2018-07-11T17:07:00Z

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for StarWind Virtual SAN?

Miriam Tover - PeerSpot reviewer
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PeerSpot user
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83 Answers

BH
User
Top 5
2024-01-17T19:11:00Z
Jan 17, 2024

The cost of this is less than you expect. Since they're selling a software stack, you do need to consider your own hardware costs.

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A Mizuno - PeerSpot reviewer
User
Top 20
2023-08-24T21:12:00Z
Aug 24, 2023

The Premium ProActive service price is a little high, yet worth the price.

Seth Weber - PeerSpot reviewer
User
Top 20
2023-08-10T15:30:00Z
Aug 10, 2023

Pricing is pretty fair and includes one year of support (as of purchase in August 2022). The license is based on how many hosts you have and how much in TB you need the vSAN to accommodate.

SB
Real User
Top 20
2023-08-10T03:46:00Z
Aug 10, 2023

The support package included the setup cost.

Tayre José Rivas Salas - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
Top 10
2023-08-08T13:48:00Z
Aug 8, 2023

The price seems good to me compared to other tools that offer the same thing. That said, it's still worth seeing for yourself and looking at other tools before making a decision.

AL
User
Top 20
2023-08-02T21:46:00Z
Aug 2, 2023

If you know your way around a cluster, setup is easy. Pricing is straightforward, which made this choice a no-brainer.

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SS
User
Top 20
2023-07-05T07:02:00Z
Jul 5, 2023

They also offer a free trial version of the product with basic features. An organization should test the product before implementing it.

zeeshan ahmed9211 - PeerSpot reviewer
User
Top 10
2023-05-22T09:57:00Z
May 22, 2023

I'd advise others to perform a POC before purchase and check whether it meets a company's needs or not.

KH
User
Top 20
2023-04-20T20:21:00Z
Apr 20, 2023

We underestimated how many guest VMs we would have running on these hypervisors after three years, and would have bought more Windows licenses upfront.

RT
MSP
Top 20
2023-03-28T23:05:00Z
Mar 28, 2023

The setup is the most cost-effective as a two or three-node cluster yet is still cost-effective in larger configurations.

AR
User
Top 20
2023-03-07T18:25:00Z
Mar 7, 2023

StarWind is very reasonably priced.

NisarAhmad - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
Top 10
2023-02-12T08:39:00Z
Feb 12, 2023

StarWind Virtual SAN is a reliable, scalable, and cost-effective solution. I highly recommend using this storage solution, especially for SMBs.

AC
Real User
Top 20
2023-01-17T12:46:00Z
Jan 17, 2023

I would advise users to contact StarWind directly since we have always found they support pre and post-sales and are amazingly knowledgeable.

JJ
MSP
Top 20
2022-12-15T19:56:00Z
Dec 15, 2022

The product offers a super low cost of entry.

Jacob Egan - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
Top 10
2022-11-21T21:50:00Z
Nov 21, 2022

The pricing can't be beaten. If StarWind is above a company's budget, they should contact them directly, and they may be able to assist with special pricing. Licensing is based on TBs of data and the number of storage nodes.

SN
User
Top 20
2022-11-21T10:09:00Z
Nov 21, 2022

The setup costs depend on how many nodes you need. One of the main reasons we went with StarWind was the pricing. It was cheaper for us to use our existing servers and install the Virtual SAN software and upgrade to SSDs than buy a brand new SAN server from other providers. We trialed the StarWind Virtual SAN software for a few weeks and quickly decided on the product.

EH
User
Top 20
2022-11-18T20:39:00Z
Nov 18, 2022

I did not see any hidden costs. That said, everyone has to keep in mind that on the cloud, of course, the cost will be higher than using local storage.

SF
User
Top 20
2022-11-03T06:26:00Z
Nov 3, 2022

It's quite easy to deploy this product. Any IT professional can read a few documents and watch some videos and maybe go to Youtube to learn about deployment and management. It's a very simple and user-friendly product.

GD
User
Top 20
2022-10-27T17:05:00Z
Oct 27, 2022

The cost-benefit ratio is really well balanced.

TF
Real User
Top 10
2022-10-09T05:45:00Z
Oct 9, 2022

The cost is honestly negligible for us.

SH
User
Top 20
2022-10-05T00:36:00Z
Oct 5, 2022

Do your comparison shopping, and if you are working on a small system trying to ensure redundancy, that will almost certainly bring you back to StarWind.

AS
User
Top 20
2022-09-30T15:02:00Z
Sep 30, 2022

We found the licensing costs and pricing to be very affordable and manageable.

Laurence Brazil - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
Top 10
2022-09-12T09:54:00Z
Sep 12, 2022

This solution is of excellent value.

TW
User
2022-08-14T04:03:00Z
Aug 14, 2022

If you email StarWind, they might give a discount on the licensing compared to what they list online.

LW
User
Top 20
2022-06-30T08:31:00Z
Jun 30, 2022

I tend to deal with the technical side more and stay away from the pricing.

PeerSpot User - PeerSpot reviewer
User
Top 20
2022-06-10T08:57:00Z
Jun 10, 2022

The initial setup cost will be great, especially with the new hardware. The StarWind pricing isn't that expensive compared to others, however, there are yearly maintenance costs to be aware of.

MIT - PeerSpot reviewer
User
Top 10
2022-06-09T14:09:00Z
Jun 9, 2022

There is the "invisible" cost of you reading the docs, however, that comes with every solution. At least with StarWind, you have tech-to-tech documentation that you can actually use. The pricing is very fair!

BH
User
Top 5
2022-06-09T01:38:00Z
Jun 9, 2022

The cost isn't too good to be true. If you're able to use commodity hardware, it's worth a look.

Adam Charlton - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
Top 10
2022-06-06T20:20:00Z
Jun 6, 2022

Try the free version and see if it meets your requirements.

BW
User
Top 20
2022-03-30T03:20:00Z
Mar 30, 2022

I'd advise new users to just do some homework on what they need. Pick out hardware that can support it and get a license. The setup would be about 5 minutes.

NG
User
Top 20
2022-03-28T18:43:00Z
Mar 28, 2022

The setup is simple and the cost is attractive.

JG
Real User
Top 10
2022-03-28T14:32:00Z
Mar 28, 2022

The product offers a very straightforward cost model versus its competitors.

JT
User
2021-12-21T18:06:00Z
Dec 21, 2021

I'd recommend purchasing at least one year of support. It helps to have support on the initial configuration.

PL
User
2021-09-10T10:04:00Z
Sep 10, 2021

We found the StarWind vSAN solution was cost-effective compared to alternatives. You should talk to the vendor (or a good partner) about your needs because there are some differences in price based on your environment. We also recommend purchasing support. In our case, we purchased StarWind vSAN for vSphere Essentials Edition which included 1 year of standard annual support and maintenance.

FS
Real User
2021-05-28T14:00:00Z
May 28, 2021

We found that the pricing was perfect; simple and clear.

IJ
Real User
2021-05-25T15:57:00Z
May 25, 2021

This solution is very accessible and the pro-level for support is well worth the cost.

2021-04-20T13:30:00Z
Apr 20, 2021

The support contract is well worth it. The price for it was very reasonable and their team has been very engaged whenever we reach out.

DH
Real User
2021-04-14T16:03:00Z
Apr 14, 2021

StarWind is a low-cost, full-featured alternative to the traditional SAN environment, and their support will guide you every step of the setup.

MC
User
2021-03-31T07:41:00Z
Mar 31, 2021

The StarWind VSAN business model is very cost-effective.

BF
Real User
Top 20
2021-03-26T17:45:00Z
Mar 26, 2021

If you are looking at a traditional SAN for a small cluster, give StarWind vSAN because you will save thousands without any compromise.

FF
Real User
2021-03-16T19:30:32Z
Mar 16, 2021

I think the cost of this solution is quite fair.

reviewer1495242 - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
2021-01-25T22:21:00Z
Jan 25, 2021

The cost was ultimately low to implement, which allowed us to be 3-2-1 complaint.

reviewer1493754 - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
2021-01-22T16:20:00Z
Jan 22, 2021

The setup cost, pricing, and licensing are very straightforward. They are exactly what you expect.

MP
Real User
2021-01-20T14:19:00Z
Jan 20, 2021

I think that purchasing StarWind Virtual SAN Professional Edition would be optimal for most.

reviewer1465917 - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
2020-12-03T23:00:00Z
Dec 3, 2020

Make sure to look for the next package that they offer for the licensing part. Adding Drives will happen faster than you hope it will.

reviewer1423983 - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
2020-10-16T16:07:00Z
Oct 16, 2020

I think the bang for the buck is much better with StarWind Virtual SAN.

T.
Real User
2020-10-06T18:20:00Z
Oct 6, 2020

The cost seems a bit steep, and I wish it was less expensive.

RG
Real User
2020-07-31T13:07:00Z
Jul 31, 2020

its a good option compared with other vendors as licence is perpetual and wont charge every three years as HPE.

JG
Real User
Top 10
2020-07-27T14:42:00Z
Jul 27, 2020

Evaluate your solutions. This is a great solution for those user Hyper-V and ready to hyper-converge.

reviewer1378515 - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
2020-07-05T08:02:00Z
Jul 5, 2020

Make sure that you understand what all of the pieces do and don't make the assumption that you can drop support once setup is complete.

Mart Vernik - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
2020-06-28T08:57:00Z
Jun 28, 2020

Something to keep in mind is that you are not allowed to install security and bug fixes without active support agreement.

reviewer1351425 - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
2020-05-14T18:35:00Z
May 14, 2020

The premium support from StarWinds is a must have. The ability to have access to a storage engineer 24/7 is a must for a production environment.

Andrey Naumov - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
2020-04-19T14:43:00Z
Apr 19, 2020

This is a very good solution for small businesses.

AA
Real User
2020-01-29T14:36:00Z
Jan 29, 2020

The cost, including OPEX, is lower compared to other solutions.

АС
Real User
2019-12-20T06:36:00Z
Dec 20, 2019

The cost of deployment is minimal, almost a product out of the box. The cost takes into account the number of nodes, so the size of the storage is not important.

reviewer1244424 - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
2019-12-04T18:12:00Z
Dec 4, 2019

There are two tiers of support and in my opinion, support is worth the cost.

AY
Real User
2019-11-29T07:45:00Z
Nov 29, 2019

The price is more affordable than other solutions. The product is excellent in value and benefit.

AA
Real User
2019-11-11T09:46:00Z
Nov 11, 2019

Licensing is easy and the whole package is cost-effective.

NC
Real User
2019-10-25T16:58:00Z
Oct 25, 2019

This solution has competitive prices and the implementation is very easy.

reviewer1157808 - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
2019-07-30T21:04:00Z
Jul 30, 2019

The basic setup is very easy and the cost is reasonable for support.

it_user1146222 - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
2019-07-16T15:44:00Z
Jul 16, 2019

I would suggest that you download the free version, deploy in your lab, and play with it. If you like it then you will definitely like the more advanced, full paid version.

AC
Real User
2019-07-11T19:58:00Z
Jul 11, 2019

Setup is simple, so it's cheap. Licensing is based on nodes rather than TBs, which means that the users are free to increase storage capacity without putting thought into licensing.

BB
Real User
2019-06-22T01:26:00Z
Jun 22, 2019

The licensing is pretty simple, and the costs are straightforward. Once you buy the license, you are free to build your own hardware solution based on your needs.

RI
Real User
2019-05-06T07:56:00Z
May 6, 2019

StarWind is best price/performance for SMB.

AK
Real User
2019-04-16T17:19:00Z
Apr 16, 2019

My advice is to use all the features of the service, including software updates and technical support.

Real User
2019-04-16T04:59:00Z
Apr 16, 2019

The licensing is straightforward, with free and trial versions available. Use the trial version before buying. Contact StarWind support in case of questions or issues. The support is very good.

TT
Real User
2019-04-14T11:29:00Z
Apr 14, 2019

Cost is affordable and licensing is smooth.

GrzegorzEBX - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
2019-03-29T17:55:00Z
Mar 29, 2019

No idea.

KL
Real User
2019-03-18T07:20:00Z
Mar 18, 2019

This solution has a great price for the functionality.

MH
Real User
2019-02-12T10:09:00Z
Feb 12, 2019

It's priced fairly. It was definitely cheaper than the competition. The licensing terms are straightforward and reasonable.

DG
Real User
2019-01-31T08:49:00Z
Jan 31, 2019

Their pricing seems pretty good, and their licensing structure is pretty straightforward.

BS
Real User
2019-01-24T13:13:00Z
Jan 24, 2019

I was so impressed by what I saw, because at first, you set it up for free. I set it up for free to see how it worked, because I was losing nothing but time. After I set it up, and everything worked, I was like, "Okay, I don't need anything else for this. Let's get the licensing and go." The pricing is more than reasonable. The licensing is a bit weird. If you license the standard version of StarWind, it allows you four terabytes. Then, they have a pro version, but with the pro version, the only difference is it doubles the terabytes to eight. However, that is just one drive size upwards in an array. You are first going from two terabyte drives to four terabyte drives, then you will soon be going to eight terabyte drives and upwards, for SSDs which are coming out. Therefore, it is weird that they have the middle tier in there, their pro tier. Then, they have their enterprise, which is unlimited. I can see their licensing better structured if their lower tier either had less drive space or the middle tier had more, by maybe a factor of four rather than doubling it. From a sales and marketing point of view, the difference between going from pro to unlimited is unclear. It seems like, "Why not just go unlimited? Why even have the middle tier there?"

AH
Real User
2019-01-24T09:35:00Z
Jan 24, 2019

The pricing is excellent. It will run on anything. You don't have to buy a $100,000 server, with hardware you don't need. You just pay for the license and you're good to go.

MH
Real User
2019-01-23T11:26:00Z
Jan 23, 2019

For pricing, you have two things that come into it: * The cost of the hardware. * The software licensing pricing. When we did all the analysis for StarWind, it was approximately 20 percent less than any of the other solutions that we looked at. This wasn't our only criteria, as you don't want to buy the cheapest thing, then find out you have a problem. Also, StarWind isn't the cheapest solution out there, but it is certainly cost-effective relative to the major players. I haven't seen any difference in quality overall. StarWind works as well as any of the major players would have for us. The scalability limitation for us is its licensing. At some point in the fairly near future, we will probably have to upgrade our license so we can store eight terabytes instead of four. We are currently at four terabytes, but we're starting to knock on the door of that capacity. Going forward, we will probably pay for a license upgrade, then we can add more capacity. We just haven't done it yet.

RO
Real User
2019-01-23T11:26:00Z
Jan 23, 2019

The pricing is fine for the work that it does. I have had no issues. When we bought it three to four years ago for what we needed, it was literally cheaper than the alternative which was ten times the amount and took up physical space. The license is reusable. We can always rebuild it and apply the license. Then, boom, we get new servers, apply the license, and we're back up and running.

CV
Real User
2018-12-05T01:01:00Z
Dec 5, 2018

I have not seen any other storage solution that delivers the features that StarWind does for anywhere near the price. Licensing and support costs are very simple and straightforward.

LZ
User
2018-10-19T21:08:00Z
Oct 19, 2018

The version for vSphere is very cheap, and anyone interested should buy a three-node version for the test environment.

DR
Real User
Top 10
2018-10-19T20:40:00Z
Oct 19, 2018

Be very clear in what you want. I was misquoted what I needed and ended up having to go back to the boss two times. And was running crippled while doing that. It was not pretty. Make sure they know what you have and what you want. Especially sizes. --This really only applies if you do the FREE method first.

JL
Real User
Top 20
2018-08-27T18:34:00Z
Aug 27, 2018

We are happy with the price.

LeonKan - PeerSpot reviewer
User
2018-08-15T12:43:00Z
Aug 15, 2018

The setup cost is very low. The pricing is great.

it_user910362 - PeerSpot reviewer
User
2018-07-31T16:06:00Z
Jul 31, 2018

StarWind was the least expensive option I considered. Their maintenance cost is reasonable.

2018-07-17T14:59:00Z
Jul 17, 2018

As a nonprofit with a limited budget, we are very satisfied with the licensing model provided by StarWind. The initial setup was quick and mostly effortless. Additionally, the support has been superb on the few occasions we've had to reach out to them.

JM
User
2018-07-11T17:07:00Z
Jul 11, 2018

Make sure that you understand what all of the pieces do and don't make the assumption that you can drop support once setup is complete.

StarWind Virtual SAN provides high availability and fault tolerance for virtualized environments without the need for dedicated SAN hardware. It allows for real-time replication between servers, shared storage for Hyper-V clusters, and enables vMotion and High Availability features for VMware vSphere. The solution reduces costs and leverages existing hardware while providing a scalable and reliable infrastructure. Valuable features include ease of use, scalability, top-tier support, hardware...
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