StarWind HyperConverged Appliance vs VMware Software Defined Storage comparison

StarWind and VMware are both solutions in the Software Defined Storage (SDS) category. StarWind is ranked #11 with an average rating of 10.0, while VMware is ranked #15 with an average rating of 8.5. StarWind holds a 2.1% mindshare in SDS, compared to VMware’s 0.9% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of StarWind users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of VMware users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 5, 2024

StarWind HyperConverged Appliance and VMware Software Defined Storage compete in the hyper-converged infrastructure category. StarWind seems to have the upper hand with a more cost-effective solution, while VMware offers greater feature richness often at a higher cost.

Features: StarWind HyperConverged Appliance offers live migration, a simplified management interface, and high availability. It is praised for proactive support and low cost. VMware Software Defined Storage shines with high availability against data corruption, redundancy, and scalability, along with superior technical support.

Room for Improvement: StarWind users indicate a demand for an enhanced GUI for system health monitoring and simpler hardware updates. VMware users seek performance improvements, better replication processes, and increased hardware compatibility. Each platform has specific areas requiring enhancements.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: StarWind provides diverse deployment experiences and highly praised customer service with proactive support, though minor language barriers are noted. VMware offers excellent tech support, but with fewer deployment testimonials compared to StarWind.

Pricing and ROI: StarWind is valued for its reasonable pricing, especially for small to medium businesses, with commendable ROI and low associated costs. VMware is noted for being expensive, with hefty costs for both software and hardware, but justifies this through its rich features, though it may deter budget-conscious users.

To learn more, read our detailed StarWind HyperConverged Appliance vs. VMware Software Defined Storage Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

StarWind HyperConverged Appliance vs. VMware Software Defined Storage

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

Pure Storage FlashBlade

Mindshare comparison

As of June 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 StarWind HyperConverged Appliance is 2.1%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Software Defined Storage is 0.9%, down from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Software Defined Storage (SDS)

Featured Reviews

Eric Black

Solutions Architect at Recovery Point Systems

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.

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Russ Le Puill

IT Manager at St Peter's Church of England Aided School

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.

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Achilles Lobo

Infrastructure Architect at Grupo Protege

Simple to configure and provides good performance

The solution is simple to configure and provides good performance and less footprint. Dell deployed the solution, and it's very simple to use. VMware software is widely used by IT administrators VMware Software Defined Storage can be improved in the replication area. The solution has some…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Approximately 40% to 50% of my time is saved using Pure Storage FlashBlade compared to different products."

"The tool's most valuable features are data warehousing, speedy recovery, and analytics. Its latest release is cost-effective."

"The most valuable features are the Metro clustering, and disaster recovery."

"It has also helped to simplify storage for us in the way that it's easy to manage. Their automatic monitoring really helps when things break or are about to break. They see a problem coming and alert us even before our own system does."

"I would rate Pure Storage FlashBlade a ten out of ten."

"It performs well and it is also very fast."

"Speed and ease of use are the two most valuable features."

"It helps simplify our storage, because the user interface is very simple and the installation is easy."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade pros

"In our experience with StarWind, the support has been by far the most valuable feature."

"With proactive support, StarWind deploys and configures the solution for you."

"Customer service has been excellent. Any questions we have had have been answered quickly."

"The presence of built-in storage saved the company from having to purchase a separate storage array and related network equipment."

"The high-quality hardware options, directly affecting performance, have significantly improved the user experience and are well worth the cost."

"It did not hurt that the price for the hardware and three years of support cost less than the disparate hardware the cluster used to run on."

"The hosts came preconfigured, and it was plug-and-play."

"Being able to upgrade machines and software during business operations just by switching nodes has been a huge improvement. We"

More StarWind HyperConverged Appliance pros

"The most valuable features of the solution are that it is easy to deploy and the support is really good."

"The most valuable features of VMware Software Defined Storage are scalability, high availability, and performance."

"The best part of the solution is that you can actually scale up to a large number of operating systems without additional hardware."

"The single management panel is the main feature that is wonderful for the customer."

"VMware Software Defined Storage gives higher availability against data corruption."

"This is an easy-to-use product for adding flexibility to your storage solution."

"The most valuable features of VMware Software Defined Storage are scalability, high availability, and performance."

"The solution is simple to configure and provides good performance and less footprint."

Cons

"The solution is expensive."

"It would be nice if you could store file-based in the same box with the same technology."

"The Pure Storage Orchestrator is our biggest pain point at the moment. If we can have more say in future developments of feature sets that we will need to support for our use case, that would be pretty beneficial to us."

"In the realm of micro-services, I think that Pure Storage can do well if they start getting in there and making their arrays more micro-services ready."

"I would like to see better integration."

"They need better integration with public clouds along with a better hybrid solution."

"The speed could be improved."

"It usually comes down to just what you hit and the value you're getting when you spend the money and license the products. I would always go, "If you want to make things better, lower your price and make your licensing simpler." There's always an opportunity around that."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade cons

"Maybe they could have a support portal that you can have direct access to a current support representative."

"Most meetings are done via Zoom, and I'm sure you could switch to a text based conversation if needed as they seem like a very accommodating team. It's not something I would worry about if you are a potential client."

"If I had to pick something to add to the product, it would be nice if you could have more than one user account on their command center VM."

"The overall product documentation and knowledgebase articles could use some rewriting and clarification."

"A desired feature or service is the ability to have a hardware subscription plan that ensures routine hardware updates in conjunction with the hyper-converged software."

"I would request that the terms and conditions be reviewed and made more acceptable to corporate security so that we could finally turn on the proactive support feature, as it is included with our support agreement."

"CSVs require the storage to be configured through iSCSI, even though the storage is local."

"Shipping options should be explained in detail and offer more white glove delivery options even if it comes at an additional cost for some SMBs without docks."

More StarWind HyperConverged Appliance cons

"Simplifying the licensing model and making it cheaper would improve the solution."

"The license model of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."

"The solution has some limitations in terms of replication to remote sites or cloud infrastructure, which need improvement."

"I'd like to see improved hardware compatibility"

"It doesn't have the ability to be deployed on any kind of hardware and network connectors."

"The performance is not as good as some competing products and reporting can be improved."

"VMware Software Defined Storage should include a shared database on a standard version."

"There is room for more integrations and plugins into more storages."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing fees are paid yearly."

"Our licensing is renewed annually."

"The price of this solution could be made more affordable."

"It is within reason for what you get. From what we have found comparing it to other vendors, it is in the same range as others. Given the choice, we would definitely redeploy it based on the cost."

"Pure Storage FlashBlade is a hardware appliance, and it's very expensive if you compare its price with other solutions. You can get the same features and benefits from its competitor, VAST Data, but for half the price of Pure Storage FlashBlade."

"Our customers have seen a reduction in TCO."

"I have seen ROI. It has allowed me to increase the density of my VMs without having to purchase anything additional."

"I understand that it is competitively priced compared to other brands."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade pricing and cost advice

"I was able to bring the price per year down by going out to a five-year plan."

"We looked at Nutanix and found it did almost the same thing but for more money. In fact, StarWind was nearly one-third of the price; it cost us £36,000. That includes five years of monitoring... The Nutanix was near enough £110,000 for relatively the same amount of performance and storage."

"The Nutanix piece was about $45,000, getting close to $50,000 with all the licensing involved, whereas the StarWind was less than half of that, after Microsoft licensing and such."

"In terms of cost, a storage array is more expensive... For half the cost of Compellent, I got two hosts, more storage, and redundancy."

"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."

"Its cost was reasonable."

"We didn't have any issue with pricing or any of the sales process."

"When I researched they came the most cost-effective."

More StarWind HyperConverged Appliance pricing and cost advice

"The product is quite expensive and is among the most expensive for this type of solution."

"VMware Software Defined Storage is a slightly expensive solution."

"A single socket costs you around US $6,000 for three years. At a minimum, you have a three load cluster for a medium or enterprise-scale company. It can get quite expensive because you're likely to need four to six sockets on the other side. It comes to around $30,000."

"I believe there is a yearly licensing fee of around $2000 - $5000. I don't think there are additional costs above that but it depends on the type of infrastructure you're booting."

"The solution is very expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Educational Organization

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

14%

Educational Organization

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

No data available

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...

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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...

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What needs improvement with Pure Storage FlashBlade?

Its configuration should be easier. There should be easier language for the configuration.

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.

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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...

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 Virtua...

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What do you like most about VMware Software Defined Storage?

VMware Software Defined Storage gives higher availability against data corruption.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Software Defined Storage?

The price of VMware Software Defined Storage is on the pricey side, rated four out of five in cost. There is room for...

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What needs improvement with VMware Software Defined Storage?

There is room for more integrations and plugins into more storages. More automation, such as using Playbook on Ansibl...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 20% of the time

Red Hat Ceph Storage vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 11% of the time

MinIO vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 11% of the time

Pure Storage FlashArray vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 10% of the time

VAST Data vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 10% of the time

More Pure Storage FlashBlade Competitors

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs StarWind HyperConverged Appliance

Compared 28% of the time

StorMagic SvSAN vs StarWind HyperConverged Appliance

Compared 20% of the time

VxRail vs StarWind HyperConverged Appliance

Compared 14% of the time

Azure Stack HCI vs StarWind HyperConverged Appliance

Compared 12% of the time

DataCore SANsymphony vs StarWind HyperConverged Appliance

Compared 11% of the time

More StarWind HyperConverged Appliance Competitors

DataCore SANsymphony vs VMware Software Defined Storage

Compared 38% of the time

IBM Spectrum Scale vs VMware Software Defined Storage

Compared 33% of the time

Red Hat Ceph Storage vs VMware Software Defined Storage

Compared 28% of the time

More VMware Software Defined Storage Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure Storage FlashBlade

June 2025

Download Pure Storage FlashBlade product report

Buyer's Guide

StarWind HyperConverged Appliance

May 2025

StarWind HyperConverged Appliance report

Download StarWind HyperConverged Appliance product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware Software Defined Storage

May 2025

Download VMware Software Defined Storage product report

Also Known As

No data available

VMware SDS

Overview

FlashBlade is the industry’s most advanced scale-out storage for unstructured data, powered by a modern, massively parallel architecture to consolidate complex data silos (like backup appliances and data lakes) and accelerate tomorrow’s discoveries and insights.

Pure Storage

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

VMware software-defined storage is a simple, yet intelligent, storage data center architecture that aligns with business and application demands—eliminating static, purpose-built and inefficient hardware with dynamic, agile and automated solutions.

VMware

Sample Customers

ServiceNow, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Dominos, Man AHL

Sears Home and Franchise Business

Helse Nord, Sky

Buyer's Guide

StarWind HyperConverged Appliance vs. VMware Software Defined Storage

June 2025

Free Report: StarWind HyperConverged Appliance vs. VMware Software Defined Storage

Find out what your peers are saying about StarWind HyperConverged Appliance vs. VMware Software Defined Storage and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.

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