Finally, StarWind Virtual Storage Appliance is available on Linux allowing you to save costs on Windows licensing. Being hypervisor-agnostic, StarWind VSA easily integrates into any IT infrastructure as a fully pre-configured virtual machine ready for deployment and operation. It simply installs in any existing environment requiring no specialized SAN skills and is managed using StarWind Web console or thick client allowing to control the entire storage infrastructure from a centralized console.
Join our Tap Room Meeting on April 27 11 am PT / 2 pm ET to see all benefits of the StarWind Linux-based VSA.
Register now: https://www.starwindsoftware.com/dedicated-live-demo-session

StarWind Virtual SAN Free allows deploying a 2-node cluster providing a highly available storage for your virtual machines to Hyper-V or ESXi hypervisor for free. When deploying multi VSAN Free nodes, the data is synchronized across the network between the nodes. StarWind VSAN Free can be deployed in a hyperconverged model where VSAN Free is installed on hypervisor nodes or in a disaggregated model with separated compute and storage resources. StarWind VSAN Free management capabilities include PowerShell, with StarWind Management console available as a 30-day trial.

Read the full article by Romain Serre, a Senior Consultant at Lyon to learn how to deploy a 2-node StarWind VSAN Free for VMware ESXi 6.5 on Windows Server 2016 Core Edition.

StarWind gets closer to Linux users by providing them with special Linux-based Virtual Storage Appliance version combining the underlying OS and preinstalled StarWind Virtual SAN, allowing to save money on Windows Licensing when it’s unnecessary.
StarWind VSA is compatible with any hypervisor, be it Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware ESXi, Xen or KVM and can be managed via a Web Management Console while additionally containing a StarWind vCenter plugin allowing to manage the product directly from vCenter Server.

Read the full article by Vladan Seget, IT and Virtualization consultant to learn more about StarWind Virtual SAN on Linux

AlwaysOn Basic Availability Groups (BAG) supported in SQL Server Standard Edition and AlwaysOn Availability Groups (AG) introduced in SQL Server Enterprise Edition were designed to create a replicated environment with improved failover capabilities. However, the two types provide different capabilities while also requiring different licensing costs.

Read the full article by Shashank Singh, Microsoft MVP, and SQL Server Architect to learn more about BAG and AG cost and functionality differences.

Migrating your VMs from one hypervisor to another may be quite a complicated task if there’s no decent virtual machine converter at hand. Fortunately, there are various V2V tools allowing to turn this process into a simple thing. But, when choosing a V2V converter, there are several factors you should take into consideration.

Read the full article to learn how to choose a V2V converter that will become a perfect fit for your needs.

StarWind is currently working on the new product - a flexible and customizable web-based platform which will allow users get the full control over their IT infrastructures from a single HTML5 graphical interface including S2D, Failover Clustering and Hyper-V. More information to be found in a nearby thread: https://mangolassi.it/topic/14114/help-starwind-to-pick-the-name-for-the-upcoming-product

StarWind HyperConverged Appliance utilizes Local Reconstruction Codes, Replication, and Grid Architecture to provide an ultimate fault tolerance rate while delivering sustained high performance. With StarWind HCA, the whole infrastructure remains operational even after multiple disk or node failures. In case a failure occurs, applications are automatically recovered to working cluster disks or nodes, allowing to easily withstand a failure of more than 50% of the cluster nodes.

Watch our video to learn how to get uncompromised resiliency with StarWind HCA
https://www.starwindsoftware.com/get-uncompromised-fault-tolerance-of-it-infrastructure-with-starwind-hyperconverged-appliance

With PowerShell, automatic deployment of Hyper-V VMs in Windows Server 2016 becomes a piece of cake
No doubts, commercial software for automatic VM deployment is great, but it may be too expensive comparing to the goals that need to be achieved. That’s where PowerShell kicks in. With PowerShell commands, the creation and configuration of Hyper-V virtual machines in Windows Server 2016 become a fairly simple thing. But, what is more important, you can create a script which deploys VMs of the same configuration automatically.

Read the full article by Boris Yurchenko, a Support Engineer at StarWind, to learn how to automate your VMs deployment with PowerShell in Windows Server 2016.

Installing an HTTPS certificate is just a tip of the iceberg. This certificate has a huge number of options that usually are hidden deep inside config files. Actually, these tiny details allow distinguishing a site that can be rendered vulnerable via HTTPS downgrade attack and the one that is really secure.

Read the full article by Gary Williams, a virtualization, storage, and Windows systems administrator, to achieve the highest security.

StarWind team will take the floor at Storage Field Day 15 to reveal new awesome backup storage technologies: Virtual Tape Library with Cloud and Object storage and backed by ProActive Support! Our speaking slot is the first in line: March 9, 8-10 am PT, don’t miss it!

For Livestream, go to https://www.facebook.com/TechFieldDay/ or watch on http://techfieldday.com/, Livestream.com - includes the entire event.

Get clarity on storage formats like QCOW and RAW, and learn how to choose the best option for your workloads in our latest article by Dmytro Malynka, StarWind Product Manager. Read more here: https://starwind.com/s/9G

PBS Systems, a Canada-based dealership management software company, was struggling with multiple aging storage systems from different vendors with inconsistent performance. The company needed a reliable and cost-effective solution to replace its multi-vendor storage infrastructure and reduce high maintenance costs. By implementing StarWind HCI Appliance (#HCA), PBS Systems consolidates multiple storage systems into a unified platform with high availability (HA), reduces power consumption and cuts down IT costs, ensuring uninterrupted business operations over the past 12 months. Read more here: https://starwind.com/s/9D

Proxmox VE is a fantastic alternative to VMware, and with StarWind Virtual SAN (VSAN), you can build a highly available (HA) cluster with just two nodes. Our latest guide by Oleg Pankevych, Pre-Sales Engineer at StarWind, breaks it all down – from configuration to deployment.
If you're running on a tight budget but need a reliable IT infrastructure, this solution is for you. Read more here: https://starwind.com/s/9A

Krida Wacana Christian University (UKRIDA), an Indonesian educational institution, used four physical servers dedicated to server virtualization running VMware with DAS. The university needed a shared storage solution to receive high availability (HA) and load balancing. With StarWind Virtual SAN (VSAN) implementation, UKRIDA gets load balancing for efficient resource utilization, HA for its mission-critical academic apps even in the event of an incident, and zero downtime. Read more here: https://starwind.com/s/9x

Why waste hours on manual installations when you can automate the process? With an unattend.xml file, you can configure Windows Server 2025 deployments to be hands-free, consistent, and efficient.
Our latest guide by Brandon Lee, an IT Consultant, for StarWind walks you through everything you need to know to get started. Read more here: https://starwind.com/s/9u

SCALINX's IT infrastructure, based on a single Proxmox host with local storage, lacked shared storage, limiting scalability and risking potential downtime. The company needed a cost-effective shared storage solution to ensure high availability (HA) and scalability while transitioning from Proxmox to ESXi. By deploying StarWind Virtual SAN (VSAN), SCALINX gains scalable shared storage, implements HA, and saves $20,000 in upfront costs along with ongoing operational savings. Read more here: https://starwind.com/s/9r

Virtualization and backups are core for most modern IT setups, and Proxmox combines them into one seamless platform. With high availability (HA), live migration, and deduplicated backups, Proxmox VE and Proxmox Backup Server offer a solution designed for modern IT challenges.
Explore how it works in our latest article by Dmytro Malynka, StarWind Product Manager. Read more here: https://starwind.com/s/9o

GHG Corporation, a US-based NASA subcontractor, relied on a single Dell EqualLogic SAN, creating a single point of failure (SPOF) with increasing maintenance costs. The company needed a cost-effective solution to ensure redundancy and continuous operations. By implementing StarWind HCI Appliance (HCA), GHG Corporation consolidates CPU, networking, and storage into an efficient two-host solution, ensures high availability (HA) and performance, eliminates SPOF, and reduces IT costs by 50%. Read more here: https://starwind.com/s/9l

Azure DevOps Server is a powerhouse for CICD, offering seamless integration with the Microsoft ecosystem. But is the free Express edition enough for your team?
Learn the key differences, explore deployment options, and follow our latest step-by-step guide by Brandon Lee, an IT Consultant, for StarWind to install it in a self-hosted environment. Read more here: https://starwind.com/s/9i

Lees-McRae College, a US-based educational institution, was struggling with aging servers and slow maintenance processes, operating six standalone Hyper-V hosts with limited redundancy. The college needed a reliable, cost-effective solution to replace outdated servers and streamline maintenance for uninterrupted educational services. By implementing StarWind HCI Appliance (HCA), Lees-McRae College consolidates its six servers into a two-node cluster with all-flash arrays, improves performance, and ensures educational service continuity. Read more here: https://starwind.com/s/9f