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Scale Computing Platform vs StarWind Virtual SAN comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

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

Scale Computing Platform
Ranking in HCI
18th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Edge Computing Platforms (5th)
StarWind Virtual SAN
Ranking in HCI
4th
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
213
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Storage (SDS) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the HCI category, the mindshare of Scale Computing Platform is 2.7%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of StarWind Virtual SAN is 2.4%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
HCI Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
StarWind Virtual SAN2.4%
Scale Computing Platform2.7%
Other94.9%
HCI
 

Featured Reviews

AbdulSattar - PeerSpot reviewer
Channel Sales Manager at Softech Microsystems
Extremely easy to learn and use for beginners
Some features go well with other tools like VMware, where making something on the fly or making some changes on the fly in the area of memory or something is possible. On the fly, you cannot do anything on Scale Computing HC3, though it is a very rarely needed area. Being able to make some changes on the fly is very risky, but even then, you see customers saying since it is an area that is not possible with Scale Computing HC3, it is better to go with some other tools. My company convinces our customers that opting for another solution is not required since a tool that allows us to make some changes on the fly can be very risky, and it is also not something that fits in according to certain policies or good practices.
Jccerong Heron - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Support team has guided us through deploying virtual storage on legacy hardware and reducing operational costs
The reason I chose StarWind Virtual SAN for this particular scenario is really the features, the ease of use, and most importantly, the price. In my opinion, the best features StarWind Virtual SAN offers are easy integration with the system installed in the data center. The integration with my existing systems in the data center works well, especially with VMware, as we already have a big cluster in VMware, and the easy integration with that is helpful to solve some problems with the platform. StarWind Virtual SAN has positively impacted my organization by reducing OPEX costs. My OPEX costs have gone down as we reutilize some old servers, and this reduces the CAPEX of hardware in the data center.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It gives the ease of management for a small IT department."
"The most valuable features are the appliance-type feel and that you don't need additional licenses as everything is built-in."
"The product's initial setup phase is too easy."
"I like that Scale Computing HCR is slimmed down and gives me the features I need and not features that I don't need."
"The solution is quite stable; it's rock solid, there are no bugs or glitches, it doesn't crash or freeze, and it's quite reliable."
"The most valuable feature of Scale Computing HC3 is if one of the devices fails, you won't even notice, the service maintains operation. The customers don't have to waste two, or three days on delays. Additionally, you do not have to waste time with recovery software, it is a lot easier."
"Scale Computing HC3 is highly stable."
"I would advise others they should use this solution instead of traditional servers because it's safer, and better for the company."
"Since StarWind's solution has served us very well over the last two years already, I would recommend it."
"The user interface for this application is amazing."
"Starwind made it easy to deploy fully redundant, highly available storage at a low cost."
"All working perfectly, and we are able to make updates and upgrades without any cut on our current production where we work 24 hours a day, seven days a week."
"During the failover, only a few seconds of downtime were seen, proving to me that I can count on StarWind during business hours and know that they have our back at the host level."
"StarWind Virtual SAN is a very easy-to-use solution that can be quickly and easily deployed and configured without intimate and specific knowledge in the virtualization sphere."
"This solution made it possible to make a quick start of the project on the transition from a physical environment to a virtual one in 2009 with minimal financial costs."
"This was a great implementation for a small to mid-size business, allowing us to take advantage of all the Hyper-V features and live migrations without the expense of dedicated SANs while performing maintenance on either host during the day with users not even noticing a difference in performance."
 

Cons

"I would like bigger clusters with more than eight nodes."
"Scale Computing HC3 said in an announcement they were going to integrate with a backup service which would be good. If they could do this it would be beneficial."
"The snapshot technology takes up 500 times more space compared to other solutions."
"I've had so many issues with the sales team when I was looking to make some improvements, and improve the performance. They would create so many excuses to force me to buy new nodes all the time and not let me add more memory to each node."
"There could be an easier way to see which servers are on each node"
"On the fly, you cannot do anything on Scale Computing HC3, though it is a very rarely needed area."
"The product struggles to cope with bigger workloads. In the next release, I'd like some backup solutions to be added."
"Scale HC3 improvements would involve literally fixing up the replication."
"I'm sure it needs bug fixes, and there are new features coming down the pipe, but it works great."
"The number of different ways you can set it up can make it a little daunting."
"This solution should be more self-sufficient, running without creating domains or failover clusters."
"There needs to be more visibility on how long the cloud replication will take as there is no current ETA."
"It is hard to find adequate technical documentation on their support website."
"Some of the documentation seems to be a bit older and refers to deprecated items."
"I would like to see more monitoring and alert tools."
"The main reason I gave it a 7 instead of an 8 or 9 is the limited feature access in a free version available during my testing."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is worth the money, but I would not say it's very cheap or very expensive."
"I give the pricing a nine out of ten."
"I pay for Scale Computing HC3 and it includes customer service for one year. We paid for an additional year for customer service but that includes the updates and everything for the software. Additionally, the licensing is for Windows, which is the same for everybody."
"rate HC3's pricing a five out of ten since it is affordable."
"Once you buy the license, you are free to build your own hardware solution based on your needs."
"The pricing is excellent. It will run on anything. You don't have to buy a $100,000 server, with hardware you don't need. You just pay for the license and you're good to go."
"This is a good, economical solution compared to data storage systems."
"The Price/Performance ratio for this solution is outstanding!"
"StarWind is best price/performance for SMB."
"We found that the pricing was perfect; simple and clear."
"The cost takes into account the number of nodes, so the size of the storage is not important."
"StarWind is a low-cost, full-featured alternative to the traditional SAN environment, and their support will guide you every step of the setup."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business170
Midsize Enterprise57
Large Enterprise34
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for StarWind Virtual SAN?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for StarWind Virtual SAN is very simple; that is another good thing about it, as the pricing is really straightforward. I got a quote, and it w...
What needs improvement with StarWind Virtual SAN?
StarWind Virtual SAN has latency that is not as good versus VMware vSAN, but I believe it is more of a Hyper-V limitation than it is StarWind Virtual SAN; it is not bad enough to be an issue, but i...
What is your primary use case for StarWind Virtual SAN?
My main use case for StarWind Virtual SAN is that it replaced our VMware vSAN. I transitioned from VMware vSAN to StarWind Virtual SAN due to the dramatic increase in VMware licensing costs followi...
 

Also Known As

Scale Computing HC3
StarWind SAN & NAS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Resorts World Las Vegas, Stena, Telford Offshore, Goodwill, Sandals, Jerry's Enterprises, Mendard's Royal Farms, Delhaize, Benchmark Electronics, Classic Hotels, Genting Casino, Lindt, Sainsbury's, Landmark Cinemas, Golden Queen Mining, Coca Cola. Holiday Inn, Iron County School District, Sevier County Bank, City of St. Cloud Minnesota, Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly, KIB Electronics, Brake Masters, Lincoln County Hospital, Ohio Summit County Board of Elections
Baker Tilly BVI, CMS Internet, Board Harpeth Hall School
Find out what your peers are saying about Scale Computing Platform vs. StarWind Virtual SAN and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.