We use VMware vSAN as a VDI solution.
System Service Representative at IBM
Good support, simple installation, and stable
Pros and Cons
- "The performance of VMware vSAN is very good."
- "VMware vSAN is the most trending hypervisor that most of the customers are working with and I would recommend this solution to others."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The performance of VMware vSAN is very good.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using VMware vSAN for approximately two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
VMware vSAN is a stable solution.
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VMware vSAN
May 2026
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How are customer service and support?
The support from VMware vSAN was good. When I had to contact the support for my clients everything was as expected.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. It took us approximately one month to implement for one of our customers but there were some delays on our customer's side. We could have done it in a shorter timeframe.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My customers have found VMware vSAN to be a little expensive.
What other advice do I have?
VMware vSAN is the most trending hypervisor that most of the customers are working with.
I would recommend this solution to others.
I rate VMware vSAN a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Technical manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Stable and scalable software for storage virtualization; its storage management feature is good
Pros and Cons
- "Storage virtualization software with a good storage management feature. It's a scalable and stable software."
- "The monitoring feature in VMware vSAN could be better."
What is our primary use case?
VMware vSAN is a storage virtualization software.
What is most valuable?
What I found most valuable in this software is its storage management feature.
What needs improvement?
I don't recall an area for improvement in VMware vSAN, because it's a concept, a brand, and a product. If the concept doesn't change, we can't improve this software that much, but VMware can probably make the monitoring feature much better.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been dealing with VMware vSAN for eight years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
VMware vSAN is a stable software.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
VMware vSAN is a scalable software.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Clients have to pay for VMware vSAN licensing based on the number of CPUs. Whether it'll be a yearly or a monthly subscription, you have to check with the vendor, because you can buy it for one year, two years, or three years. The purchases would be lifetime or perpetual, but you need to have support, e.g. the support is negotiated from one, two, three, or four years.
What other advice do I have?
VMware vSAN is my main product, and I'm an integrator for it.
The current version we're using is the VMware vSAN 6.2 version.
The setup of VMware vSAN is the same setup as the ReadyNodes, because the ReadyNodes are built on top of vSAN technology. As for how long it takes to deploy, it depends on the number of hosts you're deploying.
We have six clients currently using this software.
For deployment and maintenance of VMware vSAN, we have two technical staff who are in charge: one for setting up the network, and the other one for setting up the physical environment.
I'm recommending this software to others who want to start using it. You can install it on any kind of ReadyNodes.
I'm rating VMware vSAN nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Integrator
Buyer's Guide
VMware vSAN
May 2026
Learn what your peers think about VMware vSAN. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2026.
899,125 professionals have used our research since 2012.
IT Manager at Triara
Storage software that is dynamic and compatible with many other solutions including VCF and VMware Cloud Foundation
Pros and Cons
- "The feature we have found most valuable is the compatibility of VMware products with VCF and VMware Cloud Foundation."
- "We often run out of space but we have enough capacity for memory and CPU. It's difficult to find the balance between storage and memory CPU."
What is most valuable?
The feature we have found most valuable is the compatibility of VMware products with VCF and VMware Cloud Foundation.
What needs improvement?
We often run out of space but we have enough capacity for memory and CPU. It's difficult to find the balance between storage and memory CPU.
Overall, this is a simple solution but could be improved due to the issue with vSAN ReadyNodes. There are many compatibility requirements for storage using this solution that are difficult to meet.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have used this solution for two years.
How are customer service and support?
The enterprise customer service and support are very good and feedback is fast.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward but we have experienced some setbacks with deployments.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Principle Tech Architect at Unisys
Decent storage virtualization that is beginning to integrate modern technologies but needs to be cheaper
Pros and Cons
- "VMware has been around for a long time and is doing a decent job at catching up with the latest technologies, i.e. bringing in Kubernetes and containerization, and overall, this is a great tool for virtualization."
- "I would like for the next release to be a bit cheaper."
- "VMware is not a cost effective solution, especially if you have a Microsoft shop."
What is most valuable?
VMware has been around for a long time are are doing a decent job at catching up with the latest technologies i.e. bringing in kubernetes and containerization. Overall, this is a great tool for virtualization.
What needs improvement?
I would like for the next release to be a bit cheaper.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using VMware vSAN for 10+ years.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
VMware is not a cost effective solution, especially if you have a Microsoft shop. In this case, you would have to purchase the VMware license when there are already Hyper-V solutions that could do it for much cheaper.
What other advice do I have?
If you are already using VMware, then it is great to fun your applications and carries your infrastructure to the cloud. But, I would not recommend this solution to new customers. I give this solution a seven out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Infrastructure Security at a museum or institution with 201-500 employees
Easy to use and straightforward to upgrade with helpful technical support available
Pros and Cons
- "The ease of use is great."
- "The stability of the product is very good."
- "The updating process could be easier."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution on Microsoft Windows Active Directory and loads of applications. Most of our stuff, over 90% of our servers, are on VMware.
What is most valuable?
The ease of use is great.
The initial setup and upgrade process was pretty straightforward.
Technical support is great.
What needs improvement?
The updating process could be easier. It's just a bit more complex. I don't update very often. It's something I do infrequently, and therefore, we haven't got that much experience with it. That said, this Lifecycle looks better. There's a new feature called Lifecycle, which is dealing with the issue sI mainly have.
I haven't done an update yet with the new system. My understanding is it's an improvement from what I can see.
Guests that are pinned to hosts for various reasons, for antivirus or the backups should be able to be reported that they are being pinned, and also reported if things have snapshots. When you're doing certain things, they don't work so well if you've got snapshots on or if you've got things that are pinned. They can't move. When you're doing things, if there was something that was going to stop it from working that's within VMware, these should automatically be checked.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of the product is very good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable and the performance is good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is quite good. I don't know any others, to be honest. I've never used Hyper-V or any of the others. It's quite a de facto standard so I'm happy enough. I'm not informed as to how difficult or easy it is compared to others.
We'd like to expand in the future. We've tried to utilize it for everything. We can't do that at the moment due to licensing. Not the VMware licensing. It's more due to Oracle.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is very good. We have two places to get assistance. We have this vendor who supplied the new VMware and installed it and converted it, and we got another supplier who maintains everything and they're both very good. I'd recommend both of them.
How was the initial setup?
The last setup was an upgrade. It's not so complex as we had to upgrade an existing system. It's not overly complex. I'd rate the process at a four out of five.
The issues we had were mainly due to other things like the backup and data transfer. It wasn't actually to do so much with VMware itself and the other things. It was the transfer of data from one storage device to another and VMware wouldn't let us do it.
The deployment took about two weeks.
What about the implementation team?
We had a third party do it. They are a lot more experienced than us so we paid them for all the new hardware and we paid for them for the engineering to fit it and install it. We paid for them to convert from the old system to the new system - from the old VMware to the new VMware.
Our experience with them was very good. They were extremely helpful.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I don't deal with the licensing. I can't speak to the costs involved.
What other advice do I have?
I work for the portrait gallery and we just serve our own people. We don't sell to the outside. I don't use it for outside organizations.
I'd advise potential new users to ask around for different suppliers who do it, just do a proper tender on supplying, and just to watch out for, if you're upgrading, how your backup treats the upgrade. That's a problem we had. We have Veeam, which is VMware, however, we made a mistake on using a new machine and trying to move stuff across and Veeam made it more complicated, which we didn't realize would happen. It's caused some issues.
Our experience was good, however, I haven't got enough experience with the outside vendors who do this as I only work for this company and we only do the upgrade once every three years or so. That said, I'd advise users to go with someone who's got a good background or reputation.
Overall, I'd rate the solution at 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.
Has worked well for two years, but requires a minimum of nodes for maintenance mode
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable thing about vSAN is that all of its features have been working well for us for the past two years. We haven't had an issue with them."
- "When designing the implementation for vSAN, I have noticed that it requires a minimum of six nodes, and this creates a problem when it comes to maintenance. If, out of the six nodes, I put one node in maintenance mode, then vSAN does not create other VM components."
What is our primary use case?
We are an implementation partner for VMware vSAN and we use it alongside our hyperconverged infrastructure solutions with products such as Nutanix, HyperFlex, and SimpliVity. It is currently implemented in key areas off-site for over seven customers.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable thing about vSAN is that all of its features have been working well for us for the past two years. We haven't had an issue with them.
What needs improvement?
When designing the implementation for vSAN, I have noticed that it requires a minimum of six nodes, and this creates a problem when it comes to maintenance. If, out of the six nodes, I put one node in maintenance mode, then vSAN does not create other VM components. I think the reason for this is that the minimum configuration is a six node arrangement. If any one of the six nodes is put into maintenance mode, we're simply unable to create a VM, but if there are seven nodes in that cluster, then we are able to put one under maintenance. That's one thing that should be looked at.
More generally, the features of vSAN as we see them are dependent on the quality of the storage, since each different storage technology has its own separate features that go along with it.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with VMware vSAN for at least two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable product, especially now that we have it fully implemented. However, if any two or three of the nodes go away, vSAN goes down. I think we've had a few VMs where the data has been lost for this reason. I guess that the way it works would be similar to other technologies, but that's what we have observed.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
You can increase the compute capability as well as the disk storage, so it is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
I've already escalated the issue regarding the six nodes, which I've mentioned. This has been escalated to VMware and they know that it is a limitation, because apparently it is normal behavior for any nodes that are put in maintenance mode.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is easy.
What other advice do I have?
We have been working with vSAN for the last two years, and we haven't seen too many issues overall, but because of the troubles we have faced with the fact that vSAN doesn't let you put a node in maintenance mode unless you have six or more nodes, I would rate VMware vSAN a six out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Implementer
Account Executive at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Storage solution that's easy to manage, use, deploy, and upgrade; offers good technical support
Pros and Cons
- "VMware vSAN is an easy to use and easy to manage storage solution. Deploying and upgrading are easy. Technical support is very good."
- "I strongly recommend VMware vSAN to others because it is easy to manage, especially if you compare it with traditional server and network storage solutions."
- "As no product is 100% perfect, the price for VMware vSAN could still be improved, though it is good when compared to some of its competitors."
What is our primary use case?
Our customers who use VMware vSAN are in these industries: government, healthcare, education, and supply.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of VMware vSAN is that it's easy to manage and it's also comfortable to use. Another unique feature is its hardware upgrade, but I'm unsure if this is also present in other players in the market. Upgrade and authorization for this product is very easy. Deployment of VMware vSAN is also easy. Everything in this product is perfect.
What needs improvement?
As no product is 100% perfect, the price for VMware vSAN could still be improved, though it is good when compared to some of its competitors.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been working with VMware vSAN for seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This product is stable and comfortable to use.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support for VMware vSAN is very good.
How was the initial setup?
This product is easy to set up. It is easy to deploy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
If you compare the price of VMware vSAN with other players like Nutanix and Cisco, its price is good, but could still have some improvement.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated Nutanix and Cisco.
What other advice do I have?
We are a partner of different vendors, e.g. Dell, VMware, Microsoft, AWS, Azure, etc. As we are a partner, we don't use the technology. It's our customers who use it. We've been working with the newest model of VMware vSAN.
There are four engineers who handle the deployment and maintenance of this product.
I strongly recommend VMware vSAN to others because it is easy to manage, especially if you compare it with traditional server and network storage solutions. It's also easy to deploy. Upgrade and authorization for this product is also very easy. These are the reasons why I strongly recommend VMware vSAN to people looking into using it.
I'm giving VMware vSAN a score of ten out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
System Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Simple to set up and manage without the need for configuration
Pros and Cons
- "The simplicity, as well as the integration with virtualization."
- "It is simple to manage without the need for configuration which is the feature that I like the most."
- "Based on my testing, I would like to expand deduplication to include hybrid deployments and not just for all-flash deployments."
- "On the troubleshooting front, it was occasionally difficult for me to perform some troubleshooting."
What is our primary use case?
I am a system integrator, and this is one of the products that we implement for our customers.
VMware vSAN is used in the deployment of OpenShift Containers.
What is most valuable?
It is simple to manage without the need for configuration which is the feature that I like the most. The simplicity, as well as the integration with virtualization.
What needs improvement?
On the troubleshooting front, it was occasionally difficult for me to perform some troubleshooting. We are currently working in a demo environment, so we are not encountering many issues. However, when you reach production with a heavy load, troubleshooting the vSAN may become difficult.
Troubleshooting with vSAN is an area that needs improvement.
Based on my testing, I would like to expand deduplication to include hybrid deployments and not just for all-flash deployments.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with VMware vSAN for four years.
I use version 6.7 ESXi with vSAN
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
So far the stability has been good. We have not had any problems with the stability of VMware vSAN.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability appears to be good. I have not tested it that much, but it seems fine similar to clusters in VMware.
At the moment, we have approximately 300 users who use this solution.
How are customer service and support?
In reality, we haven't used technical support yet. I don't have an opinion on the support at this time.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have experience with Cisco HyperFlex solutions.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward. We did not have any problems with it at all.
The deployment did not take more than two or three days. It was very fast.
We have two people to deploy this solution.
What about the implementation team?
We completed the deployment ourselves.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
As an architect, I am not involved in the negotiating process and don't have many details about the cost and licensing.
What other advice do I have?
I would 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.
Buyer's Guide
Download our free VMware vSAN Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: May 2026
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