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HPE Alletra dHCI 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

HPE Alletra dHCI
Ranking in HCI
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
29
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
196
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Storage (SDS) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the HCI category, the mindshare of HPE Alletra dHCI is 5.0%, up from 3.3% 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

Antonin Pavlik - PeerSpot reviewer
Effortless upgrades with one-click feature while new server deployment needs a smoother process
I have a data center, and all the servers are connected to HPE Alletra dHCI. I use it for data management with VMware running on the servers The most valuable feature of HPE Alletra dHCI is the one-click upgrade function, which allows all drivers and services to be downloaded to all servers…
Vladimir Simion - PeerSpot reviewer
Achieving seamless cost-saving implementation with exceptional support
The best features that StarWind Virtual SAN offers include the price because comparing to other virtual SAN solutions, this one is the best, and it also has a great support team behind it. My experience with their support has been positive, as their guides regarding the integration are very useful. They have some awesome guides online that show you exactly how to configure the product, how to do the initial setup, and you can speak with them directly. They will be able to connect and verify your setup, run its parameters and see exactly what's working and what is not, and they really help you with that. StarWind Virtual SAN has positively impacted my organization and my customer through initial cost saving. They use this product in a dark site, so I'm not able to provide any additional details about this, but they were really glad about it, they're still using it, and they asked for extending the capacity for it and the support. They really want to use it and are enjoying using it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"HPE Alletra dHCI is very comfortable with high performance and quick installation."
"The latency is very low."
"HPE Nimble Storage dHCI is stable."
"HPE Alletra dHCI was good because we could have the vVols, which we are using for our production server, with the snapshots."
"Nimble Storage is a capable platform with high availability."
"We have the ability to increase the storage without any additional costs."
"Nimble DHCI is really user friendly and not complex"
"HPE Nimble Storage dHCI's user interface is very easy to work with."
"The ability to run the software virtually on every virtualization platform and the ability to eliminate all storage vendor locking are the most valuable features."
"This solution made it possible to deploy a new infrastructure in the shortest amount of time, at a low cost without purchasing expensive hardware storage, and use unused servers."
"This has helped to improve the reliability of service and operation in all departments, without having to stop in case of emergency situations."
"The fact that the solution is vendor-agnostic allows it to be used with any virtualization vendor while remaining a powerful abstraction over storage."
"StarWind Virtual SAN can improve an organization's storage infrastructure by providing high availability, scalability, cost-effectiveness, performance, and ease of use."
"StarWind Virtual SAN has impacted my organization positively by saving a lot of money over purchasing a new SAN."
"In our case, the cost and high availability are the two most important factors which we were looking for in a solution."
"When it comes to ease of installation, the whole process is designed to be user-friendly and straightforward."
 

Cons

"HPE Nimble Storage dHCI only works with a hypervisor like VMware. There are plenty of other hypervisors that HP doesn't support. This is an area for improvement."
"They could expand product support to Microsoft Hyper-V and Red Hat Linux platforms."
"I can tier my data in different storage on the cloud, but I cannot tier the data with HPE Alletra dHCI."
"HPE Nimble Storage dHCI currently is promoting only VMware as a hypervisor, whereas if they can look into other OSs, such as KVM or Red Hat, it would be an improvement."
"I would like the HPE Alletra dHCI to provide options to install products separately."
"The implementation process was problematic due to firmware incompatibilities and lengthy support intervention."
"The performance of HPE Nimble Storage dHCI could improve. Other solutions, such as Cisco, are better."
"Lacking integration to the cloud."
"There should be some kind of active monitoring connected to StarWind vSAN, so you will be able to act when needed."
"The setup and documentation for the installation with the free version could definitely be improved."
"We don't really have any issues with this product."
"A better overall view of the different deployments could be beneficial, although this is difficult due to how flexible the solution is."
"Updating the software can be a bit tricky."
"StarWind currently has a Windows native application that it uses for management. There is not a web-based GUI at this time."
"It would be great if it provided thin provisioned virtual disks."
"In all areas the product could be made faster."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution’s pricing was very good."
"The product licensing costs vary depending on whether VMware or other solutions are used."
"HPE Nimble Storage dHCI is much cheaper than the competition and has value proposition. Customers can see an ROI in three months. There are no additional costs, and VMware licenses can be reutilized."
"The prices are very high."
"The customers have found the solution to be expensive. However, when compared to the competition the price is reasonable."
"I think it's priced right and it's extremely intelligent."
"The product is costly."
"With the features that HPE Nimble Storage dHCI provides, I cannot say its pricing is more."
"For two nodes, it cost us $10,000, and we spend $2,000 a year on support."
"We are happy with the price."
"We evaluated other options and this one was the most cost-effective."
"I think the bang for the buck is much better with StarWind Virtual SAN."
"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."
"The Price/Performance ratio for this solution is outstanding!"
"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."
"This is the best priced solution for an SMB."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Educational Organization
8%
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE Nimble Storage dHCI?
Pricing is rated at six, which is normal. The price is appropriate for the capabilities and features that the customers receive.
What needs improvement with HPE Nimble Storage dHCI?
I would like the HPE Alletra dHCI to provide options to install products separately. When extending or when servers are already present, normal Alletra systems are more suitable. dHCI projects ofte...
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?
I have had no setup costs and no challenges with setup and installation for StarWind Virtual SAN. The costs are acceptable and very competitive compared to other hardware-only HCI solutions.
What needs improvement with StarWind Virtual SAN?
There are times when the feedback in the event of an impending issue or an actual failure can be limited. The remediation steps are usually fairly simple to resolve the issue, but the management GU...
 

Also Known As

HPE Nimble Storage dHCI
StarWind SAN & NAS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Baker Tilly BVI, CMS Internet, Board Harpeth Hall School
Find out what your peers are saying about HPE Alletra dHCI vs. StarWind Virtual SAN and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,711 professionals have used our research since 2012.