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DataCore SANsymphony vs VxRail comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

StarWind Virtual SAN
Sponsored
Ranking in HCI
4th
Average Rating
9.6
Number of Reviews
187
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Storage (SDS) (1st)
DataCore SANsymphony
Ranking in HCI
7th
Average Rating
9.2
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
Storage Software (2nd), Software Defined Storage (SDS) (4th), Storage Performance (1st)
VxRail
Ranking in HCI
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
128
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2024, in the HCI category, the mindshare of StarWind Virtual SAN is 2.2%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of DataCore SANsymphony is 1.9%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VxRail is 21.1%, up from 21.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
HCI
 

Featured Reviews

Ahmed Hosni - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 24, 2024
Provides a cost-effective way to run an HCI storage platform for almost any hypervisor
You can maintain and update it with little to no fuss, even the free version is incredibly capable whilst it brings the cost of a Highly Available HCI solution down to a very cost-effective point. Having used Starwind Virtual SAN for many years both for clients and for internal systems, it has always done exactly what it set out to do. It provides a cost-effective way to run an HCI storage platform for almost any hypervisor, but it is most effective with Hyper-V. It's simple and easy to use, The software monitoring should be web-based to be reachable from any VLAN workstation.
TempreviewerD - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 11, 2024
Robust with good replication and access protection
I needed to protect the storage of my virtual machines in my VMware vSphere cluster. The simplicity of management and the increase in its capacity were a mandatory technological choice. I don't have a large infrastructure; I wanted to secure it on two sites. This choice allowed me not to invest in…
Sushil MIshra - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 17, 2024
Trouble-free architecture, we don't have to juggle multiple components like in a traditional three-tier architecture
We mainly use it for virtualization across all our applications. We also have a DC/DR setup based on the VxRail infrastructure It's a trouble-free architecture. We don't have to juggle multiple components like in a traditional three-tier architecture. With VxRail, it's a pre-built solution…

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The product has improved the ability to mimic physical SAN environments to demo scenarios and troubleshoot problems."
"It is extremely stable."
"The installation of StarWind Virtual SAN was pretty easy, and the configuration was done in no time."
"It enables us to provide more solution options for our clients, with the reassurance that, when implemented, they will be efficient and stable."
"It provides shared storage to multiple hypervisor hosts. Times had changed, however. StarWind Virtual SAN is the “software replaces hardware” for SAN. We have access control and CCTV systems up and running using Microsoft clustering and shared storage"
"I have found the graphical user interface to be the most useful thing about Virtual SAN."
"This has helped to improve the reliability of service and operation in all departments, without having to stop in case of emergency situations."
"It also provides a high degree of mobility, as the virtual SAN can be moved relatively painlessly between on-site devices and the cloud."
"Continuous data protection (CDP), can be used to "protect" again ransomware by recording all write on disk in a log. You can recover your data with incredible time granularity."
"Auto-tiering to obtain performance at a lower cost without the customer having to purchase ultra-fast storage is great."
"The ability to pool the storage to leverage thin-provisioning is a huge saving in space and costs."
"CDP is an important feature for avoiding data loss in the event of ransomware attacks. You need more storage capacity, however, you get the possibility to return at any time and use the data saved up to that point. The recovery is much faster than with a classic restore."
"It allows data to be available from two DataCore servers."
"The interface is user-friendly."
"The use of the RAM cache allows you to speed up the writing and reading of data while also allowing for a possible increase in performance by increasing the RAM on the servers."
"I am very happy with this product's ability to adapt, increase, and modify existing infrastructures."
"The most valuable features are ease of management and ease of applying updates."
"With VxRail, we can manage the life cycle of a virtual machine."
"VxRail has improved our organization by providing our admin team with an easy-to-use interface."
"This is a good solution for medium-sized installations especially when it will be coupled with VMware."
"The solution is stable and reliable. This is one of the main reasons why we purchased this solution."
"One of VxRail's most valuable features is its small footprint in the data center. Additionally, the solution's simplicity is a significant advantage. You don’t have to configure or learn about storage software and administer many things separately. You can do all the administration jobs in one pane, bringing agility and simplicity."
"This solution optimizes our clients' resources."
"What I like the most in terms of features is the fact that the VxRail update can be done in one week. It takes much less time to do a whole server upgrade and an infrastructure update as well."
 

Cons

"Management of VSAN itself could be improved. A Web UI for management would be great rather than an application installation. StarWind is testing a command center virtual appliance that I have installed in my environment."
"Improvements in documentation and support resources could enhance the user experience."
"I'd prefer it if a remote console was provided."
"There should be publicly available tutorials on YouTube or other platforms that help the users to integrate this solution with other platforms, for example."
"I would love to see more vendor selection to be available for the HCA/vSAN appliances."
"I would like them to invest time in reducing the complexity of the startup and shutdown procedure."
"It is not very clear within the StarWind Management Console or the StarWind support documentation how to perform maintenance on a single node in a two-node HA cluster."
"StarWind relies on the underlying OS to manage the "SAN files" whether that would be a RAID volume, software RAID (such as LVM), etc. It would be useful if StarWind could incorporate the actual physical drive management inside of the solution, similar to Storage Spaces Direct."
"The solution is constantly evolving."
"Its interface could be better."
"I would like to see reporting added, such as a monthly connectivity report."
"Problem detection could be easier. It should help customers identify problems very quickly because it's not easy to analyze on the platform today."
"When I sometimes reboot for maintenance, the connectivity from the iSCSI initiator host could be improved."
"I still see room for improvement with DataCore SANsymphony in the area of alarm and task management."
"I would like to see SMPA (Shared Multi-Port Array) technology developed with the aim of allowing a configuration identical to other storage arrays."
"Management could be improved. The management console sometimes reacts very slowly."
"One area of the product that could be improved is the support."
"I would like better integration with VCF from VMware, which is the Cloud Foundation tool set, so we can easily provision servers very quickly."
"There is a limitation on the number of nodes."
"Lacks integration of licenses so that it's an expensive solution."
"What I find very valuable is VxRail's life cycle management. The life cycle management takes care of everything from firmware to the actual upgrading of the hypervisor and keeps everything up to level."
"The tool needs to improve its price."
"If VxRail could also offer file services in addition to virtualization, that would be nice because sometimes people want to complement their environment with file services, and you don't have that in VxRail."
"Integration could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing is a bit weird. If you license the standard version of StarWind, it allows you four terabytes. Then, they have a pro version, but with the pro version, the only difference is it doubles the terabytes to eight."
"The cost was ultimately low to implement, which allowed us to be 3-2-1 complaint."
"I think that purchasing StarWind Virtual SAN Professional Edition would be optimal for most."
"Once you buy the license, you are free to build your own hardware solution based on your needs."
"There are two tiers of support and in my opinion, support is worth the cost."
"We are happy with the price."
"For two nodes, it cost us $10,000, and we spend $2,000 a year on support."
"The scalability limitation for us is its licensing. At some point in the fairly near future, we will probably have to upgrade our license so we can store eight terabytes instead of four. We are currently at four terabytes, but we're starting to knock on the door of that capacity."
"It is relatively expensive, and the additional costs for hardware and storage can make it a significant investment for customers."
"The pricing and licensing are better with DataCore."
"This solution allows the use of off-the-shelf hardware and charges by the TB of storage."
"The cost is at the same level as other storage solutions and it is easy to understand the licensing."
"Pricing has improved but it is still expensive."
"The solution is cost effective."
"This product has a good ratio between quality and price. In many cases, it's less expensive to work with DataCore than other storage systems."
"In my case, the licensing per terabytes is very high and it must be licensed for each extra functionality."
"VxRail has a subscription model usually tagged with the appliance box only."
"The pricing is very accurate, and we haven't had any problems with the licensing costs."
"The solution can be pricey depending on the project."
"The licensing of vSAN and VMware for different editions of VxRail is not easy."
"The hardware cost associated is a bit high"
"The price is good."
"There is a permanent vSAN license included since it is required, but vCenter\ESXi host licensing should be validated in the purchase process."
"I do not believe that the price should be lower, as I feel it to be reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
24%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about StarWind Virtual SAN?
It is easy to use and can monitor system synchronization and check Storage status. StarWind Virtual SAN (VSAN) combin...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for StarWind Virtual SAN?
If you are comfortable with the solution and you feel that you don't need support, you can begin with the free licenc...
What needs improvement with StarWind Virtual SAN?
Areas for improvement in StarWind Virtual SAN include simplifying the setup process, especially for users with limite...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for DataCore SANsymphony SDS?
I rate the pricing of this solution as an eight. It is relatively expensive, and the additional costs for hardware an...
What needs improvement with DataCore SANsymphony SDS?
It's difficult to say if something is missing in this solution. Maybe we'd like to manage the raid on the disk direct...
How does HPE Nimble Storage compare to VxRail?
HPE Nimble Storage dHCI Vs. VxRail One of the best things about the HPE Nimble Storage dHCI is the three, two, one, z...
What Is The Biggest Difference Between vSAN And VxRail?
While both run on the vSAN technology from VMware, vSAN needs to be deployed on vSAN ready nodes while VxRail is an e...
What are the major differences between VxRail and Dell EMC PowerFlex?
VxRail vs. Dell EMC PowerFlex VxRail provides stable solutions for technical problems while at the same time not bein...
 

Also Known As

StarWind SAN & NAS
DataCore Virtual SAN
VCE VxRail
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Baker Tilly BVI, CMS Internet, Board Harpeth Hall School
Volkswagen , Maimonides Medical Center, NASA, Thorntons, Inc., TUI, ISCO Industries, Pee Dee Electric Cooperative, United Financial Credit Union, Derby Supply Chain Solutions, Mission Community Hospital, Bellarmine College Preparatory, Colby-Sawyer College, Mount Sinai Health System, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Quorn Foods, Bitburger, University of Birmingham, Stadtverwaltung Heidelberg, NetEnt to name a few.
World Wide Technology Inc, Renault Sport Formula One Team, 8x8 Inc, Brownes, Canadian Pacific, Canopy, Denton, EDF, Unilin, Xerox
Find out what your peers are saying about DataCore SANsymphony vs. VxRail and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
813,418 professionals have used our research since 2012.