Systems Engineer / Systems Administrator
User
Great redundancy with a lower rack space footprint and helpful technical support
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution has provided our company with a fully redundant virtual environment at half the cost of a traditional SAN implementation."
  • "The only issue we have had was the issue of performance, however, that is only due to the fact that we purchased a mix of SSD and regular spindle drives, and restoring databases was slow as it was trying to restore the database using the spindle drives."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution as a virtual file server and Active Directory domain controller for the corporate office and virtual development and technical support environments for our developers and technical support staff for the timesheet software we develop in-house at our corporate office. 

We have an office space of about 30 employees, a mix of corporate and company employees. We currently have two HCAs in a rack cabinet in our server room, and, with the HCAs, there are no network switches required to support the SAN.

How has it helped my organization?

The solution has provided our company with a fully redundant virtual environment at half the cost of a traditional SAN implementation. Previously, we had the traditional SAN environment of 2-3 virtual hosts, 2 SAN switches for iSCSI, and then one storage array/server (all Dell hardware). The problem was the single point of failure (SPoF) at the bottom, which was the one storage server. Due to the cost, we could only afford one storage server, however, this meant we had a completely fully redundant SAN solution at half the cost and rack space footprint.

What is most valuable?

The redundancy, lower rack space footprint (no switches are needed for the SAN), and ease of management are the most valuable aspects of the product. At the same time, the technical support staff has been one of the most knowledgeable that I have ever seen. I purchased the support package where StarWind Support will support every aspect of the HCA - the virtual hosts/hardware, StarWind Software, and VMware vSphere/ESXi server software. The ease of installation was a plus and it was very easy to understand the concepts of the HCAs and the StarWind software.

What needs improvement?

For our use case, I seriously can't think of anything missing. For us, it's a set it and forget it kind of use. For us it improves our redundancy issues and the maintenance of the HyperConverged Appliances is next to nothing. 

The only issue we have had was the issue of performance, however, that is only due to the fact that we purchased a mix of SSD and regular spindle drives and restoring databases was slow as it was trying to restore the database using the spindle drives. Next time around, we will purchase all SSD drives which will resolve the issue.

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March 2024
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For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for two and a half years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

In the 2.5 years we have had our HCAs, I have had not one issue with stability and it primarily just works right out of the box.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

You can scale the HCAs by adding more CPUs, memory, network ports, and when needed, adding another node.

How are customer service and support?

Customer service/support is outstanding. All the guys that I have spoken with were highly professional, friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. With the Support level I signed up for, I only have to contact StarWind support for any issues I have with the virtual host hardware, the StarWind software, or the VMware hypervisor.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We used the Dell Compellent and EqualLogics which are highly expensive, so much so that we could only afford just one storage server in each environment which made them single points of failure, with no redundancy of the storage systems.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was easy and straightforward right out of the box with little help needed from StarWind Support. We were able to get it all up and running in two to five hours.

What about the implementation team?

The implementation was handled in-house with just me, one person, with a little guidance from StarWind Support.

What was our ROI?

There is a cost-saving in regards to the hardware and implementation itself. The time saved in having to manage the software itself also provides an ROI.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The setup cost is minimum (and very easy) and the price is usually half the cost of traditional SAN implementations. Licensing only pertains to the hypervisor and server OS that the StarWind SAN software will reside on.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We looked at Nutanix, Dell Compellent, EqualLogic, VMware ReadyNodes, and Scale Computing.

What other advice do I have?

For us, the StarWind HCAs almost works right out of the box and help me sleep at night knowing that we have a fully redundant SAN implementation.

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.
PeerSpot user
CEO at Geyma Sistemas de Informacion
User
Provided better performance and amortization of the implementations we did for clients, making their computer system a stable and agile system
Pros and Cons
  • "It is the perfect solution for hyper-convergence at a fair price. Our customers have Hyper-V and VMware environments, with Windows servers and Linux."
  • "The truth is that the operation and support offered is good, but we consider that the product's usability could improve, as well as the data resynchronization time after an unexpected closure."

What is our primary use case?

We trust StarWind and our customers support that trust. It makes virtualization easy and seamless. StarWind gives us what our companies need for optimal and secure growth. The solutions provided by StarWind can be implemented in any industry like government, education, manufacturing, services, or even ISP solutions. 

It is the perfect solution for hyper-convergence at a fair price. Our customers have Hyper-V and VMware environments, with Windows servers and Linux.

How has it helped my organization?

It works perfectly both in Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization solutions and in VMware virtualization solutions, integrating perfectly with the solutions of said manufacturers. Specifically, most of the solutions that we have implemented have been with Microsoft Hyper-V; its integration is complete.

StarWind provided better performance and amortization of the implementations we did for clients, making their computer system a stable and agile system. The solution is bug-free and highly available

What is most valuable?

For us, the greatest value that StarWind brings to Geyma and its clients is the proactive support of the implementation carried out. They monitor the servers, hardware, and services that are running at all times, notifying us very quickly if there is a problem with the implemented infrastructure and quickly triggering the alarms to be able to apply a quick and simple solution to the problem that may have arisen.

For this reason, we consider it a complete and reliable solution and we offer it to our clients.

What needs improvement?

StarWind can be implemented in any sector that requires high availability, reliability, and performance. The engineering team studies, designs, and reliably makes it available to the market. It is a complete solution.

The product fully meets current needs and I have no doubt that StarWind engineers will develop equally good solutions to meet future needs demanded by the industry.

The truth is that the operation and support offered are good, but we consider that the product's usability could improve, as well as the data resynchronization time after an unexpected closure.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been partners with StarWind for 8 years. For Geyma and all our clients, what has helped businesses grow is the robustness of the solution, flexibility, high availability, the support offered, and trust in a company that has demonstrated a successful journey. There has been good work in everything they have done

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used HP.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The cost is fair.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated HP.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
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StarWind HyperConverged Appliance
March 2024
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Software Developer at CanPay Software Inc.
User
Plug and play with a great support and lots of space saving
Pros and Cons
  • "Having this all backed up by pro-active support gives us good peace of mind."
  • "Maybe they could have a support portal that you can have direct access to a current support representative."

What is our primary use case?

We were looking to replace aging hardware in our environment. We had the classic two physical hosts with a SAN setup with VMware as our hypervisor. We actually had two SANs since we needed more space.  

The SANs were not redundant. They were se tup as a pool. We wanted to simplify this setup and also reduce the single point of failure. Being a SMB, we have a small office and rack space is at a premium. We could not fit more than a few more servers on our rack without purchasing a new rack and finding a spot for it.

How has it helped my organization?

StarWind, with all SSDs and directly attached servers, gave us far superior performance than our previous setup. We can now have vMotion VMs in a matter of seconds rather than minutes. 

Although we haven't removed the previous equipment yet, I'm looking forward to removing all the cables running through all the switches. Also, having all the extra space on the rack is going to be nice. This will substantially reduce the amount of noise in the datacenter. 

Having this all backed up by pro-active support gives us good peace of mind.

What is most valuable?

The solution is plug and play. I was very happy that everything was delivered all tested and setup ready to go. I simply racked the servers, plugged them in and called for setup. It's so simple.

The simple two 1U server setup with all flash disks connected together with an ultrafast redundant Mellanox nics is great. It has saved us space and increased performance. It also reduced the noise pollution and energy costs.

The proactive support is a very valuable feature. I have not yet had to use support for anything major, however, I have asked a few questions and there is always a prompt reply.

What needs improvement?

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

During setup we had a bit of a tricky situation that had to do with switching. The StarWind engineer recognized the possible problem with migration before it happened.  

During test migration when things went down it would have been nice to be able to reach out directly rather then send an email to support and wait for a reply.  It was not a long wait, however, it can feel like forever when in a tough situation.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've used the solution for six months.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
IT Infrastructure Manager at TPRG
User
Clean, quick to install, and easily configured
Pros and Cons
  • "The easy way everything can be configured and ready to run in less than a day is great."
  • "Not much can be improved, to be honest."

What is our primary use case?

The solution provides hyper-converged storage for cluster virtualization hosts and is used alongside Hyper-v for a highly secure, robust, resilient storage solution. Its works with all hypervisors on the market today.

My use case saw it removing SAN architecture in favor of hyper-converged storage directly attached to my hosts, in testing the speed of which is comparable to any other storage solutions available.

It has allowed me to expand my virtualization footprint whilst reducing my overall physical server footprint.

How has it helped my organization?

It has removed the need for large shared storage that is not directly attached to the virtual hosts make it a deal to deal with, it also self heals in the event of any major incident or down time, along with the 24/7 support and the most knowledgably staff when needed.

It has allowed me to expand my virtualization foot print whilst reducing my overall physical server foot print.

This solution has allowed me to remove other storage solutions reduce physical footprint of equipment as well as power usage.

What is most valuable?

The easy way everything can be configured and ready to run in less than a day is great. 

The support staff knows the product inside out and any issues that were thrown up they knew how to resolve immediately.

The ongoing maintenance and monitoring are key to the product catalog and allow for smooth and seamless ongoing use. 

It is helping reduce out-of-hours calls and it also helps with identifying predicted failure patterns, to assist in the very most uptime of production servers 365 days a year and 24/7.

What needs improvement?

Not much can be improved, to be honest. The solution is clean, quick to install, and has had no issues since the day we started using it. The features are improving every version level, however, I cannot think of anything I would really require to change at this moment in time.

It also offers an exclusive version of StarWind Virtual SAN which can be installed on just a few nodes in a much bigger cluster. There’s absolutely no need to enable it and pay license fees for all of the nodes. 

Some vendors will currently ask you to pay for all nodes in a cluster. StarWind Virtual SAN does best breed of scale-out and scale-up approaches combined in a single cluster.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for six months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have done vigorous testing prior to live install and the stability of the system is excellent.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is amazing as it allows for a scale-out and scale-up approaches combined in a single cluster.

How are customer service and support?

Every time I have called, I have gotten the person I need along with an answer to my questions.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I just used a SAN Storage solution. I switched for reduced physical servers and power consumption.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was a breeze. StarWind support did it all for me.

What about the implementation team?

The StarWind in-house team did it all for me and I would rate them ten out of ten.

What was our ROI?

Currently I do not have any ROI figures.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

StarWind can help identify exactly what you need and help identify the best hardware for the best price.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We looked at Dell Equal Logic SAN Storage solutions.

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.
PeerSpot user
IT Manager at Streeter Marshall LLP
User
Good replication, cuts down on hardware, and great performance
Pros and Cons
  • "How quickly the StarWind solution replicates also gives us the confidence to know that in the event of catastrophic failure of any piece of hardware, we won't be far behind before things went wrong."
  • "It would be nice if the software told you a new version was available and prompted you to do the upgrade to keep everything up to date."

What is our primary use case?

We migrated away from separate storage, computing, and switches to StarWind to enable us to condense and simplify our environment. 

We rely on StarWind to provide all of our storage, via the flash drives in the box, and the compute in a single solution but also to provide redundancy with its replication to another StarWind box. 

We now host all of our VMWare ESXi environments on the StarWind boxes and we wouldn't look back. We haven't had any real-world failures in the time that we have used StarWind but we have been able to prove it works many times during simulated failures and this gives us the confidence to continue using the platform.

How has it helped my organization?

It cut down the need to run multiple pieces of hardware to achieve the same goal, this also freed up valuable rack space. 

How quickly the StarWind solution replicates also gives us the confidence to know that in the event of catastrophic failure of any piece of hardware, we won't be far behind before things went wrong. 

We also used the move to StarWind to finally move to an all-flash array away from traditional HDDs, the performance improvement was noticeable right away and we are so glad we did so. 

What is most valuable?

The replication between the StarWind boxes. As I stated previously, although we have had no real issues, we have been able to simulate failures and be able to see that the failover kicks in immediately. 

This replication also allows us to perform maintenance easily on the ESXi environment for things such as software updates as we can quickly move all of the computing to a single server and shut the other one down without the need for any downtime during the working day. This means less time out of hours is needed to perform tasks that would have previously meant someone had to work late to complete them.

What needs improvement?

We haven't yet really found anything that we think needs immediate improvement. I am clutching at straws to find something if I am honest so would probably go with product updates. 

It would be nice if the software told you a new version was available and prompted you to do the upgrade to keep everything up to date. At the moment we tend to find out via the support team on the very odd occasion we do have a reason to talk to them. 

Otherwise, we have found it to work flawlessly and without issue. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for three years.

How are customer service and support?

Support is absolutely fantastic; we couldn't rate them highly enough.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very straightforward. 

What about the implementation team?

StarWind themselves set up calls to help us get the environment going.

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.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
IT Manager at TrendHR
Real User
Great support and automated monitoring with excellent cost savings
Pros and Cons
  • "The pricing and discounts given by Starwind on the hardware were unmatched."
  • "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."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case of the HCA is to provide a Highly Available, clustered virtualization environment to house all of our internally operational VMs. 

We host all of our internal server infrastructure on the HCA utilizing Hyper-V as our virtualization platform. 

The performance of an all SSD storage array allows us to easily and quickly expand our interal servers as needed without worries of performance degradation.  

The largest benefit to our company was to finally be able to have a no single point of failure setup at a pricepoint that was below that of competing enteprise oriented solutions. 

How has it helped my organization?

The HCA appliance replaced aging hardware, formerly cluster-in-a-box solutions, at a savings of over $20,000.00 and provided increased performance and more redundancy. The pricing and discounts given by Starwind on the hardware were unmatched. 

The HCA solution provides increased redundancy in that all storage is duplicated between multiple servers with multiple arrays of drives, rather than depending upon a single storage solution. It also allows us to utilize more cost-effective storage solutions rather than being handcuffed to dual port SSD with their higher price points when the performance far exceeds our needs. 

What is most valuable?

If you stay with a two or three-node solution, the HCA allows you to eliminate implementing a redundant storage network switch solution providing tons of savings on top of the affordable HCA offering. 

Additionally, the server cluster manager web tool provided by Starwind provides fast information at a glance to give you a complete overview of all virtualization, compute, storage, memory, and network resources throughout your network in a single plane of glass. 

The support and automated monitoring is a huge improvement over our previous vendor's offerings as well. It truly feels like we have a point of escalation on any issues and that provides a large amount of comfort to our small team. 

What needs improvement?

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. 

Our only pain point has been dealing with the freight shipping initially not showing up when promised, then showing up unannounced, and then sending us some small fees afterward due to the fact that we made them wait (since we weren't expecting them). Starwind has taken care of all of the fees after the fact, however, and they were more than accomodating in resolving the situation. 

We would like more visibility into the reporting that Starwind uses to monitor our solution for errors. We'd like to be able to receive the same data and notifications that their team receives.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using the HCA for almost one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

So far, we have had zero downtime. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The product is moderately scaleable. It should fit any SMB and works even in larger organizations. The product allows quick additional of multiple nodes. At a certain point, eventually your storage replication might be better served by dedicated sans rather than the VSAN, or it might be beneficial to check out the newer Storage Spaces in DataCenter edition when it comes to storage scaling up. However, I think the VSAN included with the cluster will meet most small and medium sized deployments by just adding more nodes with additional storage when needed. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We used cluster-in-a-box from DataON. We switched as they were reaching the end of life and it did not provide an affordable solution to replace it.

How was the initial setup?

The solution offers an easy setup. Support was there to hold hands as needed every step of the way, with a dedicated contact point who took us through the entire process. She was great!

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We do not have any warnings to share. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We looked at options from TrueNas, DataOn, Dell, and HPE. 

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.
PeerSpot user
Director Of Information Technology at Rocco's Collision Center
User
Cost-effective with an increased user experience and better uptime
Pros and Cons
  • "Being able to log on to the GUI to see specific data and usage statistics, executing clones, starting and stopping VMs, etc., is great."
  • "The only issues are when Hyper V itself has limitations and I'd love to see support or enhancement in the area of direct-attached GPU cards."

What is our primary use case?

We use the StarWind HCA primarily and in its entirety to serve as our primary hyper-converged infrastructure in order to serve all of our virtual servers. In this environment, we have an RDSH server farm utilizing GPU cards. We also utilize backup software that connects directly to this environment. Being able to have our entire environment run on a single platform by a single vendor both hardware and software is huge for us. We don't have the time or resources to go to many vendors or have them point to other vendors as issues.

How has it helped my organization?

This solution improved our environment from an increased user experience and administrative experience. We have had much better uptime and product speed since switching to the HCA platform by StarWind. Our organization has required less 3rd party resources and software to provide speed and flexibility to both our IT staff and our end users. The solution specifically allows us to focus more of our time on software development and process changes utilizing the hardware, as opposed to supporting the hardware itself.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the flexibility of Hypervisor and there is no vendor lock-in including the hardware the system runs on. I find it powerful and I am able to use the StarWind GUI or the Microsoft back-end Hyper-V. Everything works hand in hand and neither side forces me to do something in a specific way. Being able to log on to the GUI to see specific data and usage statistics, executing clones, starting and stopping VMs, etc., is great.  These all seem like minor things but have had major impact on our productivity.

What needs improvement?

I have not had any issues or roadblocks as of yet that require any improvement. Everything that I have needed has been available in the product. 

The only issues are when Hyper V itself has limitations and I'd love to see support or enhancement in the area of direct-attached GPU cards. It would be great to see even more detailed analytics and scheduling reports of such to keep a focus on when and if we need to upgrade the environment.  

It would also be cool to see support in the GUI for more 3rd party add-ons.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for almost one year.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We used Scale Computing. We switched due to the fact that we were too restricted with Scale Computing.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We have found StarWind to be well over 50% more cost effective.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We also looked into Nutanix and Scale.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
IT Support Manager at Chippewa Valley Eye Clinic
Real User
A highly available and reliable solution with helpful technical support
Pros and Cons
  • "In our experience with StarWind, the support has been by far the most valuable feature."
  • "In the future, it would be nice to be able to migrate from the Windows vSAN to the Linux vSAN without having to do a full restore from backups."

What is our primary use case?

We are a small to mid-sized Eye Clinic that in 2015, had to upgrade our Patient Management & Billing system. Deciding to stick with our current vendor, we migrated to their “cloud” product, which is a hosted RDS Farm solution.

Our two-year experience on their “cloud” was coupled with numerous outages and continual slowness issues on a weekly basis. In 2017, we decided to bring the system back on-premises and so we began looking for a solution to run it along with our other virtual machines.

Fault-tolerance was the primary requirement in our search and having worked with VMware vSAN in the past, we knew that it would be a viable solution, albeit one that would exceed the budget. That's when we discovered the StarWind HyperConverged Appliance, a two-node highly available solution that fell within the allotted budget.

We purchased the StarWind solution and it ran flawlessly for two years, then in late 2019, the unthinkable happened. Our clinic caught fire and the building and all of its contents were destroyed. Knowing we had offsite backups, we just needed the hardware to restore our servers.

In contacting our StarWind account rep, they completely understood the circumstance we were in. They accelerated the order, build, and shipment of the new two-node appliance. As management worked on obtaining an alternate building to restore the service of treating our patients, the servers were delivered to my home so that the restoration process could begin.

The StarWind engineering and support staff were a tremendous help as they assisted in the restoration process. Knowing that StarWind will drop and do what’s needed to help a customer in dire straights has won us over as a faithful customer for life.

Thank you, StarWind!!!

How has it helped my organization?

Having a two-node, fully redundant host appliance solution that has been 100% reliable makes it easier to sleep at night.

What is most valuable?

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

What needs improvement?

When we purchased the StarWind HyperConverged Appliances, they shipped with the Windows-based vSAN solution. Since then, they have released vSAN for vSphere, which is based on a Linux VM and would save us money as we would be able to get rid of the two Windows Server Licenses.

In the future, it would be nice to be able to migrate from the Windows vSAN to the Linux vSAN without having to do a full restore from backups.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using the StarWind HyperConverged Appliance solution for four years.

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.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free StarWind HyperConverged Appliance Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: March 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free StarWind HyperConverged Appliance Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.