Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series vs StarWind Virtual SAN 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 #5 with an average rating of 9.4. Lenovo holds a 1.4% mindshare in HCI, compared to StarWind’s 1.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Lenovo users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of StarWind users who would recommend it.

Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series

Read 5 Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series reviews

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1,087 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

StarWind Virtual SAN

Read 198 StarWind Virtual SAN reviews

4,900 Views
3,136 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series

StarWind Virtual SAN

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

StarWind Virtual SAN and Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series compete in the hyper-converged infrastructure space. StarWind Virtual SAN often has an advantage in pricing and rapid deployment, while Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series stands out for its robust features and scalability, appealing to those prioritizing advanced capabilities.

Features:StarWind Virtual SAN emphasizes simplicity and cost-effectiveness, offering an integrated hypervisor and supporting diverse storage scenarios. Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series includes scalability, integration with VMware vSAN, and sophisticated features designed for larger enterprises.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service:StarWind Virtual SAN is recognized for straightforward setup, appealing to businesses seeking quick implementations. Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series provides extensive support with a comprehensive deployment model, suited for enterprises needing robust service assistance.

Pricing and ROI:StarWind Virtual SAN attracts buyers with lower setup costs and strong ROI, ideal for budget-conscious organizations. Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series, while generally more expensive, offers enhanced ROI for enterprises that utilize its advanced features, delivering value in feature-rich environments despite higher initial costs.

To learn more, read our detailed Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series vs. StarWind Virtual SAN Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series vs. StarWind Virtual SAN

July 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

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

198

Ranking in other categories

Software Defined Storage (SDS) (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 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 Virtual SAN is 1.9%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

HCI

Featured Reviews

Genesis Dapoza

Email Administrator at Technopaq, Inc.

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

Vladimir Simion

Pre Post Sales Engineer at Logiccomputer

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.

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 VX machines are scalable."

"Installation is straightforward because it's a vSAN. It only took one or two days."

"The clients like the solution’s simplicity."

"Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series' deployment is easy. We are a tier-one platinum partner who is into multiple implementations."

"The most useful aspect is the hyper-converged SD SAN and the ease to expand it by just adding cheap SSD or NVME disks."

"As the client had acquired another company some distance away, they were concerned about having a single SAN in one location or the other. StarWind vSAN allowed us to keep a copy of the data local to each site without asking the client to pay for two SANs in addition to the two new servers they needed."

"The price was right."

"StarWind vSAN has allowed us to leverage our server infrastructure more completely without the need to add more hardware."

"We are able to execute maintenance on one server while the other is still running."

"StarWind Virtual SAN offers high availability and data resilience features to prevent data loss if hardware fails."

"Speed and high availability have been the most valuable for us."

"One of the most valuable features is the way it sets up the virtual SAN, because we don't have to buy a separate appliance for storage. It uses the existing storage on the servers, which is definitely a cost savings for us."

More StarWind Virtual SAN pros

Cons

"The user management could be a bit better. It's something they could improve upon in future releases."

"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 product must provide AI features."

"Support could be better."

"Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series needs to improve its stability. Its resolution should be faster."

"Some configuration options still demand service restarting."

"Android app for monitoring and receiving push notifications as alarms or monitoring I/O from any mobile device could be a good feature and nice to have as we are not always on our desk."

"It should be improved in the way it detects the right filesystem image after a complete shutdown of the system or in the case of disaster recovery."

"Initially, when we first started, the sync was horrible."

"If there was one feature I would like to see it would be a built-in subsystem for managing UPS backups shutdown procedures providing a way to initiate VM shutdown on all host servers, shut down the host servers, then put the fault-tolerant mirroring in standby, and finally shut down the StarWind SANs."

"Management of VSAN itself could be improved. A Web UI for management would be great rather than an application installation. StarWind is testing a command center virtual appliance that I have installed in my environment."

"StarWind relies on the underlying OS to manage the "SAN files" whether that would be a RAID volume, software RAID (such as LVM), etc. It would be useful if StarWind could incorporate the actual physical drive management inside of the solution, similar to Storage Spaces Direct."

"It would help if the manufacturer provided clearer and more detailed documentation, with explanations of how the application can be installed in various HA configurations."

More StarWind Virtual SAN cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool's pricing is competitive."

"The tool is expensive."

"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."

"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."

"The cost, including OPEX, is lower compared to other solutions."

"The cost was ultimately low to implement, which allowed us to be 3-2-1 complaint."

"This is a good, economical solution compared to data storage systems."

"Licensing is easy and the whole package is cost-effective."

"StarWind is a low-cost, full-featured alternative to the traditional SAN environment, and their support will guide you every step of the setup."

"This solution is very accessible and the pro-level for support is well worth the cost."

"The Price/Performance ratio for this solution is outstanding!"

"Licensing is based on nodes rather than TBs, which means that the users are free to increase storage capacity without putting thought into licensing."

More StarWind Virtual SAN pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Healthcare Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

Computer Software Company

17%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Financial Services Firm

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 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...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for StarWind Virtual SAN?

I had experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing through using the free version of StarWind Virtual SAN for testing purposes, so there was no cost involved during my evaluation. That made i...

See all answers

What needs improvement with StarWind Virtual SAN?

One area for improvement regarding StarWind Virtual SAN is the lack of a full-feature trial. At the time I tested it, I had access only to the free version, which required using PowerShell scripts ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Lenovo ThinkAgile HX Series vs Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series

Compared 24% of the time

VxRail vs Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series

Compared 22% of the time

Dell vSAN Ready Nodes vs Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series

Compared 21% of the time

HPE Alletra dHCI vs Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series

Compared 15% of the time

Huawei FusionCube Hyper-Converged Infrastructure vs Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series

Compared 7% of the time

More Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series Competitors

VMware vSAN vs StarWind Virtual SAN

Compared 24% of the time

DataCore SANsymphony vs StarWind Virtual SAN

Compared 16% of the time

StorMagic SvSAN vs StarWind Virtual SAN

Compared 14% of the time

Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct vs StarWind Virtual SAN

Compared 14% of the time

Red Hat Ceph Storage vs StarWind Virtual SAN

Compared 11% of the time

More StarWind Virtual SAN Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

HCI

August 2025

Download Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series product report

Buyer's Guide

StarWind Virtual SAN

July 2025

Download StarWind Virtual SAN product report

Also Known As

Lenovo VX Series, ThinkAgile VX Series

StarWind SAN & NAS

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

StarWind Virtual SAN provides high availability and fault tolerance for virtualized environments without the need for dedicated SAN hardware. It allows for real-time replication between servers, shared storage for Hyper-V clusters, and enables vMotion and High Availability features for VMware vSphere. The solution reduces costs and leverages existing hardware while providing a scalable and reliable infrastructure. Valuable features include ease of use, scalability, top-tier support, hardware agnosticism, and the ability to use off-the-shelf standard servers to increase storage space. StarWind VSAN has helped organizations improve performance, data availability, and data security while reducing downtime and providing cost-saving storage options.

StarWind

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Baker Tilly BVI, CMS Internet, Board Harpeth Hall School

Buyer's Guide

Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series vs. StarWind Virtual SAN

July 2025

Free Report: Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series vs. StarWind Virtual SAN

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