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Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) vs StarWind Virtual SAN comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 5, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
8.4
Pure Storage FlashBlade delivers cost savings, efficiency gains, and increased VM density, with returns seen within four years.
Sentiment score
7.6
Many users report positive ROI with Nutanix Unified Storage, citing cost savings, improved uptime, efficiency, and better resource management.
Sentiment score
7.4
StarWind Virtual SAN offers high performance, cost savings, and rapid ROI by maximizing existing hardware and ensuring operational efficiency.
We don't sell a lot of redundant servers, so it's not a massive ROI, but the ability to rely on their technical support and the software's ease of setup allows us to reduce labor costs and go to market competitively.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.2
Pure Storage FlashBlade's customer service is praised for expertise but sometimes experiences slower responses due to growth challenges.
Sentiment score
8.1
Nutanix Unified Storage excels in customer service with responsive support but could improve response times for complex issues.
Sentiment score
8.4
StarWind Virtual SAN's support is efficient, knowledgeable, proactive, and highly rated for prompt responses and effective communication.
I would rate them an eight out of ten.
They come on the call, start troubleshooting immediately, and resolve issues effectively.
When we set it up, they validate our settings and configurations to ensure we don't miss anything.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.9
Pure Storage FlashBlade is praised for its scalability and ease of expansion, satisfying various industries like banking and media.
Sentiment score
8.1
Nutanix Unified Storage is highly scalable, easy to expand without downtime, and efficient in diverse environments.
Sentiment score
7.8
StarWind Virtual SAN offers seamless scalability and flexibility, accommodating diverse IT environments with high performance and adaptability.
I can rack mount the server or node and add it to the cluster anytime with just one click.
I believe that scalability should be further improved, especially considering the possibility that environments may grow exponentially.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.8
Pure Storage FlashBlade is highly rated for stability, reliability, and performance, with minimal downtime and swift recovery.
Sentiment score
8.6
Nutanix Unified Storage is highly stable and reliable, with minimal downtime and high user satisfaction across various sectors.
Sentiment score
8.6
StarWind Virtual SAN is praised for reliability, minimal downtime, handling updates smoothly, and requiring little administrative effort.
In case there is any issue with any blade, the data is moved to another.
Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) is very stable.
 

Room For Improvement

Users want better cloud integration, support, pricing, efficiency, and improvements in analytics, configuration, and backup for FlashBlade.
Nutanix Unified Storage needs better third-party integration, improved user interface, advanced features, and competitive pricing.
StarWind Virtual SAN needs improved documentation, integration, monitoring, automation, intuitive UI, simpler pricing, and enhanced cloud, security, and geolocation features.
Its configuration should be easier.
It requires command line interventions, indicating gaps between the GUI and command lines.
A more intuitive interface or an improved dashboard for monitoring the cluster would also be helpful, as it would facilitate performance tracking and help identify potential issues before they affect services.
Having more visibility on what's actually happening when an error occurs would be beneficial.
Initially, there was a bit of a learning curve for some of our users, but Microsoft's documentation was helpful.
 

Setup Cost

Pure Storage FlashBlade is costlier but valued for performance, ease, and reliability, justifying its comprehensive licensing with included software.
Nutanix Unified Storage is costly but offers value with advanced features and flexibility, appealing to enterprise clients.
StarWind Virtual SAN offers cost-effective pricing and scalability with a perpetual license, minimizing setup and maintenance expenses.
VMware is costlier than Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS).
The pricing can be a bit complex depending on the features you need.
 

Valuable Features

Pure Storage FlashBlade offers high performance, scalability, and ease of use with excellent data protection and seamless integration for large storage needs.
Nutanix Unified Storage provides user-friendly, scalable, and secure storage with seamless integration, high availability, and robust analytics features.
StarWind Virtual SAN excels in support, integration, and performance, offering cost-effective, reliable storage using existing hardware and software.
We can plug in many blades, and we can have data up to one terabyte.
The file server is very good for all the environments because previously, we needed to create separate file servers.
StarWind Virtual SAN helps us keep customer satisfaction and provides the solutions we need without having to hire many IT specialists.
Thanks to its seamless integration with Proxmox, the implementation of high availability servers has drastically reduced downtime, which is crucial for our security-focused company.
The multi-factor authentication also adds a much-needed layer of security, especially with so many people working remotely these days.
 

Categories and Ranking

Pure Storage FlashBlade
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.9
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
All-Flash Storage (17th), File and Object Storage (6th)
Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS)
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
73
Ranking in other categories
All-Flash Storage (6th), Software Defined Storage (SDS) (4th), Public Cloud Storage Services (6th), File and Object Storage (4th), NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays (4th)
StarWind Virtual SAN
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
192
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Storage (SDS) (1st), HCI (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Software Defined Storage (SDS) category, the mindshare of Pure Storage FlashBlade is 4.2%, down from 4.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) is 5.3%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of StarWind Virtual SAN is 7.2%, down from 8.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Software Defined Storage (SDS)
 

Featured Reviews

Eric Black - PeerSpot reviewer
The ability to leverage multi-tenancy along with immutability is a huge benefit for us
The only thing I feel FlashBlade is missing is the SOS API. If it had SOS API, that would put it well over the top. Veeam Backup specifically has started to streamline their API, and they are doing that with SOS API. They have optimized it. Any of the S3 devices out there that support this SOS API can have far more API calls at once. On our side, that translates to better restoration. With SOS API, it can leverage far more restorations at a single given time or read from the device in simple terms. That results in maximizing the output and throughput from the device itself.
Juan-Contreras - PeerSpot reviewer
Ensures streamlined management, simplified infrastructure, and efficient data handling
It has effectively managed our unstructured data, including audio and video files. We've experienced smooth operations without any complaints regarding uploading or downloading videos. While video usage isn't as frequent, we primarily utilize it for downloading videos related to specific incidents for administrators or our police department. We've encountered no issues uploading files of any kind. Transitioning from VMware to Nutanix has highlighted the overall flexibility of Nutanix's platform. Unlike VMware's three-tier system, Nutanix simplifies the learning curve by streamlining operations. The update process, in particular, has been favorable, with no critical issues encountered. The resiliency of Nutanix hasn't been thoroughly tested in our environment so far. However, I routinely check fault tolerance settings to ensure they meet our requirements. During the update process, I've observed critical errors occur as hosts restart, but Nutanix's self-healing mechanism handles these issues seamlessly. The benefit of using Nutanix is evident in several ways. Firstly, we've effectively compressed our storage while significantly expanding our overall storage pool. Previously, our service had a capacity of twenty-five terabytes, but with Nutanix, we've scaled up to a hundred and twenty terabytes physically and approximately fifty terabytes logically. This expansion has been accompanied by noticeable improvements in performance, particularly with reduced latency and IOPS well within the boundaries of our equipment. All our resources are centralized in a single location for managing and running storage: our data center. We operate three Nutanix nodes within this center, effectively managing everything from one central location. We don't have any other locations outside of our data center running a Nutanix cluster. Nutanix's capability to eliminate silos within our organization's storage infrastructure was discussed during our recent call with the engineer. Although we haven't explored this feature extensively yet, there's a forthcoming project where we anticipate leveraging it.One thing I'd appreciate is having a desktop application similar to what VMware offered. With VMware, I could download a separate client program onto my computer, allowing me to log in directly rather than accessing the host through a browser.
WJHG - PeerSpot reviewer
Seamless integrations, high availability, and offers a free version
Although I am generally satisfied with VSAN and its performance, there are some areas that could be improved to enhance its effectiveness even further. One area that could benefit from improvement is scalability. While the tool works well in its current configuration, allowing for greater ease and flexibility in adding new nodes to the cluster without complications would be very beneficial, especially in growing environments. Additionally, I would like to see additional features in the next version, such as better support for automated resource management. This could include proactive suggestions for optimizing storage and memory usage, as well as preventive alerts about the health status of the servers. A more intuitive interface or an improved dashboard for monitoring the cluster would also be helpful, as it would facilitate performance tracking and help identify potential issues before they affect services.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
28%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
33%
Educational Organization
19%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
4%
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pure Storage FlashBlade?
The tool's most valuable feature is its fast performance, especially in handling snapshots. It helps during power out...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pure Storage FlashBlade?
The pricing for FlashBlade is between cheap and moderate. FlashBlade is worth the money due to the experience and per...
What needs improvement with Pure Storage FlashBlade?
Its configuration should be easier. There should be easier language for the configuration.
What do you like most about Nutanix Unified Storage?
Nutanix has excellent product documentation available on their portals, written in simple, easy-to-understand language.
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) combin...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for StarWind Virtual SAN?
I can't give a sincere opinion on the installation and licensing costs because, as I have mentioned repeatedly, I am ...
What needs improvement with StarWind Virtual SAN?
More comprehensive reporting and educational resources for error resolution would enhance the user experience. There ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Nutanix Files Storage, Nutanix Volumes Block Storage, Nutanix Objects Storage
StarWind SAN & NAS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ServiceNow, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Dominos, Man AHL
JetBlue, International Speedway Corporation, Volkswagen SAIC, Brighton and Hove City Council, Foresters Financial, Janus International Group, Cloud Comrade, Serco
Baker Tilly BVI, CMS Internet, Board Harpeth Hall School
Find out what your peers are saying about Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) vs. StarWind Virtual SAN and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.