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Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series vs StarWind HyperConverged Appliance comparison

Lenovo and StarWind are both solutions in the HCI category. Lenovo is ranked #20 with an average rating of 8.0, while StarWind is ranked #14 with an average rating of 10.0. Lenovo holds a 1.4% mindshare in HCI, compared to StarWind’s 0.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Lenovo users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 98% of StarWind users who would recommend it.
Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series
Read 5 Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series reviews
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  • 1,133 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
StarWind HyperConverged App...
Read 66 StarWind HyperConverged Appliance reviews
  • 1,484 Views
  • 1,158 Comparison Views
98% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

StarWind HyperConverged Appliance and Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series compete in the hyperconverged infrastructure space. Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series has the upper hand for its feature-rich environment and scalability, while StarWind stands out for cost-effectiveness and support.

Features: StarWind HyperConverged Appliance offers seamless integration, simplified management via native automation tools, and robust data protection features. Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series provides advanced virtualization capabilities, scalability, and broad compatibility with VMware environments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: StarWind HyperConverged Appliance is recognized for straightforward deployment and strong customer support, which eases the setup process. Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series offers comprehensive deployment services and responsive support, but involves a longer setup time due to its complexity.

Pricing and ROI: StarWind HyperConverged Appliance has competitive pricing and quick ROI, appealing due to lower initial cost and operational expenses. Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series requires a higher upfront investment but promises substantial long-term returns through enhanced productivity and scalability for larger enterprises.

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To learn more, read our detailed Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series vs. StarWind HyperConverged Appliance Report (Updated: June 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series vs. StarWind HyperConverged Appliance
June 2025
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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

Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series
Ranking in HCI
20th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
StarWind HyperConverged App...
Ranking in HCI
14th
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Storage (SDS) (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the HCI category, the mindshare of Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series is 1.4%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of StarWind HyperConverged Appliance is 0.9%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
HCI
 

Featured Reviews

Genesis Dapoza - PeerSpot reviewer
simplifies management for clients familiar with VMware, and offers a user-friendly management and configuration experience
With the VX machines, the clients often confuse the hardware itself with the services and resources. VMs are configured according to resources - memory, hard disk capacity, and network. These resources, including memory and processor, are actually shared on the VX Series. So, if the server's processor is underpowered or unreliable for the VMs, many of the VMs will encounter issues. Ideally, the physical server configuration should align more closely with the needs of the virtual servers. The drawback is that the hardware resources (CPU, memory, storage) are shared among all the VMs running on the VX Series. If the server's processor is underpowered for the VMs, many of the VMs might have performance issues. An improvement could be to have more granular control over resource allocation to VMs.
Read full review
Russ Le Puill - PeerSpot reviewer
Proactive support with improved speed and resilience
There was a long delay with shipping, which we weren't expecting, but we were kept updated throughout. It wasn't made clear to us that we needed to provide our own SFP modules to connect to our infrastructure, so that could have been a bit clearer. It would be amazing if there was, perhaps, a more automated process for updating the hosts themselves, although the maintenance mode works well. Our StarWind command center doesn't seem to have all the options available currently, which support is investigating for us.
Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We find the setup quite straightforward and very easy."
"The clients like the solution’s simplicity."
"The VX machines are scalable."
"Installation is straightforward because it's a vSAN. It only took one or two days."
"Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series' deployment is easy. We are a tier-one platinum partner who is into multiple implementations."
"The initial setup is straightforward once you know what you're doing."
"Servers came pre-configured for our environment and as soon as they were in the rack, Starwind got them up and running."
"The added speed of using standard HDD and SSD meant we could increase what services are stored on the servers without having to have additional servers."
"Being able to log on to the GUI to see specific data and usage statistics, executing clones, starting and stopping VMs, etc., is great."
"Customer service has been excellent. Any questions we have had have been answered quickly."
"The solution has easily deployed instances for multiple fast-paced projects."
"I do like that I can manage StarWind with a console running on my local desktop."
"We run probably 16 virtual machines, and all of them are now highly available, and highly redundant."
More StarWind HyperConverged Appliance pros
 

Cons

"The product must provide AI features."
"The user management could be a bit better. It's something they could improve upon in future releases."
"Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series needs to improve its stability. Its resolution should be faster."
"With the VX machines, the clients often confuse the hardware itself with the services and resources. VMs are configured according to resources - memory, hard disk capacity, and network. These resources, including memory and processor, are actually shared on the VX Series. So, if the server's processor is underpowered or unreliable for the VMs, many of the VMs will encounter issues. Ideally, the physical server configuration should align more closely with the needs of the virtual servers."
"Support could be better."
"Updates need improvement."
"Although the setup documentation was very complete and succinct, I found StarWind documentation to be a bit sparse."
"CSVs require the storage to be configured through iSCSI, even though the storage is local."
"The monitoring and reporting console can be improved in the sense that it can have more information on it."
"The only real flaw that I have seen so far is this hard drive that was accidentally ejected because when it was received and added back into the RAID. There was an error there. It was not added back into the RAID correctly, so I have an outstanding hard disk. Apparently, a guy just knocked it with his hand as he was in my office, so it was just a small eject. He said that he didn't crash into anything. That is the only thing that has reared its head."
"An emphasis on security can be improved."
"The management console could use a facelift."
"We have to pay for support, which is high-end support. That can be expensive, at least for us."
More StarWind HyperConverged Appliance cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"You need to pay a license for additional features. If we need to monitor hardware for the automatic alert notification, we need to pay them."
"The tool is expensive."
"The tool's pricing is competitive."
"There is room for improvement in the licensing structure, maybe. Regarding sizing the resources, sometimes it's difficult to calculate/compute them based on the client's requirements."
"In terms of cost, a storage array is more expensive... For half the cost of Compellent, I got two hosts, more storage, and redundancy."
"The other solutions we were looking at were priced much higher than this and they didn't necessarily have full redundancy... Nutanix and VxRail were in the final running... but it came down to our price point."
"There is a bit of a start-up cost. Having never used HCAs before, I was reluctant to buy it. I would suggest that you jump in and do it, as I wish I hadn't wasted so much time."
"This was all completed at an affordable price point for an SMB, which was also a key element for an NPO."
"A desired feature or service would be the ability to have a hardware subscription plan that ensures routine hardware updates in conjunction with hyper-converged software."
"Our entire package was around $35,000 for everything, including three years of support."
"When I researched they came the most cost-effective."
"Its cost was reasonable."
More StarWind HyperConverged Appliance pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Healthcare Company
9%
Educational Organization
7%
Government
7%
Educational Organization
14%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series?
The VX machines are scalable.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series?
The licensing model is moderately complex. The tool is expensive. It is VMware’s fault, though.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series?
The product must provide AI features. It depends on VMware since the core is software. The solution must provide a more detailed plan to enable simplicity of use.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for StarWind HyperConverged Appliance?
It's not the cheapest, however, the solution works incredibly well and is so simple to licence and maintain.
See all answers
What needs improvement with StarWind HyperConverged Appliance?
There was a long delay with shipping, which we weren't expecting, but we were kept updated throughout. It wasn't made clear to us that we needed to provide our own SFP modules to connect to our inf...
See all answers
What is your primary use case for StarWind HyperConverged Appliance?
We desperately needed to update yet downsize our data centre. We had six hosts for only approximately 14 or so Virtual machines and two old SANs. All of this was running on 10+ year-old refurbished...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Lenovo ThinkAgile HX Series vs Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series
Compared 23% of the time
Dell vSAN Ready Nodes vs Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series Logo
Dell vSAN Ready Nodes vs Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series
Compared 20% of the time
HPE Alletra dHCI vs Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series Logo
HPE Alletra dHCI vs Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series
Compared 15% of the time
Huawei FusionCube Hyper-Converged Infrastructure vs Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series Logo
Huawei FusionCube Hyper-Converged Infrastructure vs Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series
Compared 6% of the time
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Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs StarWind HyperConverged Appliance Logo
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs StarWind HyperConverged Appliance
Compared 26% of the time
StorMagic SvSAN vs StarWind HyperConverged Appliance Logo
StorMagic SvSAN vs StarWind HyperConverged Appliance
Compared 22% of the time
VxRail vs StarWind HyperConverged Appliance Logo
VxRail vs StarWind HyperConverged Appliance
Compared 14% of the time
DataCore SANsymphony vs StarWind HyperConverged Appliance Logo
DataCore SANsymphony vs StarWind HyperConverged Appliance
Compared 11% of the time
Azure Stack HCI vs StarWind HyperConverged Appliance Logo
Azure Stack HCI vs StarWind HyperConverged Appliance
Compared 11% of the time
More StarWind HyperConverged Appliance Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
HCI
July 2025
Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series reportDownload Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series product report
Buyer's Guide
StarWind HyperConverged Appliance
June 2025
StarWind HyperConverged Appliance reportDownload StarWind HyperConverged Appliance product report
 

Also Known As

Lenovo VX Series, ThinkAgile VX Series
No data available
 

Overview

Differentiating yourself from the competition is vital in today’s fast-moving business environment. To support your business, IT systems must be simple, agile, and cost-effective so you can meet your customers’ requirements to be ever online. Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series enables you to meet these requirements by focusing on the business outcome you require, rather than on building your infrastructure.

ThinkAgile VX Series, powered by VMware vSAN, is available in several models. Each is preconfigured, pretested, and optimized to provide the simplest way to bring a new VMware hyperconverged environment online. If you have an existing VMware environment, the VX Series can integrate into it easily.

Designed for any size business from SMBs through large enterprises, VX Series can be used as infrastructure for remote office/branch office (ROBO) and retail stores as well as virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and enterprise applications.

Lenovo

For SMB, ROBO and Enterprises, who look to bring in quick deployment and operation simplicity to virtualization workloads and reduce related expenses, our solution is StarWind HyperConverged Appliance (HCA). It unifies commodity servers, disks and flash, hypervisor of choice, StarWind Virtual SAN, Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct or VMware Virtual SAN and associated software into a single manageable layer. The HCA supports scale-up by adding disks and flash, and scale-out by adding extra nodes.

StarWind HyperConverged Appliance consists of StarWind Virtual SAN, Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct or VMware Virtual SAN “Ready Nodes”, targeting those, who are building their virtualization infrastructure from scratch. In case there is an existing set of servers, we offer a “software only version”, which is essentially our years proven StarWind Virtual SAN. Basically, it’s the fuel powering StarWind HCA. 

StarWind
 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Sears Home and Franchise Business
Buyer's Guide
Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series vs. StarWind HyperConverged Appliance
June 2025
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