StarWind is a company that has successfully pulled through many transformations over almost two decades now. There is a lot of information on the Web. There is a lot of information on our website. It can be overwhelming. But if you’re curious to learn about us from the ground up or something new, you can now do that in one neat document.

If you’ve never heard of us or just heard the name, check out this document by IDC that has solid information on what StarWind is and how we can help you.

vSphere is notorious for having multiple separate components, all of which require updates separately whenever new patches or licenses arrive. Usually, the process through the vSphere Client can be quite tedious, especially when you have a bigger number of hosts. However, using the PowerCLI can save you much time and effort.

Read the article by Alex Samoylenko, a virtualization pro, on using PowerCLI to quickly and easily update your VMware vCenter and ESXi license keys without any headache.

StarWind HyperConverged Appliance (HCA) has recently innovatively and cost-efficiently integrated Intel Optane into its configurations as “hot tier” storage. But what does that even mean? In short, it’s used as write-back cache, in front of capacity flash, to allow for the most optimal performance of all HCI components within.

Read the article by Brandon Lee of VirtualizationHowTo on what Intel Optane is, how StarWind HCA makes it work in a unique way, and why you should care about it.

Backups are an integral element of any business' IT infrastructure that exists to ensure data safety even in worst-case scenarios. With this in mind, the webinar will discuss the industry standard for this: the 3-2-1 backup rule. You will learn what it is, typical ways of using it, what's the role of StarWind VTL in the backup infrastructure and the 3-2-1 rule, and how to properly deploy it.

Register now to learn how to properly set up your backup infrastructure using the 3-2-1 rule and StarWind VTL.

More transparency, fewer hardware restrictions, freedom of choice, clarity of control, and immutability — that’s where backups are headed. Microsoft has been taking too long to adapt its ReFS to those consumer demands. Veeam and Linux, on the other hand, leverage those trends and offer immutability with reasonable freedom of object and cloud storage choice.

Read the article by Didier Van Hoye, a Microsoft MVP, sharing his views on what to look out for in data backup when it comes to Microsoft environments with Veeam in 2021.

Normally, the pods within your Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) communicate freely. Such a situation can compromise your security if met with a certain threat. To avoid that, you can use Azure or Calico Network Policies to restrict communication and allow only a set configuration for communication between your pods to avoid unnecessary cyber threats.

Read the new guide by Florent Appointare, a Microsoft Engineer, on how to use network policies with AKS to improve pods communication and make it more secure.

In large infrastructures, there may be clusters of hosts that require patching. A full reboot would take quite a long time. Now, vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) has a quick boot option (a kind of a warm boot), which allows for a much smoother boot. Additionally, the “desired state” image of the cluster feature will ensure that new hosts that differ for some reason from the “image” will be remediated to the desired state.

Read the new article by Vladan Seget of ESX Virtualization (vladan.fr) on how vLCM quick boot and image-based updates can help your HCI remain smooth and up-to-date with little manual interference.

“StarWind has taken select best-of-breed systems and built them up using best practices from leaders in video surveillance and analytics – including Milestone, Genetec, Bosch Security Systems, and Briefcam – to create an affordable HCA that can be deployed in a wide variety of locations.” What else is there to say?

Read StorageReview’s report of StarWind HCA for Video and learn how this new offer changes the landscape of VMS and turnkey security solutions.

The issue with, for example, employees leaving your company is that they can take the Kube file with them. With that file, they can access your Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). One way to avoid that is to remove the opportunity of access entirely by renewing certificate authority for the designated AKS cluster.

Read the new article by Florent Appointare, a Microsoft Engineer, on how to renew certificate authority for your AKS cluster to avoid unwanted security compromise.

Good understanding of storage is vital to every IT admin, freshman or not. vSphere continues to innovate how it uses storage, so it’s better to brush up on existing ways before getting into novelties. So before checking out vSphere 7 and Tanzu with their Paravirtual Container Storage Interface (pvCSI), let’s repeat the core material.

Read the new article by Vladan Seget of ESX Virtualization (vladan.fr) about the major concepts when it comes to storage in vSphere, Kubernetes (K8s), vSAN, and Virtual Volumes (vVols).

Evaluating the state of your Active Directory (AD) is perceived as a laborious and complex task. If you do that manually, then perhaps it is. However, checking up on the state of your AD is necessary to rule out potential threats to your environment. Luckily, there’s one tool that can help you generate a comprehensive security report on your chosen AD within minutes.

Read the new article by Benoit Voirin, a cybersecurity consultant, about using PingCastle to generate a report on the security state of your Active Directory.

The industry-standard approach to ensure solid data safety of a business in a worst-case scenario is the 3-2-1 backup rule. There are many ways to follow it, but one is way easier and more efficient than others. This video the role of modern backups and 3-2-1, StarWind VTL as a secondary backup repository that allows you to have secondary media types in the backup chain and offload backups to any public cloud, and how to properly deploy it to follow the rule.

Watch this video now to learn how to properly set up your backup infrastructure using the 3-2-1 rule and StarWind VTL.

Traditionally, a compromise will be made between footage quality and resources available as surveillance systems are usually very expensive to install and maintain. Edge locations will often lack a decent video system for financial reasons, too. However, hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) has proven to effectively tackle those pain points.

Read TechHQs report on StarWind Appliance for Video and how it makes having a video system a significantly less expensive venture with minimum hardware footprint all while ensuring optimal surveillance and analytics output.

Among many good things, remote work creates new challenges for business cybersecurity. Regardless of whether the user uses VPN, having additional security measures can never hurt. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint introduces additional layers where you can also set web content filters to avoid your employees creating unwanted cyber threats.

Read the guide by Romain Serre, a Microsoft MVP, explaining how to use Microsoft Defender for Endpoint to block out unwanted web content for your remote office.

Modern business needs tolerate no downtime. But incurring split-brain can be even worse. Failover strategies exist to help avoid either case and ensure smooth systems functionality. The webinar will discuss the storage-level failover strategies HeartBeat and Node Majority, their pros and cons, and how to set up an HA device in your cluster using either of them.

Register now for the upcoming StarWind webinar to learn how different failover strategies work, which one is better suited for your business, and how to set up High Availability in your storage infrastructure using any of them.

Along with various recent updates, VMware released its new version of vSphere Replication 8.4. It's a free perk that comes included with the vSphere package and has a limited potential to enable and operate VM replication to remote locations. Although it's quite a basic feature, it can still provide valuable benefits for small deployments scenarios.

Read the new article by Vladan Seget of ESX Virtualization (vladan.fr) about VMware Replication 8.4 and the benefits it can bring to your IT environment for free.

Everybody knows how tedious it may be working with self-signed SSL certificates. That's why it's easier to add the Microsoft Certificate server role to your Active Directory. However, manual certificate enrollment is not so handy when there are dozens of users within one IT infrastructure, and if that's the case, it won't hurt to learn how to cut a corner or two!

Read the article by Alex Khorolets, a technical support engineer at StarWind, to find out what you should do to move forward from manual Microsoft Certificate enrollment to auto-enrollment.

StarWind HCI Appliance allows to dramatically increase the performance of outdated hardware and even get rid of components that no longer serve any purpose after the upgrade. This allows for maximum output while keeping the hardware footprint very small. Deployment, migration assistance, and 24/7/365 proactive support included.

Learn more about the benefits StarWind HCI brought to real-life users and how it can help you repurpose outdated hardware with maximum gain for your business today.

Azure Resource Mover is a feature that helps to move your Azure resources from one Azure region to another with ease. The feature also notifies you about relevant dependencies to help prepare your target and source region for proper functionality after moving. This removes the need to exercise the procedure using various windows and services. Everything is done in one place.

Read the new article by Florent Appointare, a Microsoft Engineer, on Azure Resource Mover convenience and how to use it for your cross-region resource distribution.

More and more people turn to hyperconverged infrastructures each year because, well, they do have a lot to offer. Many of them are starting with such well-known and admirable solutions as VMware vSAN, enabling you to replace physically shared storage. That is an excellent choice, but there are a few things you need to know before you start.

Read the article by Vladan Seget, an IT and Virtualization consultant, to find out what details about VMware vSAN requirements you should know about: