What is our primary use case?
We went with StarWind HCA primarily for Hyper-V Clustering.
We were having hardware issues that lead to downtime on our single server environment.
We aren't "huge," so IT budgeting is tight. However, every dime spent on our HCA has been 100% worth it.
Since implementation, we've had nearly no downtime. No downtime has been thanks to the HCA itself. I'll definitely go with StarWind when we're ready for a hardware refresh. It's a no-brainer. The prices are obviously more than we had been used to in the past. However, it's been worth the investment.
How has it helped my organization?
Uptime alone has been substantially increased.
Repair efforts have been reduced to nearly nothing.
Monitoring is provided free of cost to StarWind, which also reduced expenses.
In instances where we had issues outside of the HCA, StarWind support has gone above and beyond to help us diagnose Windows issues.
I've been in IT for 15 years now, and you kind of expect to have to "work on things" as part of your job description. That said, we're 3 years in, and I have yet to "need" to work on anything with the hardware or software. It just works.
What is most valuable?
Support is the highest on my list in terms of great aspects. You simply cannot have issues, as they're on top of monitoring and resolution.
Uptime is the second-best aspect of the product. The software solution is so solid, you don't really have issues; however, when you do, support is there to jump in and help you fix it.
Honestly, with those two items, there's no reason to "not" use them. In my experience, you want your solutions to work, and when they don't, to get them fixed fast. It's a combo that StarWind has perfected and is the reason I don't even want to look anywhere else for other solutions.
What needs improvement?
I'd like a better UI and some limitations on "breaking it." Best practices ask you not to reboot both servers simultaneously, as it breaks the "heartbeat" between the servers. I didn't know that during my first week having it, and sure enough, I had some issues. Maybe there could be some notifications like "are you sure you want to reboot" or whatnot to prevent issues like the one I experienced.
StarWind did release a VM that had some integration into the Windows cluster side of things. However, I found it easier to just use the Windows tools. Maybe if it was more robust, I'd use it. That's not the case at this point in time.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution since 2019.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We do not need to scale. Still, you can scale to more than 3+ servers in the StarWinds solution.
How are customer service and support?
Support is the best thing about StarWind. I can't praise them enough. The initial setup and purchase are a single point in time and support is ongoing. You need an amazing support team to have an amazing product. And StarWind is an amazing product.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not switch from something else. The adoption of this product was just a massive upgrade for our company.
How was the initial setup?
The setup was easy. The hardware came pre-configured, and support did the rest of the network-specific setup after we had the hardware installed. It was the best experience I've had with a vendor.
What about the implementation team?
StarWind support only employs experts. I have yet to deal with anyone on their support team that didn't know the product inside and out. It's really refreshing compared to other vendors I have to deal with.
What was our ROI?
We produce 15-20 full kitchens a day. The ROI was almost instant when you consider we had been down two days the month before.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Pricing was a bit high. That said, it was on par with other solutions we looked into. It's worth it alone for the support.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
StarWind had me sold. I was looking at doing a SAN with two Hyper-V's, however, why buy additional hardware when it can be done more simply with the same results.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.