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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
7.6
Number of Reviews
200
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Storage (SDS) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the HCI category, the mindshare of HPE Alletra dHCI is 4.6%, up from 3.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of StarWind Virtual SAN is 2.0%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
HCI Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
StarWind Virtual SAN2.0%
HPE Alletra dHCI4.6%
Other93.4%
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

"It's helpful as you stand on high-end storage. Alletra offers up to 99% availability, providing excellent stability. You also get the benefits of an HCI solution with a template and upgradability at any time."
"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 easily."
"HPE Alletra dHCI was good because we could have the vVols, which we are using for our production server, with the snapshots."
"The product has cut down a lot of service tickets. Earlier, people complained about slowness."
"HPE's InfoSight software, which does the comparative analysis and artificial intelligence built-in in the box, and with Nimble they do well against the competition. Additionally, the dashboards are good."
"HPE Nimble Storage dHCI's user interface is very easy to work with."
"The product provides zero downtime."
"So far, the solution's performance is very good."
"Having support is also very valuable to us as we are a small team."
"PowerShell library is pretty good feature as I created with APC PowerChute a script to put volumes on maintenance mode then turning off the StarWind nodes together with the VM and Hosts when UPS reaches 15 percent, this way after a blackout or electrical problems when turning servers on again, there is no issues for syncing or data loss due to energy interrupts."
"StarWind Virtual SAN (vSAN) offers a significant breadth of features."
"It includes every feature that a traditional SAN offers and so much more."
"The product creates opportunities with hybrid on-premise solutions."
"We are able to do maintenance by bringing down one node at a time, rather than having to schedule a complete shutdown."
"The most valuable feature is the fact that the nodes are Active/Active, and allow us to do upgrades on any node without any downtime."
"This has helped to improve the reliability of service and operation in all departments, without having to stop in case of emergency situations."
 

Cons

"The solution must be hypervisor-agnostic."
"Cost-wise, this solution is slightly more expensive than other hyperconverged solutions."
"Companies in small countries face problems with spare parts."
"The product does not support file services."
"Sometimes the technical support would get back to us in two hours, but other times it would take them two or even three days to respond."
"They should improve just the support."
"Lacking integration to the cloud."
"The deployment of a new server could be improved."
"They require more media visibility."
"Regular updates to the software are required, and subtle design changes would be welcome."
"If there are domain controllers inside the cluster, there needs to be some sort of logic allowing them to boot independently so all the rest of the domain clients can gain the authority they need to come online."
"This product could be improved with the inclusion of new health check procedures."
"Besides not being able to use any filesystem, I do not have any additional cons."
"They recommend RAID10 for HDD, which reduces the usable storage capacity."
"It would be nice to see a new UI for the windows client, as it is not the easiest to find settings."
"You have to do a "full" sync on write-back cache disks instead of a quick sync if there is an issue."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of HPE Nimble Storage dHCI is expensive."
"I think it's priced right and it's extremely intelligent."
"The product is costly."
"The prices are very high."
"The product is very affordable."
"The cost of the licensing is reasonable."
"The solution’s pricing was very good."
"I would rate the licensing model a three out of ten, where one is extremely expensive, and ten is cheap."
"The free version is great to use for labs or test environments."
"Their pricing seems pretty good, and their licensing structure is pretty straightforward."
"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."
"StarWind is a low-cost, full-featured alternative to the traditional SAN environment, and their support will guide you every step of the setup."
"It's priced fairly. It was definitely cheaper than the competition. The licensing terms are straightforward and reasonable."
"The Price/Performance ratio for this solution is outstanding!"
"This is the best priced solution for an SMB."
"The support contract is well worth it. The price for it was very reasonable and their team has been very engaged whenever we reach out."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business162
Midsize Enterprise54
Large Enterprise33
 

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?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for StarWind Virtual SAN was okay.
What needs improvement with StarWind Virtual SAN?
Currently, StarWind Virtual SAN is working perfectly fine, so there are no changes I would suggest.
 

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: September 2025.
871,408 professionals have used our research since 2012.