IBM Spectrum Scale vs StarWind Virtual Tape Library comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IBM Spectrum Scale and StarWind Virtual Tape Library based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Software Defined Storage (SDS) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed IBM Spectrum Scale vs. StarWind Virtual Tape Library Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"It is incredibly scalable and stable.""Its great servicing high availability. That is what it is used for.""It is a scalable solution.""The profile share is a valuable feature.""GPFS monitoring is the best feature.""The most valuable feature is the ability to share files across different platforms.""The high performance of the solution is its most valuable aspect. If you compare it to other storage solutions, it's much better.""We can have multiple systems within the same file system."

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"I like the fact that we can simultaneously upload the virtual tapes to different cloud providers, and the settings can be adjusted to speed up the upload times even further.""It is a stable solution.""The solution made our backups way more reliable.""StarWind VTL allowed us to back up to virtual tape that was created within Veeam and upload the tape to the cloud.""The most valuable feature of the StarWind Virtual Tape Library is the archiving to the AWS cloud."

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Cons
"The biggest problem is that it is not able to provide block storage.""We do have some issues where Spectrum Scale does not work as expected. We have seen our Spectrum Scale servers go down unexpectedly, but because we have a cluster, it does not take out the entire organization.""The pricing and licensing model for this solution are complex and it is sometimes difficult to explain it to customers.""This is probably the biggest challenge, getting everything upgraded, because it just takes time. We wish it was a faster solution to be able to do everything at once, but you have do each node individually. The more nodes, the longer it takes.""The solution's pricing could be better.""It would be helpful if there was a graphical user interface that could walk you through the deployment process. The instructions surrounding setup aren't the best. They need to be more step-by-step.""They should probably simply the Red Hat implementation portion. This portion was not as straightforward as I would like it to be.""The main issue that we have now is with the encryption. They want to use more metrics in encryption, which is not working very well."

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"The initial installation can be complex and should be simplified.""The solution's training process and online documentation could be more thorough.""The main thing that I felt could be improved was having an estimated time of completion for the virtual tape uploads to the cloud.""I am not sure if this is a limitation of my physical hardware or if it is the software itself. However, I would like the throughput to be faster."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The licensing is based on the number of terabytes."
  • "The licensing model is complex and depends on factors such as the number of processing cores and the amount of storage."
  • "The solution is costly but reliable."
  • More IBM Spectrum Scale Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "If you currently have Veeam there is no other solution that is as easy and affordable as StarWind."
  • "The pricing of the solution could be more flexible to meet the needs of smaller to mid-market size companies."
  • "The solution is cost-effective."
  • "The initial setup and deployment are also covered in the purchase at no additional cost."
  • More StarWind Virtual Tape Library Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:The solution made our backups way more reliable.
    Top Answer:The pricing is surprisingly reasonable, and that includes the help to get it set up and running. They really want you to use their support get to get everything up and running.
    Top Answer:I am not sure if this is a limitation of my physical hardware or if it is the software itself. However, I would like the throughput to be faster. Who would not like things to be faster? It would be… more »
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    IBM
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    Overview
    IBM Spectrum Scale is a cluster file system that provides concurrent access to a single file system or set of file systems from multiple nodes. The nodes can be SAN attached, network attached, a mixture of SAN attached and network attached, or in a shared nothing cluster configuration. This enables access to this common set of data to support a scale-out solution or to provide a high availability platform. IBM Spectrum Scale has many features beyond common data access including data replication, policy based storage management, and multi-site operations. You can create a cluster of AIX nodes, Linux nodes, Windows server nodes, or a mix of all three. IBM Spectrum Scale can run on virtualized instances providing common data access in environments, leverage logical partitioning, or other hypervisors. Multiple IBM Spectrum Scale clusters can share data within a location or across wide area network (WAN) connections.

    For SMB and Enterprises, who either look to get rid of backup tapes completely, or are willing to accelerate backup process and add an extra level of protection, our solution is StarWind Virtual Tape Library (VTL). It is an appliance that eliminates the need in physical tape and “pretends” to be a supported tape drive or autoloader, keeping all data on inexpensive, fast and high-capacity spinning disks.

    Even with explosive data growth, StarWind VTL fits the backup into backup window by accelerating it, so the process does not overlap with production time. Optionally, it creates additional copy of backup data for better safety. It is also available in a software-only form, as part of StarWind VSAN functionality. 

    StarWind VTL targets those, who need to replace existing tape backup infrastructure or accelerate it if regulatory requirements prohibit replacement. In case the goal is just virtualizing tape backup or creating a stretched backup infrastructure, StarWind Tape Redirector will come in handy. 

    Sample Customers
    Information Not Available
    Volvo, Sony, Samsung, Hitachi
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm63%
    Computer Software Company25%
    Comms Service Provider13%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm19%
    Computer Software Company14%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    Government8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Healthcare Company10%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Retailer9%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business30%
    Large Enterprise70%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise71%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business31%
    Midsize Enterprise12%
    Large Enterprise57%
    Buyer's Guide
    IBM Spectrum Scale vs. StarWind Virtual Tape Library
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Spectrum Scale vs. StarWind Virtual Tape Library and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    IBM Spectrum Scale is ranked 7th in Software Defined Storage (SDS) with 10 reviews while StarWind Virtual Tape Library is ranked 11th in Software Defined Storage (SDS) with 6 reviews. IBM Spectrum Scale is rated 8.6, while StarWind Virtual Tape Library is rated 10.0. The top reviewer of IBM Spectrum Scale writes "A stable solution with valuable profile-sharing features". On the other hand, the top reviewer of StarWind Virtual Tape Library writes "Flexible and reliable with helpful support". IBM Spectrum Scale is most compared with Red Hat Ceph Storage, Portworx Enterprise, VMware vSAN, DDN IME and NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP, whereas StarWind Virtual Tape Library is most compared with Red Hat Ceph Storage, HPE StoreVirtual, VMware vSAN and IBM Cloud Object Storage. See our IBM Spectrum Scale vs. StarWind Virtual Tape Library report.

    See our list of best Software Defined Storage (SDS) vendors, best Software Defined Storage (SDS) vendors, and best Cloud Software Defined Storage vendors.

    We monitor all Software Defined Storage (SDS) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.