HPE StoreVirtual vs StarWind Virtual SAN comparison

HPE StoreVirtual and StarWind Virtual SAN are competitive offerings in the storage solutions market. HPE StoreVirtual holds an advantage with its robust integration capabilities for compute, storage, and networking, making it a unified solution appealing for those within the HP ecosystem. StarWind Virtual SAN stands out with its cost-effective model, high availability feature, and the flexibility of hardware use, providing a compelling choice for users seeking affordability and simplicity.

Features: HPE StoreVirtual provides revolutionary platform integration, supporting VMware, Microsoft, and HP hardware, making the integration process seamless for users who want a single platform for various IT needs. It allows sophisticated management of storage through network RAID technology, providing options like RAID 10 to ensure data redundancy. Users appreciate the unified point of contact for support, reducing complexity in issue resolution. StarWind Virtual SAN's remarkable features include active-active high availability, allowing continuous uptime even when a node fails. Its synchronized virtualization enhances hardware flexibility while maintaining performance. The Virtual SAN software turns commodity hardware into high-performing shared storage, optimizing costs.

Room for Improvement: HPE StoreVirtual users call attention to complex licensing models, lack of SSD support, and looming end-of-life challenges, urging the need for a fresh integration strategy. Issues also arise with its management interfaces and stability compared to conventional SANs. For StarWind Virtual SAN, users suggest improvements in documentation clarity and wish for better disaster recovery features and licensing transparency to ease the setup and operational process.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: HPE StoreVirtual offers simplicity in on-premises deployment but receives mixed reviews due to slow response times despite having proactive customer service. StarWind Virtual SAN is lauded for its flexible deployment options, including both private and public cloud setups, and enjoys a reputation for excellent customer service with a dedicated support team that users find exceedingly knowledgeable and proactive.

Pricing and ROI: HPE StoreVirtual's pricing is variable, influenced by scaling needs and additional licensing for advanced features, stressing the importance of assessing true capacity requirements to manage costs. In contrast, StarWind Virtual SAN provides a straightforward node-based licensing model, deemed highly cost-efficient by SMBs due to its simple setup and absence of hidden fees. Both offer significant ROIs, though StarWind is noted for delivering more predictable cost efficiencies.