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NetApp HCI [EOL] vs StarWind Virtual Tape Library comparison

NetApp and StarWind are both solutions in the HCI category. Additionally, 88% of NetApp users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of StarWind users who would recommend it.
NetApp HCI [EOL]
Read 32 NetApp HCI [EOL] reviews
    88% willing to recommend
    StarWind Virtual Tape Library
    Read 6 StarWind Virtual Tape Library reviews
    • 511 Views
    • 245 Comparison Views
    100% willing to recommend
     

    Comparison Buyer's Guide

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    Executive Summary
    We performed a comparison between NetApp HCI [EOL] and StarWind Virtual Tape Library based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

    Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, VMware, Nutanix and others in HCI.

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    To learn more, read our detailed HCI Report (Updated: September 2025).
    Buyer's Guide
    HCI
    September 2025
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    Helped 867,497 peers since 2012

    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

    NetApp HCI [EOL]
    Average Rating
    8.0
    Reviews Sentiment
    5.6
    Number of Reviews
    32
    Ranking in other categories
    No ranking in other categories
    StarWind Virtual Tape Library
    Average Rating
    10.0
    Reviews Sentiment
    7.7
    Number of Reviews
    6
    Ranking in other categories
    Software Defined Storage (SDS) (13th), HCI (17th)
     

    Featured Reviews

    MB
    Crashed continuously, complex to deploy, and bad after-sales support - NETAPP FIXED the problems in 2022
    Their after-sales support, SLA, and third-parties availability should be improved. NetApp's support is very difficult to engage. We have an SLA of onsite support within 24 hours. but they don't respect the SLA. Its stability was very bad. It has been crashing continuously. In one year, we got three crashes, which is unbelievable for an appliance that is guaranteed for 10 years without any crashes. In 2022, NetApp Italy, driven by the country manager Davide Marini, fixed all our issues and added additional computation power for free. This is a great example of customer care. They could have done it right the first time of course, but admitting the errors and putting in place such a remediation plan has been a very professional behavior.
    Read full review
    KellyVon Der Heyden - PeerSpot reviewer
    Scalable solution with a good technical support team
    We use the solution for data backups and ransomware protection The solution is compatible with cloud storage platforms, such as Amazon S3. Also, it efficiently reduces the storage cost for archiving. The solution's training process and online documentation could be more thorough. We have been…
    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

    "The scalability is great, because it can scale independently."
    "The ability to size the available space in a way that matches our company's needs is most valuable. For instance, you can decide if you want 80/20, 70/30, or 60/40 space. Redundancy depends on your needs without changing the appliance. You just add space and decide the percentage of space that you need free and the percentage of space that you need for backup. It is all automatic, and you don't have to do anything. You just add space, and the system automatically configures itself with the chosen option."
    "Simple setup and having the storage and compute right on one deployment is the most valuable aspect of this solution. They're able to get set up and ready to go and start having their DevOp team deploy to that environment."
    "We're trying to move to a much more API-driven management of all of our products, and NetApp's product is, from all the SDS providers we have seen, the most fully-baked API out there."
    "HCI has helped with storage persistence across private and hybrid clouds for the last year. It's faster and more reliable with minimal downtime, as it doesn't require any maintenance."
    "It is scalable, and NetApp Deployment Engine (NDE) makes its deployment easier."
    "It's an all-flash solution. NetApp guarantees 3-to-1 or more than 3-to-1. It has guaranteed performance, like 15K IOPS per node."
    "The NetApp Deployment Engine that comes with it makes the actual deployment and usage very easy. That's our primary focus and it's hyper-converged. That's something that we want to use as well."
    More NetApp HCI [EOL] pros
    "The most valuable feature of the StarWind Virtual Tape Library is the archiving to the AWS cloud."
    "It is a stable solution."
    "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."
    "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."
     

    Cons

    "The networking needs improvement."
    "HCI has not enabled us to consolidate workloads or break down silos and has not increased application performance. It has also not resulted in more efficient use of compute resources."
    "The product needs better support for installing the operating system on the machine."
    "The vCenter keeps crashing, meaning that there is no stability in our environment."
    "It is easy to install now, but could potentially be even simpler."
    "There's a limitation with a block in the file. That's where I see that it's not very efficient for upgrades and for management."
    "The fact that it doesn't have all the data points we need and all the historical data that I would like. I find that a lot of the performance analysis is done through support, where they have something that we don't have. It would be nice just to have all that on-prem."
    "Because I like block mode, I'd like to see SAN connectivity. I would like to be able to easily put it into my current environment."
    More NetApp HCI [EOL] cons
    "The main thing that I felt could be improved was having an estimated time of completion for the virtual tape uploads to the cloud."
    "The solution's training process and online documentation could be more thorough."
    "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."
    "The initial installation can be complex and should be simplified."
     

    Pricing and Cost Advice

    "This solution reduced our maintenance costs. We were going to have to pay one to two million dollars to put in compute nodes. We are avoiding those costs."
    "Where we lost nearly 75 percent of our infrastructure due to a malicious attack and were able to recover two and a half hours into it due to the integration, it saved us and all of our customers. Because we were able to recover so fast from the attack, the solution paid for itself right there."
    "There are the overall infrastructure costs. Even though the initial costing was higher, we calculated for year-to-year for five years. That brought us into a position where we decided, we have to go for HCI rather than having distributor systems."
    "Licenses run on a yearly basis, and there aren't any additional fees other than the standard licensing fee."
    "This solution saved our organization time (35 percent) and money. We have a hefty group of developers, and if you multiply that by 30 to 35 percent, that is quite a bit of money."
    "The price of the solution is okay but could improve."
    "Its pricing is lower than our previous solution."
    "You still have to pay for the licensing for VMware and Red Hat licenses separately. It's not all inclusive at this point."
    More NetApp HCI [EOL] pricing and cost advice
    "The initial setup and deployment are also covered in the purchase at no additional cost."
    "If you currently have Veeam there is no other solution that is as easy and affordable as StarWind."
    "The solution is cost-effective."
    "The pricing of the solution could be more flexible to meet the needs of smaller to mid-market size companies."
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    Company Size

    By reviewers
    Large Enterprise
    Midsize Enterprise
    Small Business
    By reviewers
    Company SizeCount
    Small Business8
    Midsize Enterprise9
    Large Enterprise19
    No data available
     

    Comparisons

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    Compared 19% of the time
    StorMagic SvSAN vs StarWind Virtual Tape Library Logo
    StorMagic SvSAN vs StarWind Virtual Tape Library
    Compared 18% of the time
    DataCore SANsymphony vs StarWind Virtual Tape Library Logo
    DataCore SANsymphony vs StarWind Virtual Tape Library
    Compared 18% of the time
    FalconStor FreeStor vs StarWind Virtual Tape Library Logo
    FalconStor FreeStor vs StarWind Virtual Tape Library
    Compared 17% of the time
    More StarWind Virtual Tape Library Competitors
     

    Product Reports

    Buyer's Guide
    NetApp HCI [EOL]
    August 2025
    NetApp HCI [EOL] reportDownload NetApp HCI [EOL] product report
    Buyer's Guide
    Software Defined Storage (SDS)
    September 2025
    StarWind Virtual Tape Library reportDownload StarWind Virtual Tape Library product report
     

    Overview

    NetApp HCI is the only true enterprise-scale hyper converged cloud infrastructure. NetApp HCI comes in a 2 RU chassis with 4 node expansion slots.

    NetApp

    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. 

    StarWind
     

    Sample Customers

    American Showa, Children's Mercy, Coca-Cola, Consultel Cloud, Evangelische Landeskirche in Wurttemberg, Imperva, Surface Mount Technology
    Volvo, Sony, Samsung, Hitachi
    Buyer's Guide
    HCI
    September 2025
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