HPE StoreVirtual storage ensures that organisations can optimise the benefits of server virtualisation with cost-effective high availability and disaster recovery. The iSCSI-based, scale-out storage platform is easy to manage and change – meeting ongoing business demands without creating IT bottlenecks or application downtime. Overcoming the cost and management limitations of traditional storage area networks (SANs), HPE StoreVirtual nodes use storage clustering to form a single pool of resources that enable organisations to buy only what they need today, scaling non-disruptively to meet requirements in the future.
| Type | Title | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Software Defined Storage (SDS) | Jul 28, 2025 | Download |
| Product | Reviews, tips, and advice from real users | Jul 28, 2025 | Download |
| Comparison | HPE StoreVirtual vs StarWind Virtual SAN | Jul 28, 2025 | Download |
| Comparison | HPE StoreVirtual vs Red Hat Ceph Storage | Jul 28, 2025 | Download |
| Comparison | HPE StoreVirtual vs Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) | Jul 28, 2025 | Download |
| Title | Rating | Mindshare | Recommending | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Ceph Storage | 4.2 | 20.0% | 82% | 27 interviewsAdd to research |
| Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) | 4.3 | 5.4% | 94% | 198 interviewsAdd to research |
HPE StoreVirtual was previously known as HPE StoreVirtual, HPE VSA.
NBrIX, WIND Telecom, Netrics
Shared storage in the organization allowed for higher availability and simplified server maintenance.
Enables us to build highly available shared storage from a standard rack server, such as HPE Proliant DL. However, it is not limited to that. Thin provisioning lets us get the most value from the hard drives. I found the architecture to have less single point failure than a traditional SAN.
Configuration of application integrated snapshots for VMware is convoluted and it did not work immediately.
In terms of stability, the optional MEM (Multipath Enhancement Module) was unstable in one installation with 1GB iSCSI network. Long running, intensive file copying tasks between VMs produced a storage latency "explosion". The issue disappeared immediately after removing the MEM drivers from the ESXi hosts and restoring the default vSphere Path Selection Policies. We did not have an opportunity to review the environment or test an updated MEM.
There were no scalability issues. The 3 x 4TB license is a very good start for two nodes. We can add a third node for additional storage and compute power. If the performance demands increase, we can simply install or replace the current iSCSI network adapters with 10GbE. The system also supports SSD and auto-tiering with higher licenses.
The HPE technical support for StoreVirtual VSA is very good, but it requires some time to contact them. To get a simple piece of software means registering StoreVirtual VSA. This is a complicated process. The SAR (Service Agreement ID) is associated to the VSA Licenses. It requires you to open a request on the HPE website and this is hard to obtain.
We did not use a different solution before this one.
There's an installation wizard which is quite simple. However, you need to have a clear image of the final scheme, especially for the network. At the time, I missed a reference blueprint, but a recent publication of "StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes" filled the gap.
Review the licensing options, because the smaller licenses are time limited. If you buy a five-year license, not only does the technical support expire after five years, but you also lose the ability to change and expand the VSA, and the systems won't go down. I wouldn't keep a traditional SAN in production without support anyway.
Spend some time reading StoreVirtual best practices and consider buying redundant solid switches, like HPE Aruba ProCurve 25xx, or better. Layer-3 is useful, but not mandatory thanks to split network support introduced in VSA 12.5.
