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Hitachi Unified Compute Platform HC Series vs StarWind Virtual SAN comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Hitachi Unified Compute Pla...
Ranking in HCI
25th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
StarWind Virtual SAN
Ranking in HCI
5th
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
193
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Storage (SDS) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the HCI category, the mindshare of Hitachi Unified Compute Platform HC Series is 0.5%, down from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of StarWind Virtual SAN is 2.0%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
HCI
 

Featured Reviews

it_user583272 - PeerSpot reviewer
Storage Virtualization is the most mature in the market, but other brands have more features
An update to its technology would be good. The G Series has been around for more than five years and HDS seriously needs to ramp up, since the competition has better performance at a lower cost with better features and functionalities. For example, it needs redirect on write Snapshot, preconfigured storage tiering with better IOPS, built-in deduplication technology on hybrid disk, etc.
WJHG - PeerSpot reviewer
Seamless integrations, high availability, and offers a free version
Although I am generally satisfied with VSAN and its performance, there are some areas that could be improved to enhance its effectiveness even further. One area that could benefit from improvement is scalability. While the tool works well in its current configuration, allowing for greater ease and flexibility in adding new nodes to the cluster without complications would be very beneficial, especially in growing environments. Additionally, I would like to see additional features in the next version, such as better support for automated resource management. This could include proactive suggestions for optimizing storage and memory usage, as well as preventive alerts about the health status of the servers. A more intuitive interface or an improved dashboard for monitoring the cluster would also be helpful, as it would facilitate performance tracking and help identify potential issues before they affect services.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"In our implementations, HDS Storage Virtualization has helped in migrating data with the least amount of downtime, compared to other storage technologies."
"This solution allowed us to move from using standalone systems to having all our data center management in one place."
"The replication technology can move data faster than EMC MirrorView and requires less bandwidth. The Storage Virtualization technology is the most mature in the market, outside of IBM’s Storwize (which has a lot of compatibility issues, and EMC’s very expensive VPLEX solution); and it works."
"StarWind vSAN has allowed us to leverage our server infrastructure more completely without the need to add more hardware."
"The instant failover, with vSAN copying data to the second node, allowed for the continuous availability of our applications."
"The feature I have found most valuable in VSAN is its high availability capability."
"You can turn your local disk storage into high-availability iSCSI storage."
"We are able to execute maintenance on one server while the other is still running."
"Recovery and maintenance are now less stressful and most importantly, it allows our users to keep working."
"StarWind Virtual SAN is a highly flexible solution, as it can be deployed on physical servers or on top of virtual machines running on hypervisors such as VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V."
"Quick setup, great support, stability is great"
 

Cons

"An update to its technology would be good. The G Series has been around for more than five years and HDS seriously needs to ramp up, since the competition has better performance at a lower cost with better features and functionalities. For example, it needs redirect on write Snapshot, preconfigured storage tiering with better IOPS, built-in deduplication technology on hybrid disk, etc."
"An area for improvement would be technical support. In the next release, I would like to see more features added to make this a more complete solution."
"HDS reaches a ceiling depending on model. The G200 cannot transition to G400, the G400 can transition to G600 but cannot transition to G800, which is the top-end model."
"One main thing this product needs to work on is reporting."
"While it is possible to implement disk encryption in StarWind using Windows Bitlocker, such a solution can be a little tricky to manage."
"The main issue we ran into was the documentation. We attempted to set up the product in our test environment by ourselves and ran into several areas of the documentation that were unclear to us."
"The only way I can see this product needing improvement is the consultation level of the StarWind sales and engineers."
"While we had little to no issues in setting up StarWind and received excellent support from the StarWind technicians, we would have appreciated a clearer guideline for a setup with the free version of StarWind Management Console or, in other words - for the setup with the PowerShell."
"This product could be improved with the inclusion of new health check procedures."
"The dashboard is functional, but it could benefit from a more modern and visually appealing design."
"StarWind currently has a Windows native application that it uses for management. There is not a web-based GUI at this time."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The pricing is more than reasonable."
"We evaluated other options and this one was the most cost-effective."
"The cost takes into account the number of nodes, so the size of the storage is not important."
"When we did all the analysis for StarWind, it was approximately 20 percent less than any of the other solutions that we looked at."
"This solution is very accessible and the pro-level for support is well worth the cost."
"The license is reusable. We can always rebuild it and apply the license. Then, boom, we get new servers, apply the license, and we're back up and running."
"For two nodes, it cost us $10,000, and we spend $2,000 a year on support."
"It's priced fairly. It was definitely cheaper than the competition. The licensing terms are straightforward and reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Government
10%
Pharma/Biotech Company
10%
University
9%
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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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) combines flash and disks of the cluster and forms a virtual shared storage “pool” acce...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for StarWind Virtual SAN?
Also, the pricing can be a bit complex depending on the features you need.
What needs improvement with StarWind Virtual SAN?
Initially, there was a bit of a learning curve for some of our users, but Microsoft's documentation was helpful. Also, the pricing can be a bit complex depending on the features you need.
 

Also Known As

HDS Unified Compute Platform, Hitachi UCP, Hitachi UCP Select
StarWind SAN & NAS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Asia Capital Reinsurance, RMZ, Cigniti Technologies, SPAR, Infosys
Baker Tilly BVI, CMS Internet, Board Harpeth Hall School
Find out what your peers are saying about Hitachi Unified Compute Platform HC Series vs. StarWind Virtual SAN and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,471 professionals have used our research since 2012.