StarWind Storage Appliance Reviews

We were using 4GB FC to support our 3-host ESXi cluster and switched to StarWind over 10GB iSCSI. We installed one 2-node SAN for proof of concept, then another one so we could retire our FC SANs, then another SSD-based one when we needed better performance on critical VMs. We were able to select hardware from our preferred vendor. Two of the clusters run on standalone servers, and the SSD SAN runs on our ESXi hosts, giving us a hyper-converged environment for those servers that need the additional performance.

We had end-of-life (and end-of-support) 4GB FC switches and SANs which were going to cost us a ton of money to upgrade, and decided to switch to iSCSI over a 10-GB backbone.  Going with iSCSI simplified our infrastructure. Instead of running FC for storage in parallel with our ethernet, we were able to purchase 10GB switches that could handle both and that gave us combined visibility and manageability with one management interface which also handles our periphery switches and wireless in one interface.

First of all, it is iSCSI. We were looking to get rid of our FC infrastructure and go to pure ethernet switches, and this enabled us to do so. Second, the Proactive support has been excellent. They call us when monitoring shows a possible issue and are very flexible in working with our schedule to troubleshoot when it is convenient for us. They are experts in hardware and software and are able to troubleshoot and fix underlying issues like firmware and drivers. The solution also has excellent performance.

I'm really not sure what improvements are needed to the product. It works pretty well and I haven't seen anything that obviously needed improvement. We elected to do the physical installation ourselves, so they preconfigured the equipment and shipped it - complete with excellent installation instructions. Once we did the physical install, they connected remotely to do the final configuration and helped get us into production. They offered onsite installation, but we chose to do it ourselves. That took longer and was more work for us but saved us a ton of money in the end.

I've used the solution since about 2015.

It has been very stable.

It is widely scalable. It is as simple as plugging in additional hard drives into the server and adding storage space up to its capacity.  The software license is independent of hardware and is for Unlimited storage, so you can replace the entire storage server and use the same software license.  It can run on your virtualization hosts for a hyperconverged environment or on standalone servers.  There is even a free version with full functionality.

It's been great. They generally call if there is any issue.

We previously used FC SANs from EMC and Xiotech which were end-of-support and were going to cost us a ton to replace.

If you want turnkey, they will come onsite. Our setup was more complex due to the fact that we did the physical install, however, they were available every step of the way.

We had our in-house team handle it with support from StarWind.

It gave very good ROI. The alternative was to spend a lot more to upgrade our FC infrastructure and that was just not acceptable.

Licensing is straightforward, per node and capacity, with only 2 capacity tiers. It wasn't difficult. They will install it onsite or preconfigure it and ship it to you. We saved a ton by installing it ourselves. The pricing was great and simplifying to iSCSI saved us even more money in the end. 

We looked at several options. I swore I would never buy EMC again, but we looked at Xiotech, NetApp, Dell, and others.

We love it and rely on it.  We also have had no problems. Others likely will like it too.

We use it together with Microsoft services.

The integration with StarWind Storage Appliance is the most valuable.

The dashboard features are not in the free version. Today it is normal to have the full features in both versions and only pay for support.

I have been using StarWind Storage Appliance for the past three months.

StarWind Storage Appliance is stable.

We have only measured scalability currently with two servers.

For the first time, it takes a little time to know how the concept works. There is a learning curve when you do not know if you can also use it as a boot drive or if that is not possible. It takes days to deploy.

We do it in-house for all the customers and we test it.

That is a problem with StarWind they do not tell you the license cost. On the homepage, you can not see the pricing.  There are different solutions, free and standard costs.

I would rate StarWind Storage Appliance an eight out of ten.