StarWind Virtual SAN Reviews

My main use case for StarWind Virtual SAN is to provide a high availability platform for hosting virtual machines.

A specific example of how we use StarWind Virtual SAN for hosting virtual machines is that we have customers who use remote desktop services, and we use StarWind as the underlying platform to host those remote desktop servers, which have got business applications, accounting products on them.

The best features that StarWind Virtual SAN offers in my experience are that it provides a very stable and reliable platform for hosting virtual machines, and it's also very cost-effective because you can utilize existing hardware.

StarWind Virtual SAN has positively impacted my organization by allowing us to repurpose existing hardware to provide a stable HA platform, and also with its proactive support.

An improvement for StarWind Virtual SAN would be to have an updated admin console.

StarWind Virtual SAN is stable.

StarWind Virtual SAN's scalability is comparable to any hyperconverged cluster scaling.

StarWind's proactive support has helped my organization by giving us the reassurance of 24/7 monitoring of the platform, so even outside of business hours, if something happens, StarWind engineers are able to troubleshoot the problem and look at things for us, which provides an extra level of reassurance.

I have noticed specific outcomes from having that 24/7 monitoring and proactive support, as we've had a much higher level of uptime, and we've also had help installing updates on our platform.

Customer support for StarWind Virtual SAN is fantastic.

I would recommend StarWind Virtual SAN to others looking into using it.

I have no additional thoughts about StarWind Virtual SAN before we wrap up.

My main use case for StarWind Virtual SAN is to simulate a shared storage for a Hyper-V cluster in a lab environment, where I am testing high availability, failover scenarios, and validation solutions before applying them in production. The goal is to create a cost-effective setup for homologation and planning without needing physical SAN hardware.

I set up a two-node Hyper-V cluster using StarWind Virtual SAN to replicate storage between the servers, which helped me simulate those high availability takeover scenarios. Each host had a logical disk, a local disk, and StarWind Virtual SAN created a virtual shared volume over the network. I then tested the failover scenarios by turning off one of the nodes to simulate a hardware failure, which allowed the cluster to successfully move the virtual machines to the other node, validating the high availability behavior. It was a key part of my homologation and disaster recovery planning process.

I also deployed Windows Servers virtual machines to test and validate customer solutions in a safe lab environment before any changes were applied in production. This helps me ensure compatibility and reduce the risk during real deployments.

The best features StarWind Virtual SAN offers are real-time data replication, which ensures storage availability between the nodes in a Hyper-V cluster, ease of creating and managing virtual disks, even through PowerShell in the free version, and consistent redundancy without requiring expensive SAN hardware, making it a great fit for lab and test environments. These features allowed me to simulate a reliable and cost-effective shared storage setup for high availability testing and customer solution validation.

The real-time replication works during my lab tests, and it made my disaster recovery planning easier and more reliable. I configured synchronous replication between two nodes, so when data was written on one host, it was immediately mirrored to the other, which allowed me to simulate failover and recovery scenarios reliably. For example, shutting down one of the hosts and confirming that virtual machines could continue running from the other node without data loss helped me make my disaster recovery planning more accurate and gave me confidence in the system's behavior under failure conditions. Another nice feature is that even in the free version, I can automate most of the setup using PowerShell, which is great for scripting environments.

StarWind Virtual SAN has positively impacted my organization by reducing infrastructure costs, which allows me to implement shared storage simulation without needing a physical SAN device. It also saves time during the planning and validation of changes in production, as I can run multiple tests in a lab environment using real workloads and scenarios.

One area for improvement regarding StarWind Virtual SAN is the lack of a full-feature trial. At the time I tested it, I had access only to the free version, which required using PowerShell scripts for most configurations. This made the initial learning curve steeper, especially for users who aren't comfortable with scripting. Also, since the solution depends heavily on network interfaces for replication, any misconfiguration or instability in the network could affect cluster reliability, which makes it sensitive in a certain environment.

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. I had to configure everything via PowerShell, which increased complexity and time to deploy. Also, the sensitivity to network stability during replication tests made it less ideal for certain production-like scenarios. With a full-feature trial and better network resilience, it could easily rank higher.

I use StarWind Virtual SAN since 2019 for less than one year, during a test and validation period in a lab environment.

In my experience, StarWind Virtual SAN was stable during testing. I ran it on a two-node Hyper-V cluster setup, and I didn't experience any unexpected crashes or major issues. As long as the network used for replication was stable, the solution performed reliably.

I only tested StarWind Virtual SAN in a lab environment with two nodes, so I didn't explore its full scalability. However, within that limited setup, it handled the workload well. I can't speak to how it performs in a large production scale environment, but based on documentation, it appears to support multi-node configurations and growing workloads.

Before using StarWind Virtual SAN, I had to rely on more complex or limited setups to simulate clustered environments, which often took days to prepare. With StarWind Virtual SAN, I am able to deploy and test failover scenarios in just a few hours, significantly speeding up the validation cycle for planned changes. It also makes it easier to reproduce real-world issues in a lab, which improves troubleshooting and reduces risks before implementing changes in production.

I previously used basic local storage or iSCSI setups to simulate shared storage in lab environments, which were more complex, less flexible, and required more manual configuration. I switched to StarWind Virtual SAN because it allows me to simulate shared storage across nodes more easily, using software-defined storage without the need for additional hardware.

I have seen a return on investment in terms of time saved and resources used. By using StarWind Virtual SAN, I avoided the need to purchase physical shared storage, which would have increased cost and setup complexity. I estimate it saved me several hours per deployment since I could quickly simulate a Hyper-V cluster with shared storage entirely in software. This allowed me to validate solutions faster and reduce time to decision for changes going into production.

I had experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing through using the free version of StarWind Virtual SAN for testing purposes, so there was no cost involved during my evaluation. That made it very attractive for a lab environment, but the lack of access to the full feature set, including the GUI, limited the depth of testing. I didn't go through the full license or pricing process, so I can't speak to that in detail.

I gave StarWind Virtual SAN a rating of 7 out of 10.

My main use case for StarWind Virtual SAN is that we're using it with older hardware to create a new SAN.

I have a number of virtual servers that run utilizing this service on top of StarWind Virtual SAN in my environment.

Our file server benefits most from StarWind Virtual SAN because of the speed and the ease of use.

StarWind Virtual SAN has impacted my organization positively by saving a lot of money over purchasing a new SAN.

By choosing StarWind Virtual SAN over buying a new SAN from a big vendor, I probably saved about $50,000.

The best features StarWind Virtual SAN offers in my experience are the ease of implementation and it runs on Microsoft Windows platform, which stand out for me.

The ease of implementation was important for my team because it saved us a lot of time and research, and we didn't have to do anything other than just install the software and we were up and running in a few minutes.

StarWind Virtual SAN could be improved, and I wish the management GUI worked better.

I have been using StarWind Virtual SAN for a year.

StarWind Virtual SAN's scalability is good, and I have had an easy experience adding more space to the system.

I have not had to reach out to customer support, so my experience has been positive.

Positive

I previously used an older Dell SAN.

Before choosing StarWind Virtual SAN, I evaluated other options, including purchasing SANs from Dell and HPE.

I decided to switch from the older Dell SAN to StarWind Virtual SAN because we had existing hardware that we could use and implement for this project.

I have definitely seen a return on investment because we saved money.

Specifically, we saved money over having to purchase a SAN from a big vendor, which has impacted my IT team's workload.

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing was that it was easy to implement, license, and the cost was very good.

My advice to others looking into using StarWind Virtual SAN is to download a trial and try it for yourself. I rate StarWind Virtual SAN 10 out of 10.

My main use case for StarWind Virtual SAN is that I have implemented and managed several instances of StarWind, but the common feature amongst all of them is that their environments are a single site.

The best feature that stands out the most in StarWind Virtual SAN is the storage virtualization, and also how it facilitates failover capabilities for Windows Failover Clustering. That is basically what is advertised for StarWind Virtual SAN, and it delivers on it with excellence.

StarWind's storage virtualization and failover capabilities have made a difference for my clusters through uptime improvements, with zero downtime specific to server host maintenance or even maintenance of the StarWind software itself.

Ease of administration is another big plus in my operations because we don't have to look for specialized skill sets to manage a StarWind VSAN environment, and their StarWind's technical support capabilities are very good. They're very responsive and very competent. So even in the instances where my technical team does not have the ability to manage or troubleshoot or resolve an issue, StarWind's technical team supports and resolves on our behalf very quickly.

StarWind Virtual SAN has positively impacted my organization by saving money in skill set development, and certainly minimal downtime across all of our installations, where they maintain almost zero downtime in their 24/7 operations. This is true for the past 10 years.

There are times when the feedback in the event of an impending issue or an actual failure can be limited. The remediation steps are usually fairly simple to resolve the issue, but the management GUI does not give a lot of good feedback in some instances.

A specific example of a situation where the feedback was limited was in an event where there may have been a change in network settings, and it affected one of the servers going offline. The feedback that I got from the GUI didn't quickly lead me to that root cause. However, once I immediately escalated to StarWind's own technical support, they resolved the problem quickly.

That limited feedback in the management GUI is the main area where I would like to see StarWind Virtual SAN get better. Nothing else.

I have been using StarWind Virtual SAN for 10 years.

I have had no setup costs and no challenges with setup and installation for StarWind Virtual SAN. The costs are acceptable and very competitive compared to other hardware-only HCI solutions.

The initial setup with StarWind Virtual SAN is very straightforward.

In my experience, StarWind Virtual SAN is very stable, and I have never had a single instability issue. It usually comes down to the physical server having a problem with some component in itself.

I have never needed to scale up or add additional nodes with StarWind Virtual SAN, but we have had to expand, and customer support has been excellent.

StarWind's technical support capabilities are very good. They're very responsive and very competent. So even in the instances where my technical team does not have the ability to manage or troubleshoot or resolve an issue, StarWind's technical team supports and resolves on our behalf very quickly.

I would rate the customer support for StarWind Virtual SAN a ten, as they are responsive and competent.

Positive

I have not previously used a different solution before StarWind Virtual SAN; I started with StarWind and I am still working with StarWind.

The initial setup with StarWind Virtual SAN is very straightforward.

I have seen a return on investment with StarWind Virtual SAN, and while I can't provide specific numbers, I can tell you generally that the price difference between a hardware HCI solution and a StarWind HCI solution is significant. The cost benefits, as far as we consider, are much better with a StarWind VSAN solution, and the training requirements with the ease of administration simplify and reduce our administrator and professional services costs.

I have had no setup costs and no challenges with setup and installation for StarWind Virtual SAN. The costs are acceptable and very competitive compared to other hardware-only HCI solutions.

Before choosing StarWind Virtual SAN, I evaluated other options, including Dell's HCI solutions based on their servers.

I chose StarWind Virtual SAN over Dell's HCI solutions mainly due to price and ease of administration.

My experience with StarWind Virtual SAN is very good. However, there are times when the feedback in the event of an impending issue or an actual failure can be limited. The remediation steps are usually fairly simple to resolve the issue, but the management GUI does not give a lot of good feedback in some instances.

A specific example of a situation where the feedback was limited was in an event where there may have been a change in network settings, and it affected one of the servers going offline. The feedback that I got from the GUI didn't quickly lead me to that root cause. However, once I immediately escalated to StarWind's own technical support, they resolved the problem quickly.

That limited feedback in the management GUI is the main area where I would like to see StarWind Virtual SAN get better. Nothing else.

My advice to others looking into using StarWind Virtual SAN is that if the size of their installation is suitable for a small to medium-sized business, say up to as many as 20 to 30 or 50 virtual machines in various numbers, up to five server nodes, then StarWind is an excellent solution.

On a scale of 1-10, I rate this solution a 9.

I'm using it in several virtualization for testing the capability of some hypervisor example proxmox ve, redhat enterprise virtualization, ovirt, oracle vm for x86, hyper-v and more. Using Starwind VSAN i was able to test the block storage of most cases using iscsi with ease of use

Since I'm using free version. testing deployment of various virtualization get as a lot of discount.

FREE! It's free please try to use it.

I hope you can try to have a multiple deployment option like ceph which covers several nodes and replicas

I have been using Starwind VSAN for years. When doing home lab and testing for the need of external storage, Starwind VSAN always come to my mind.

There are like same users like truenas

As per white paper. you can scale this product

It's easy to file a ticket when you are experiencing problem with this vsan

Positive

Yes. dell emc, oracle pillar and oracle zfs and truenas

It is straight forward. white papers is easy to understand

Inhouse only. since i have several experience in storage. Mostly in iscsi it much easier to understand

0 years. I tried it mostly in testing in the implementation. with zero cost i can test a solution like proxmox

You can purchase support with this. this is a great product and good support even you are using free version! community is ok as well

I can compare it via truenas. It's both free

I hope can have more option like zfs.

First, I need to explain what motivated me to use VSAN. 

Some time ago, I developed a work environment with KVM Proxmox by creating a cluster made up of four servers: two HP and two Dell, along with two servers running Proxmox Backup Server, both interconnected to ensure redundancy for the backups of all virtual machines. 

Now that I’ve described a bit of my environment, the main use I have given to this tool is in the creation of HA (High Availability) servers to provide better performance to the services running on my Proxmox cluster.

Since I started using VSAN to create high availability servers in my Proxmox environment, even referring to the free version, the services we provide in the company have achieved a high percentage of effectiveness over the year, significantly reducing downtime due to hardware issues with any server in the cluster. 

This has led to a remarkable improvement in the services we offer, and since this is a company that provides security in various areas, the difference between before and after is huge. 

For this reason, I have submitted a request to the company management to acquire the Pro version of the product, as I have not found any negative comments about its use so far.

The feature I have found most valuable in VSAN is its high availability capability. This function has been essential to ensure that our services remain operational even in the event of hardware failures. 

Thanks to its seamless integration with Proxmox, the implementation of high availability servers has drastically reduced downtime, which is crucial for our security-focused company. 

Before implementing VSAN, we faced more interruptions and downtime, which impacted our ability to provide reliable services. The ability to manage a cluster with servers from different brands and ensure backup redundancy has significantly improved our operational efficiency.

Although I am generally satisfied with VSAN and its performance, there are some areas that could be improved to enhance its effectiveness even further. 

One area that could benefit from improvement is scalability. While the tool works well in its current configuration, allowing for greater ease and flexibility in adding new nodes to the cluster without complications would be very beneficial, especially in growing environments. 

Additionally, I would like to see additional features in the next version, such as better support for automated resource management. This could include proactive suggestions for optimizing storage and memory usage, as well as preventive alerts about the health status of the servers. 

A more intuitive interface or an improved dashboard for monitoring the cluster would also be helpful, as it would facilitate performance tracking and help identify potential issues before they affect services.

I have been working with VSAN for about one year on the free version.

My impressions of the tool's stability so far have been positive, as it has met my expectations.

I believe that scalability should be further improved, especially considering the possibility that environments may grow exponentially. Strengthening this aspect would allow for better adaptation to future demands and ongoing growth.

We have not had any contact with technical support.

Positive

I had not used other solutions before because I didn't need them. When I finally decided to look for a tool, I chose VSAN due to the many positive recommendations I found. That trust in the feedback from other users led me to try it, and so far, it has met my expectations.

The initial setup on my part was quite intuitive.

The solution was implemented internally.

My role within the company is IT support, focusing on infrastructure and servers.

I can't give a sincere opinion on the installation and licensing costs because, as I have mentioned repeatedly, I am currently using the free version. 

However, I can say that I have submitted a request to the company management to evaluate the acquisition of the Pro version. 

I haven't tried other options. When I set out to research which solution or tool could help with the issues I was facing, I came across many positive reviews about VSAN. This convinced me to give it a try, and its performance was so impressive that I was hooked right away.

I would recommend considering the high availability feature of VSAN as an important asset for any organization. It has greatly improved the reliability of our service by drastically reducing downtime, especially in a security-focused environment like ours.

While I have only used the free version so far, I have found that its seamless integration with Proxmox is extremely beneficial.

I'd rate the solution ten out of ten.

We use StarWind Virtual SAN to create a failover cluster and high availability servers for our products.

The best features are the software's ease of setup and the excellent technical support. My company relies heavily on technical support from experts to maintain reliability, as our crew is not very IT savvy. StarWind Virtual SAN helps us keep customer satisfaction and provides the solutions we need without having to hire many IT specialists.

More comprehensive reporting and educational resources for error resolution would enhance the user experience. There have been cases where not understanding exactly what's failing on the Virtual SAN has been an issue. Having more visibility on what's actually happening when an error occurs would be beneficial.

I've been using the product for six years.

I don't worry about it failing. Most of the failures are not actually from the software itself, but from another cause.

The technical support team has been very involved and supportive. They have been great at demoing what they can do for us. When we set it up, they validate our settings and configurations to ensure we don't miss anything, especially as we are not fully up-to-speed with all technical IT aspects.

Positive

We previously used another software for four years. We switched because the software was bought out by another company and was painful to set up. The ongoing maintenance was hard to deal with, and it was more labor-intensive to implement.

The initial setup was simple. Going in blind and just reading the documentation took me maybe a day to figure things out. Compared to other software I've used, it’s night and day regarding ease of installation.

The return on investment is good. We don't sell a lot of redundant servers, so it's not a massive ROI, but the ability to rely on their technical support and the software's ease of setup allows us to reduce labor costs and go to market competitively.

StarWind Virtual SAN allows for high availability server configurations and data replication between two servers. It ensures high availability uptime, letting us not worry about hardware failures. Overall, I would rate it as a nine out of ten. They are really great for everything that they do.

My main use case for StarWind Virtual SAN is that we created a two-node virtual SAN synchronized between them. We are using StarWind Virtual SAN free version with all NVMe flash disks configured with iSCSI as LUNs.

StarWind Virtual SAN has positively impacted my organization by enabling us to reuse the NVMe flash inside the compute nodes as storage. Reusing the NVMe flash inside my compute nodes affected our costs and performance positively, as we did not have to buy another storage unit or a third node.

In my opinion, the best feature that StarWind Virtual SAN offers is the ability to create a two-node cluster instead of the normal three that other products need. The two-node cluster feature stands out to me because it helps with cost.

Additionally, it provides a Proxmox plugin that allows configuring snapshots availability for virtual machines that reside on StarWind Virtual SAN disks.

StarWind Virtual SAN can be improved since we use the free version, and it offers support from the community forum only, but this is expected since it is a free product. I wish they could create a Proxmox script to set up the Proxmox part instead of running manual commands in the free version.

I have been using StarWind Virtual SAN for about two years.

In my experience, StarWind Virtual SAN is stable.

StarWind Virtual SAN's scalability is excellent, as we were able to expand storage without any issues, and if we would like to add another host, it is not difficult.

I have used only the public forum support for StarWind Virtual SAN, and in that case, answers were readily given.

We did not use any other solution than StarWind Virtual SAN from the beginning. Before choosing StarWind Virtual SAN, we explored Proxmox Ceph, but it required three hosts.

We have seen a return on investment, as we have experienced less downtime in the case one node was not available.

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that we are using the free version, so we did not incur any cost.

My advice to others looking into using StarWind Virtual SAN is to try the free version and see if it matches their use case. I would rate this product a 10.