muhammad w.Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
5.0 out of 5
"StarWind Virtual SAN: A flexible and reliable option for SAN"
We used trial and licensed verions both, before purchasing it we use the trial version and we found solution is very reliable and stable and with i...
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StarWind Virtual SAN Media

StarWind Virtual SAN Demo - StarWind Management Console
StarWind Management Console
StarWind Virtual SAN Demo - StarWind Management Console
StarWind Management Console
StarWind Virtual SAN Demo - StarWind Virtual SAN
StarWind Virtual SAN
StarWind Virtual SAN Demo - StarWind Virtual SAN
StarWind Virtual SAN
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162 StarWind Virtual SAN Reviews

4.8 out of 5
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162 StarWind Virtual SAN Reviews
4.8 out of 5
162 StarWind Virtual SAN Reviews
4.8 out of 5

Overall Review Sentiment for StarWind Virtual SANQuestion

Time to Implement
<1 day
>12 months
Return on Investment
<6 months
48+ months
Ease of Setup
0 (Difficult)
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Verified User in Computer & Network Security
CC
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
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Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: Organic
(Original )Information
What do you like best about StarWind Virtual SAN?

f there would be three outstanding positive things, these would be…

- …overall ergonomic manageability in times of normal functioning

- …great console user interface and comprehensive PowerShell automation possible

…great performance when paired with the proper hardware Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about StarWind Virtual SAN?

If there would be three outstanding negative things, these would be…

- …unclear disaster recovery documentation and consequently long learning curve

- …Log-structured file systems have been removed

…vSAN does not offer extended SAN features like inline deduplication or compression in some editions, but I heard that there is something in the works ;) Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is StarWind Virtual SAN solving and how is that benefiting you?

We have been working with StarWind's vSAN product in several editions for some years now, and, although there have been pitfalls and some difficulties at one point, we are satisfied with the handling, performance and stability of it.

I have been firstly using StarWind vSAN for Hyper-V years ago during lab workshops in which there was a need for a small environment (2 nodes) with shared storage but no possibilities or budgets to buy dedicated storage hardware or expensive integrated solutions. At the time, I went through repurposing older server systems with mixed direct attached storage. One could say that this point was my introduction to the HCI paradigma. Operations here went very well since there are special guides I could follow from StarWind's knowledge base. Although not quite complying with the network requirements due to budget constraints, the performance, ease of setup and manageability delivered has been fine. The loads at this point have been container-based as well as virtualized (nested and non-nested) workloads. I was able to fulfill the I/O-requirements set to the lab environment.

Later in my career I returned to StarWind's vSAN, this time for a similar but slightly bigger and technologically more advanced hyperconverged testing environment focussing on virtualization which served as proof-of-concept for the company's plannings, IT modernization and customer demonstrations. Again with mixed storage, but this time with proper hardware backing it, it delivered performant, ergonomically manageable and fast second day testing operations. Also the experience o Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Banking
UB
Enterprise(> 1000 emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Review source: Organic
What do you like best about StarWind Virtual SAN?

The user-friendly interface and easy deployment, combined with the ability to use existing hardware, make it a cost-efficient solution for small to medium-sized businesses. StarWind Virtual SAN combines high availability, performance, and ease of use, making it a standout choice for enhancing storage infrastructure efficiently and affordably. Seamlessly scalable, StarWind VSAN supports various hypervisors and operating systems, integrating smoothly into hyper-converged infrastructures. StarWind offers robust technical support and extensive documentation, ensuring users can maximize their deployment with confidence. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about StarWind Virtual SAN?

For those new to software-defined storage or virtual SAN solutions, there might be a steep learning curve initially. The complexity of configuring and optimizing the system can be challenging without prior experience. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is StarWind Virtual SAN solving and how is that benefiting you?

StarWind Virtual SAN (VSAN) solves multiple challenges, providing high availability and fault tolerance through real-time data mirroring and automatic failover, ensuring uninterrupted data access and enhancing business continuity. It optimizes storage resources by consolidating them into a unified pool, improving efficiency and maximizing hardware use. By utilizing existing commodity hardware, it significantly reduces costs associated with traditional SAN or NAS solutions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

RV
Network Specialist
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
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Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: Organic
(Original )Information
What do you like best about StarWind Virtual SAN?

Support from StarWind to have an easy install and configuration. we use it once per week just to see if everithing is working ok. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about StarWind Virtual SAN?

Doesnt have a guide how to use it, we try to configure ourself, but we miss some steps. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is StarWind Virtual SAN solving and how is that benefiting you?

Increase Storage and backup data from hardware issues. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Stefano T.
ST
Data Center Manager & System Administrator
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
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Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: Organic
(Original )Information
What do you like best about StarWind Virtual SAN?

Virtualizing data infrastructure with StarWind Virtual SAN improves efficiency and reduces operational costs. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about StarWind Virtual SAN?

Improvements in documentation and support resources could enhance the user experience. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is StarWind Virtual SAN solving and how is that benefiting you?

I've been using StarWind Virtual SAN to manage our storage area network in our data centers, and I'm extremely satisfied with its performance. It has provided us with a fault-tolerant and high-performance storage pool that perfectly caters to the demands of our virtualized environments. One of the standout features for me is its seamless integration with our existing hypervisors, which has made managing storage resources for our virtualized applications and workloads both efficient and reliable. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Government Administration
AG
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: Organic
(Original )Information
What do you like best about StarWind Virtual SAN?

Starwind VSAN is easy to use and has a very clear GUI. The most valuable in Starwind VSAN is the way it works seamlessly with the Microsoft Fail-over cluster.

The implementation went flawless with help of Starwind support. I need to say that technical knowledge is mandatory but nevertheless we had a quick installation.

We are working with a 2-node set-up which suits are needs perfectlyI just works without any technical know-how needed. The best part is the easy way it operates with a very clear GUI without any unnecessary items. It's also easy to add an extra node if necessary or connect if you've rebooted one of the nodes. Also the speed of support is very valuable to us. If you have a problem or question you'll get almost an immediate answer.

It's always operational due to our operational needs. I only need to check once a week just to be sure but I've already experienced the cluster works perfectly when onde of the hosts needs to reboot there's an direct switch to keep al the VM residing in the cluster working. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about StarWind Virtual SAN?

There's a little documentation which is not that easy to find. Sometimes the connection between the two nodes is lost but this happens almost never. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering StarWind Virtual SAN:

Great product and superb support from scratch to operational VSAN Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is StarWind Virtual SAN solving and how is that benefiting you?

It keeps the system alive and is a secure way to have some more redundancy. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Jonathan A.
JA
Senior Systems Officer
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Review source: Organic
What do you like best about StarWind Virtual SAN?

The simplicity of the 2-node VSAN system was easy to get up and running and it was way more cost efficient than other solutions we explored.

The support engineer assigned to us was extremely helpful and always followed up. This is a rare thing to find with vendors, I'm very used to having to chase down people repeatedly to get issues resolved. This really made me feel confident with the product that I not only got quick replies but I feel like they care about customer service. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about StarWind Virtual SAN?

The logs contain a password for the virtual appliance and present a security vunerability. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is StarWind Virtual SAN solving and how is that benefiting you?

We were interested in using the VMWare/Broadcom VSAN product but really struggled with the hardware requirements which were incredibly inflexible. Starwind VSAN offerred a solution that was flexible to the quantity of servers we budgeted for and didn't require us to over-invest into hardware we don't really need. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

CS
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Review source: Organic
(Original )Information
What do you like best about StarWind Virtual SAN?

Starwinds vSAN made HA storage afforadable for my business. Before Starwinds, I could only afford single-point-of-failure SAN solutions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about StarWind Virtual SAN?

Starwinds vSAN's management interface is cofusing to me and their feature names don't help. I also don't like the lack of a web GUI. That said, I set this up with the help of there support team in 2019 and haven't had to touch it since. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is StarWind Virtual SAN solving and how is that benefiting you?

Starwinds was the only way I were able to afford a HS storage solution. Before Starwinds, I had to rely on single-point-of-failure SAN solutions. This improved the uptime and image of my company to my customers. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Bruno S.
BS
Director of IT
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Review source: Organic
What do you like best about StarWind Virtual SAN?

I find StarWind Virtual SAN to be a user-friendly solution, with a straightforward installation process that's made even smoother thanks to the support provided.

The cost-effectiveness of this solution is a big plus, particularly for small businesses operating on limited IT budgets, as it doesn't require any expensive hardware.

What caught my attention was its hyperconverged approach, enhancing data recovery options, and providing efficient storage and backup solutions. I appreciate the customizable Software Defined Storage (SDS) and turnkey solutions offered to optimize storage capacity, ensure fault tolerance, and bolster infrastructure resilience.

The professionalism and reliability of the StarWind team are commendable, with stellar support that's always there when needed.

I value the high uptime, fault tolerance, and low latency ensured by this solution, making it a great fit for high-availability clusters without any complex setups. The positive ratings for integration and deployment further reflect a satisfactory overall experience with StarWind Virtual SAN, showcasing its reliable and effective solutions in managing storage and ensuring data recovery. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about StarWind Virtual SAN?

There's a specific point about the vendor not recommending the use of broadcom network adapters which might be a limitation for some setups and for smaller organizations, the licensing costs can be prohibitive. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is StarWind Virtual SAN solving and how is that benefiting you?

StarWind Virtual SAN has been a game changer for my organization, addressing our storage and data recovery concerns efficiently. Its hyperconverged approach simplifies managing our IT infrastructure, enhancing data recovery options and optimizing storage capacity. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

SW
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
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Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: Organic
What do you like best about StarWind Virtual SAN?

I appreciate StarWind's ease of use in deployment and expansion and also its capabilities.

StarWind offers a true 2-node VSAN setup, where you only need 2 hypervisors to spin up a VSAN between them and it syncs in real-time on 10Gbps links between them. The user interface is pretty easy to use (once you get used to the lingo) and it's dead simple to increase the size of virtual disks.

Performance-wise, pretty wicked fast. You don't really notice the syncing performance when both hosts are up (obviously because it does it in the background), but if you take a host down for a few minutes then bring it back up, in the StarWind Console you can watch the virtual disk images on the downed host start syncing from the other host and watch it complete it, and it's pretty darn fast!

In VMware vSphere, too, you can use one of the 10Gbps links for VM migration, which is insanely speedy! Going from 1Gbps to 10Gbps links for VM migration was a dream come true for me. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about StarWind Virtual SAN?

The only real gripe I've found with StarWind is that the official documentation for setup can be a bit lackluster, and sometimes you'd get confused by what it's showing (for VMware, at least) versus what you're seeing on your setup.

Regardless of that frustration, you can (and should) reach out to their support and they'll walk you through it and answer any questions. At the time of writing, they include 1 year of support upon license purchase, so they'll help you with your deployment process. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is StarWind Virtual SAN solving and how is that benefiting you?

We're a Visiting Nurse Association so it's pretty critical that we keep our infrastructure up, especially during the workday. Thus, we've had a physical SAN for years with RAID arrays to allow redundancy with our storage and, to pair with that, we had 2 physical hypervisors to run the workload.

StarWind offered me a true 2-node Virtual SAN solution to replace my aging SAN appliance and, in addition to that, offered higher performance storage for our agency. All this together allows us to boost our productivity with performance improvements, further disaster-proof our infrastructure with better redundancy, and provides us even more room for expansion.

After about 9 months of using StarWind, I'm very happy I went with their product for my storage needs. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

DT
Enterprise(> 1000 emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Review source: Organic
What do you like best about StarWind Virtual SAN?

Ease of use and pro support, robust and 24/7 monitoring. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about StarWind Virtual SAN?

I do not dislike anything it all works as it should. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is StarWind Virtual SAN solving and how is that benefiting you?

We have diverse data centres in the same building, if we had gone down the conventional San route we would have had to purchase 2 x replicated sans. We now have 2 hosts in different parts of the building giving us peace of mind if there is a power issue or flood we can switch to the backup. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.