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reviewer1768719 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
MSP
The vendor has been around for a long time, so the solution is pretty stable
Pros and Cons
  • "I think vSAN's stability is good. It's an underlying solution for both on-prem and in the cloud, especially the VMC on AWS stuff too. VMware has been around for a long time, so it's pretty stable."
  • "There is a lot that VMware could improve from a marketing perspective. The cloud is still new for many people, so extending storage should be effortless. It shouldn't be so complicated to extend the storage so workloads can access it no matter where they go."

What is our primary use case?

All of our customers are either doing virtual storage on the cloud, or they're trying to extend their on-prem storage solution into the cloud. Our typical use case is providing features in the cloud that are typically on-premise, and that includes storage as well. For example, we might have vSAN on-prem storage that the workloads are accessing, and we want to extend it to the cloud to start spanning workloads out there. 

Most customers have a hybrid setup, with some of their infrastructure on-prem and some on the cloud. Other customers are getting out of the data center business altogether and moving everything into the cloud.

What needs improvement?

There is a lot that VMware could improve from a marketing perspective. The cloud is still new for many people, so extending storage should be effortless. It shouldn't be so complicated to extend the storage so workloads can access it no matter where they go. 

When you're moving a workload, you don't want to worry about whether the storage will be there or not. Ideally, that should be easily replicated and extended to a cloud environment. We have a lot of vendors trying to extend their on-prem infrastructure seamlessly. That could be workloads. It could be extending the virtual hardware to on-prem storage or the physical storage to virtual storage in the cloud. Everything should be easy for customers to consume and configure, but some of this stuff is still pretty complex because it's so new.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using vSAN for about five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I think vSAN's stability is good. It's an underlying solution for both on-prem and in the cloud, especially the VMC on AWS stuff too. VMware has been around for a long time, so it's pretty stable.

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June 2025
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How was the initial setup?

All the vendors are working on making the setup more straightforward. Things are becoming a little more scripted. More automation and installations where you don't have to check every box are always good.

What other advice do I have?

I rate VMware vSAN nine out of 10. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1750083 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Technology Consultant at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Easy to configure with basic functionality
Pros and Cons
  • "VMware vSAN is easy to configure, with basic functionality and the customer can maintain the solution."
  • "The only thing that can be improved is the cost."

What is our primary use case?

Our company works in a multi-cloud model, hybrid environment using both the hyperscalers AWS and Azure with a combination of public and private clouds. Our organization is an integrator so VMware vSAN is used for our end customer.

VMware vSAN is used for VM workloads. We show our customers that they do not need to keep everything on-premises and that they can move not critical data to minimize data compliance security. We move them to a public cloud with the two hyperscalers. For workloads that they are not comfortable keeping in a public cloud, we recommend using a hybrid model. My use cases deal with virtual workloads, retailing and manufacturing solutions.

What is most valuable?

VMware vSAN is easy to configure, with basic functionality and the customer can maintain the solution.

What needs improvement?

The only thing that can be improved is the cost.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using VMware vSAN for more than two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

VMware vSAN is stable. We would not recommend it to so many of our partners if it were not. It is foolproof; it's on multiple workloads.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. Our customers have varying workloads, so we use the combination of on-premises and hybrid cloud, moving from private to public, and public to private so the scalability is always there. 

How are customer service and support?

We have in-house support for normal operational transactions. We also have a contract with VMware vSAN. Even our end customers have direct support contracts for the solution. Normally escalations to VMware support have to do with product bugs, a defect, or an engineering issue. 

What about the implementation team?

Our team deploys the solution in the customer's environment. We use VMware administrators to manage the storage. They have a combination of storage and VMware background. Our virtualization administrator is VMware certified and cross-trained with the storage administrator to increase productivity. 

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

VMware vSAN is less expensive than having a traditional three-tier solution or a full virtual VFX using a hyper-converged soluton. The cost is still too high and should be lower.

What other advice do I have?

VMware vSAN is not right for all types of use cases. It is specific to an opportunity if the customer is looking at an interim solution and wants to keep the costs low. This environment is more to do with development testing.

VMware vSAN is a good fit if you are looking at security and scale. In an environment that is more productive and needs better performance, this solution may not be the right fit.

I would rate this solution a 9 out of 10.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
VMware vSAN
June 2025
Learn what your peers think about VMware vSAN. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Muzamil Yakub - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Executive Officer at Infoview Limited
Real User
Frequent feature updates, beneficial webinars, and simple to manage
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features of VMware vSAN are that it receives updates frequently, has good compression, optimized storage, and they provide webinars on what is new. Additionally, the integration with third-party products is good and it is easy to manage."
  • "Customers who are using Essentials Plus or even Essentials have to pay for technical support. However, they should not have to pay for support."

What is our primary use case?

We are using VMware vSAN for data center virtualization.

How has it helped my organization?

The solution has benefited our organization from all the consolidation features, such as disaster recovery and backups.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of VMware vSAN are that it receives updates frequently, has good compression, optimized storage, and they provide webinars on what is new. Additionally, the integration with third-party products is good and it is easy to manage.

What needs improvement?

Customers who are using Essentials Plus or even Essentials have to pay for technical support. However, they should not have to pay for support.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using VMware vSAN for approximately seven years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is highly stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

VMware vSAN is scalable.

We have approximately 20 to 30 customers using this solution.

How are customer service and support?

The support is very good. However, there are times it could be quicker.

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

I have worked with other solutions, such as Hyper-V and Citrix. Our preference is always VMware.

How was the initial setup?

The initial implementation is straightforward. The time of installation can vary, it depends. If you're looking at virtualizing a host only, it can be done in five minutes.

What about the implementation team?

We use one engineer for the installation and maintenance of the solution.

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

There is a license required for this solution, it is a one-time payment. However, if they want support for the solution, it can be paid annually or for three years.

What other advice do I have?

I rate VMware vSAN a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1714488 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Effective vMotion feature, reliable, and good online support
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature for our customers is vMotion. It allows them to shut down virtual machines and migrate them to others servers."

    What is our primary use case?

    We are using VMware vSAN for the transformation from the physical server to the virtual environment.

    How has it helped my organization?

    By using VMware vSAN we have limited the need to maintain multiple physical servers. Additionally, we have been able to reduce the entire cost of the IT operation and management because of the reduction of physical servers. There are fewer electricity and cooling systems needed.

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable feature for our customers is vMotion. It allows them to shut down virtual machines and migrate them to others servers.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using VMware vSAN for approximately six years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The stability of the solution is very good. From customer feedback, VMware is much more stable compared to Hyper-V.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The scalability of VMware vSAN is good.

    We currently have approximately 80 customers using this solution.

    We plan to increase usage. Our sales team prefers this solution over other solutions.

    How are customer service and support?

    We use online documentation and videos for support, such as YouTube. If there is a problem we cannot solve then we email the support of VMware.

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

    We deploy many other solutions for our customers, such as Hyper-V, which some of them prefer.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is quite simple according to our customer feedback. The time it takes for the deployment depends on many factors, such as use case and environment size.

    What about the implementation team?

    We have a six-person technical team for maintenance.

    What was our ROI?

    We have received a return on investment. Our customers are happy, we do not need to employ a technician after deployment which is good. There is a decent return on investment but it also depends on the customers' use case.

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

    The cost of the solution is high and if it could be reduced the customers would be very happy.

    We have used VMware for different kinds of customers. Our target customers are SMB or SME, they normally choose VMware and their first package. We do have customers who use our own data center services, in this case, we use the VMware manage service license.

    What other advice do I have?

    We typically propose VMware to our customers. We advise the customer to switch to virtualization. The main point is the customer would like to recover their data. If they'll use the physical server they cannot meet the requirement of fast recovery of the data. That's why we ask customers to do the server control check into the virtualization. You can save a lot of time managing the physical server and have a lower cost for the backup option. You can have a better recovery solution is the main point our customer use VMware.

    I rate VMware vSAN an eight out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    reviewer1126143 - PeerSpot reviewer
    IT Infrastructure Manager at a retailer with 11-50 employees
    Real User
    Stable, scalable, and easy to install
    Pros and Cons
    • "One of the most valuable features of this solution is that it is stable."
    • "This solution could be improved by having more than one controller for the environment. VMware depends on one controller for the whole environment, whereas Nutanix has one controller for each node. Because there is only one controller with VMware, if there was any drop, then the whole environment would stop working. In Nutanix, I have five nodes—there is one controller for each node and it depends on a virtual controller—so if the controller of any node is down, the whole environment will still work."

    What is our primary use case?

    We primarily use VMware vSAN for ERP, for the assisting environment. The main environment in my company does not depend on VMware—for the production environment and operations, we work with Nutanix. 

    This solution is deployed on-premises. 

    What is most valuable?

    One of the most valuable features of this solution is that it is stable. 

    What needs improvement?

    This solution could be improved by having more than one controller for the environment. VMware depends on one controller for the whole environment, whereas Nutanix has one controller for each node. Because there is only one controller with VMware, if there was any drop, then the whole environment would stop working. In Nutanix, I have five nodes—there is one controller for each node and it depends on a virtual controller—so if the controller of any node is down, the whole environment will still work. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using VMware vSAN for three years. 

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    This solution is very, very stable. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    This solution is scalable. 

    In our organization, there are around 1,000 users of VMware, including some servers and the self-service website. We have plans to increase our usage. 

    How are customer service and support?

    VMware's support could be faster. We don't currently have a contract with technical support because we didn't make a new one for the support license. 

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

    I previously used Hyper-V from Microsoft, but there were many issues and lots of troubleshooting. 

    How was the initial setup?

    The installation is easy. My team worked on the installation and, for our company, we only need one engineer for deployment and maintenance. 

    What about the implementation team?

    We implemented this solution through an in-house team. 

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    I have two environments: Nutanix AHV and VMware. We use the Nutanix environment more than the VMware environment. 

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate VMware vSAN an eight out of ten. For virtualization, I would recommend Nutanix over VMware. 

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    Managing Director at Ictnet Limited
    Real User
    Easy to set up, simple to manage, and very user-friendly
    Pros and Cons
    • "The scalability is very good and the solution is stable and reliable."
    • "This product is very expensive."

    What is our primary use case?

    While we have some applications running on VMware, mostly we are providing and proposing these solutions to our clients.

    I have one client, for example, that is running the CRM and accounts and manufacturing applications on VMware and they're using HP infrastructure for them. They have some SQL databases they're running on that and some back-office applications, and also an Extend Server as well.

    What is most valuable?

    The migration capabilities are a very useful aspect of the solution. 

    The way it handles failovers is very good. 

    The imaging is helpful.

    Right now, VMware is number one in the virtual space.

    The initial setup is very easy.

    The management is very straightforward. It's an extremely user-friendly product.

    It integrates very well with other products. 

    The scalability is very good and the solution is stable and reliable.

    So far, everything is okay.

    What needs improvement?

    Currently, there aren't any shortcomings to discuss or missing features that we worry about. 

    This product is very expensive. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've used the solution for a long time. I'd used VMware since it come out in the '90s. It's been decades. 

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    I have found the stability to be great. There aren't bugs. It doesn't glitch. There aren't issues around it crashing or freezing. It's reliable. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The scalability has been great. If you need to expand it, you can do so. 

    How are customer service and support?

    Technical support has been great. They are helpful and responsive. I've been happy with their level of service when we've needed them. We are satisfied. 

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is very straightforward and simple. There shouldn't be an issue if a company wants to set it up. 

    If you have, for example, 100 VMs, you only need one person to manage it. It requires very little maintenance or overhead in terms of staff. 

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

    The solution can be expensive. However, if you are a big company, such as a telco, likely you can get a good deal on pricing. That said, being so big, likely the cost won't be a deterrent. 

    What other advice do I have?

    We are partners and also a solution provider.

    The solution is great. I'd rate it at a nine out of ten. I'd advise other people to give it a try. 

    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
    PeerSpot user
    Account Executiveager at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
    Real User
    It offers us some flexibility, but it could be integrated better with the cloud
    Pros and Cons
    • "If we decide to expand, vSAN could offer us some flexibility. We are researching ways to set this up from a new data center, which is located somewhere different from the current location right now."
    • "I would like to see better integration between the cloud and our VMware virtual environment. We only have one virtual environment, which is VMware vSAN. Right now, there is little interoperability with the cloud solution at the moment."

    What is our primary use case?

    I work at a small company, and we have VxRail. Like Rubrik, VxRail can be upgraded brick by brick. Now we are studying considering deploying another traditional setup comprising a host and SAN Storage. VMware vSAN is a virtual SAN Storage. 

    We are planning to expand the resources of our system, including CPU, RAM, and storage. Currently, we are utilizing the basic VxRail setup, which consists of only three nodes, and we're in the process of acquiring another. I'm upgrading because it's at capacity, so we have no choice but to add another node so we can expand the loads for some new applications that we need to employ under the virtual servers. Our expansion to a new data center will add some more capacity to the current setup.

    In the end, we could wind up with around six nodes, SAN storage, or flash array storage. But we don't have a definite plan yet. Everything is being drafted at the moment, and we're researching some details on backup solutions and VR solutions. We also have some cloud-based and server-hosted applications from Azure and AWS. So maybe the on-premises solution could involve some VMs or a hybrid backup solution that goes back and forth between the cloud and on-premises. 

    What is most valuable?

    If we decide to expand, vSAN could offer us some flexibility. We are researching ways to set this up from a new data center, which is located somewhere different from the current location right now.

    What needs improvement?

    I would like to see better integration between the cloud and our VMware virtual environment. We only have one virtual environment, which is VMware vSAN. Right now, there is little interoperability with the cloud solution at the moment. We are currently researching to figure out if we can achieve that. 

    It's possible that we'll need to acquire new infrastructure for the new data center. And for that, we need to consult some architects, whether it's a VMware architect or some AWS and Azure architects. And we could come up with a workable blueprint that to use as a guideline so we can manage our infrastructure.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I am new to this company, but I worked with different solutions at my previous company, including vSAN and the traditional VMware vSphere setup. So I've been using vSAN for two years or three years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    VMware vSAN is stable, although there's is some room for improvement. 

    How are customer service and support?

    I've been working with VMware technical support since I had my own company. It's pretty dependable because I used to work primarily with level three infrastructure support. We are the last escalation. I am one of the contact people between the company and the VMware vendor. The final escalations would be working with the vendor itself or some VMware engineer, whether it's vSAN, vSphere, Center, or anything else within the scope of our license.

    In my environment right now, we only handle a limited set of VMware products. These solutions are not perfect because we must apply patches and updates to deal with glitches and minor bugs. Byt I think vSAN will be reliable, especially if the after-sales support and engineers are excellent and could help us work seamlessly and comfortably.

    How was the initial setup?

    Our initial vSAN setup is a backup from Rubrik being thrown up to AWS for Glacier. But in the near term, maybe we could migrate that kind of solution in a more seamless and resilient way. That's what we're considering right now.

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

    VMware is quite expensive compared to Microsoft's Hyper-V. However, when you factor in flexibility and comparability of use, it's reasonable enough. For the high price of VMware, you get seamless operation and manageability. At the same time, I think VMware is lowering the price for its cloud-based solutions. And it's stable enough that some organizations might want to put part of their setup on the cloud and the other part on-premises. VMware's advantage is that they were already preparing for cloud solutions many years ago. 

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    There are several virtual solutions that I have hands-on experience with, including VMware, Hyper-V, and some open source software. I could only compare Microsoft and VMware. VMware is significantly more expensive than Microsoft, but I still prefer VMware because it's manageable and easy to set up.

    As a VMware customer, it's hard to judge the value I'm getting for the price in terms of operability and manageability. Then there are other factors, such as the amount of resources used. So when we're evaluating, we're not just looking at the price. We don't want to settle for something cheaper that might cost us some headaches.

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate VMware vSAN seven out of 10. I prefer a traditional SAN storage solution. Right now, we're only using vSAN for small solutions. At the basic level, it's good enough because it operates the same way as the traditional setup. It's suitable for companies that are starting and might expand in the near future. For those use cases, vSAN is a great choice compared to Hyper-V. It's much easier to maintain. However, I haven't deployed vSAN for a larger configuration.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    System Admin at Institute of Space Technology (IST)
    Real User
    Helpful support, stable, and scalable
    Pros and Cons
    • "The technical support is good. We are always thankful for the technical support from VMware. They are very supportive when we have a technical problem."
    • "The interface is a little complicated, it could be simplified with more graphical gadgets. We have many servers, and the built-in functions, such as rate configuration, are a bit complex."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use VMware vSAN to manage our resources. It has secured our resources, such as power and server management. We needed one console that can manage all the servers.

    What needs improvement?

    The interface is a little complicated, it could be simplified with more graphical gadgets. We have many servers, and the built-in functions, such as rate configuration, are a bit complex.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using VMware vSAN for approximately 11 years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    VMware vSAN is stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    I have found VMware vSAN to be scalable.

    We have approximately 50 people using this solution in my organization.

    How are customer service and support?

    The technical support is good. We are always thankful for the technical support from VMware. They are very supportive when we have a technical problem.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is easy because our architecture is simple.

    Our architecture is very simple to understand a new version. We only need to document all the configurations of the servers with all the maps that are designed. Any new person can understand fully within a day. However, we need more simplified versions of VMware vSAN in the future.

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

    VMware vSAN is a little bit expensive and we pay annually. We have an educational institute where we receive discount prices from VMware. We do receive a reasonable discount but it's still expensive.

    What other advice do I have?

    I advise those people that have a large amount of data and they need very fast retrievals, they must use the scalable feature of VMware vSAN.

    I am fully satisfied with VMware vSAN.

    I rate VMware vSAN a nine out of ten.

    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
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