LINBIT SDS vs StarWind Virtual SAN
LINBIT SDS
linbit.comStarWind Virtual SAN
starwindsoftware.comSide by side
| Figure | LINBIT SDS | StarWind Virtual SAN |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $83.33/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 5 |
| Spec score · Storage Management Software | 7.8 (#10) | 8.4 (#3) |
| Founded | 2001 | 2003 |
| Headquarters | Vienna, Austria | Beverly, Massachusetts, USA |
| Purpose | LINBIT SDS is open-source block storage for private cloud infrastructure, combining DRBD replication with LINSTOR storage orchestration. | StarWind Virtual SAN is software that replaces physical shared SAN storage and targets Enterprise ROBO, SMB and Edge environments. |
| Support | LINBIT offers Starter, Plus, and Enterprise subscriptions, with Enterprise including 24×7 mail and phone support and a maximum one-hour emergency initial response time. | VSAN Free is self-supported or community-supported through StarWind Forums, while the paid edition includes deployment, configuration, integration and responsive technical support. |
Plans
LINBIT SDS
- LINBIT Starter$1,000 a year
- LINBIT EnterprisePriced on request
- LINBIT PlusPriced on request
StarWind Virtual SAN
- StarWind Virtual SAN FreeFree
- Virtual SAN FreeFree
- DatacenterPriced on request
- EnterprisePriced on request
- StarWind Virtual SANPriced on request
In their own words
StarWind Virtual SAN
StarWind Virtual SAN is software designed to replace physical shared SAN storage in SMB, ROBO, and Edge environments. It provides fault tolerance and high availability starting with two nodes, and supports iSCSI, SMB3, NFS v4.1, VVols iSCSI, NVMe over Fabrics, and iSER. Deployment options include Windows-native software in a Hyper-V partition or a Linux-based virtual machine on a chosen hypervisor. An HTML5 console is used to monitor and manage hardware and software resources. Listed reliability features include ZFS self-healing, AI-powered telemetry, and call-home systems. 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. The free edition is self- or community-supported, and its comparison lists web UI support for KVM only; paid editions list KVM, Hyper-V, and ESXi. A 30-day trial is available, while paid pricing is on request.