Tech riderRev. 1 Oct 2026

StarWind Virtual SAN

Ch 047.6of 29 Software-Defined Storage Software

1Runs onLinux, self-hosted, Web, Windows
2CostsFree plan · free trial
3Storage protocolsiSCSI, SMB3, NFSv4.1, NVMe-oF, iSER

3 lines stated Written from the maker's own pages: starwindsoftware.com

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Overview

StarWind Virtual SAN is ranked #4 of 29 in software-defined storage software on Specifiction. It runs on Linux, Self-hosted, Web, Windows. There is a free plan. A free trial is offered.

StarWind Virtual SAN plans and pricing

All plans

Virtual SAN Free Free self-supported · functionality limitations · Linux KVM version may have no limitations starwindsoftware.com · 1 Oct 2026

Enterprise Not published per-node licensing · minimum two nodes · unlimited nodes · no storage-capacity limits · asynchronous replication available starwindsoftware.com · 1 Oct 2026

Datacenter Not published single site/datacenter · unlimited nodes · unlimited capacity · asynchronous replication starwindsoftware.com · 1 Oct 2026

Compared on software-defined storage software

Free plan: Yesstarwindsoftware.com
Storage protocols: iSCSI, SMB3, NFSv4.1, NVMe-oF, iSERstarwindsoftware.com

Facts

Purpose: StarWind Virtual SAN is software that replaces physical shared SAN storage and targets Enterprise ROBO, SMB and Edge environments.starwindsoftware.com · 1 Oct 2026
High availability: StarWind says Virtual SAN provides fault tolerance and high availability starting with two nodes.starwindsoftware.com · 1 Oct 2026
Protocols: The product supports iSCSI, SMB3, NFS v4.1, VVols iSCSI, NVMe over Fabrics and iSER.starwindsoftware.com · 1 Oct 2026
Deployment: It can run as Windows-native software in a Hyper-V partition or as a Linux-based virtual machine on a chosen hypervisor.starwindsoftware.com · 1 Oct 2026
Management: Hardware and software resources are monitored and managed through an HTML5 console.starwindsoftware.com · 1 Oct 2026
Self-healing: StarWind lists ZFS self-healing, AI-powered telemetry and call-home systems as automated reliability features.starwindsoftware.com · 1 Oct 2026
Hypervisors: Supported hypervisor versions include VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0 or later, Windows Server Hyper-V 2019 or later, oVirt/OLVM/RHV 4.4 or later, Proxmox VE 9.1 or later and XCP-ng 8.3 or later.starwindsoftware.com · 1 Oct 2026
Free-edition limit: The free-versus-paid comparison lists the free edition's web UI as KVM only, while the paid edition lists KVM, Hyper-V and ESXi.starwindsoftware.com · 1 Oct 2026
Support: VSAN Free is self-supported or community-supported through StarWind Forums, while the paid edition includes deployment, configuration, integration and responsive technical support.starwindsoftware.com · 1 Oct 2026
Trial: The full-force StarWind VSAN free trial lasts 30 trial days.starwindsoftware.com · 1 Oct 2026
Pricing model: StarWind states that pricing scales with usable storage capacity and that the quoted license includes all features, professional technical support and assisted deployment.starwindsoftware.com · 1 Oct 2026
Security advisories: StarWind publishes security advisories, including September 2026 advisories for Mbed TLS, rsyslog and an OpenZFS vulnerability in StarWind products.starwindsoftware.com · 1 Oct 2026
Target users: StarWind says Virtual SAN is designed and priced for SMB, ROBO and Edge deployments.starwindsoftware.com · 1 Oct 2026
Product history: StarWind says its Native SAN product was released in 2011 and later rebranded to Virtual SAN.starwindsoftware.com · 1 Oct 2026