NexentaStor vs PetaSAN

NexentaStor is software-defined storage for enterprise applications, combining file services over NFS and SMB with block services over Fibre Channel and iSCSI. It is presented for databases, enterprise NAS, private cloud, virtual workloads, backup, and archives, and can scale from terabytes to petabytes. It runs on bare-metal hardware or as a virtual storage appliance in private-cloud and hyper-converged environments. Its perpetual license includes inline data reduction, unlimited snapshots, long-distance replication, and NexentaFusion management. Administrators can also use a VMware vCenter plugin or a self-documenting REST API. Named integrations or certifications include VMware, Microsoft, OpenStack, Commvault, Veeam, and NetBackup. Nexenta describes SMB 3 encryption and Windows-style access control lists for file storage, and a checksummed, self-healing filesystem for backup. Enterprise Edition includes scheduled replication for recovery point objectives of 15 minutes or longer; continuous replication requires an extra license. Pricing is on request, with a 45-day trial available after registration.

PetaSAN is an open-source, software-defined storage platform for Linux and self-hosted web-managed deployments, licensed under AGPL 3. It uses Ceph and Consul, delivering storage through iSCSI, CIFS/SMB, NFS, and S3. Capacity can grow by adding nodes without interrupting service, and the system is described as multi-node active/active and highly available. Graphical interfaces are intended to help non-Linux administrators install and operate it. Listed use cases include VMware vSphere, Hyper-V, scale-out file systems, big-data analytics, database servers, and large-capacity backups. Capabilities include storage pools, user management, and snapshots. The self-support plan costs nothing; professional support and engineering consultation are also offered. Version 4.1.0 is dated February 18, 2026, and release 3.3.0 added dm-crypt OSD encryption and an HTTPS deployment wizard.