Starwind VSAN Free restrictions removed

[pyro_]

So it would appear that Starwind has just removed almost almost all the restrictions that they have had on their Free offering in terms of nodes and capacity. Free version is command line only and no virtual tape library vs having VTL and full management tools on the paid version. Also Free version only has comunity based support.

Could still be interesting option to use for playing around with on a home lab however.

https://www.starwindsoftware.com/whitepapers/starwind-virtual-san-free-vs-paid.pdf

 

[Monoman]

If it didn't require a windows server license per appliance, this would be a great tool.

For a hyper-v 2016 dual node AD-less cluster, it's a perfect fit! Installs on hyper-v server (free) which is awesome.

 

[NISMO1968]

This is interesting! I remember playing with Starwind VSA few years ago, and it had Linux inside and no Windows. I can't find it on their site though...

If it didn't require a windows server license per appliance, this would be a great tool.

For a hyper-v 2016 dual node AD-less cluster, it's a perfect fit! Installs on hyper-v server (free) which is awesome.

 

[Monoman]

me neither... it installs right on top of hyper-v very nicely though...

 

[ecosse]

Kind of wierd that the GUI is part of the premium features.

 

[Evan]

It's either software on windows or the VSA, but maybe the VSA is a thing of the past and they believe Windows where they started in the future, certainly a good option for simple hyper-v clusters storage.

 

[i386]

Their customer service is fast
I tried to register with a "public email adress" (outlook.com) and it failed. Wrote a mail to their sales department and got the link + license in less than 1 hour.

Time to try vsan free!

 

[NISMO1968]

How is it different from a free Hyper-V Server 2016 vs. full-blown WS2016 and VMware ESXi vs vSphere?

Kind of wierd that the GUI is part of the premium features.

 

[ecosse]

How is it different from a free Hyper-V Server 2016 vs. full-blown WS2016 and VMware ESXi vs vSphere?

The way I read it, you can fully administer the Starwind VSAN through CLI commands. That's totally different from for example vCenter (to me) - you simply can't cluster, use DVS switches, use NSX (and on and on and on...) without it. This is also a product limited to storage - a full WS2016 license gives you so much more than a VSAN.

 

[pyro_]

For those of you who were looking for a Linux version. Just got an email from starwind saying that they have just release one and it is now available

 

[marcoi]

For those of you who were looking for a Linux version. Just got an email from starwind saying that they have just release one and it is now available

i got an email as well, does anyone know if the linux version is free or does it require licensing? (aka mula)

 

[pyro_]

Should be free as well same as windows and esx versions

 

[marcoi]

well im testing the windows version might as well test out the esx one as well.

 

[vl1969]

I would rather have some reasonable limitations yet still have a GUI
over no limitations and CLI only.
it is not overly easy to manage with GUI, not sure I would like to do it over CLI.
could be wrong but not 100% sure about it.

 

[K D]

I would rather have some reasonable limitations yet still have a GUI
over no limitations and CLI only.
it is not overly easy to manage with GUI, not sure I would like to do it over CLI.
could be wrong but not 100% sure about it.

I agree.

 

[vl1969]

I agree.

thanks KD, my reasoning comes from the fact that I am actually using a free version of SW-VSAN with a Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V cluster setup. been running for the last year and a half just fine. never been tested for failover though
in my case the 2 nodes limitation was fine as I only have 2 nodes, I think a 4 node limit would be better for many other users. I also prefer a server with GUI setup so my nodes are installed with server GUI option, not CLI only (this are a fully licenced datacenter installs anyway).

It boggles my mind that, for many years, if my count is correct at least last 30 years, MS, Apple and others were pushing us to use GUI everywhere, workstations and servers and anywhere we could, there were a GUI interface in dev. and in the last 3 years they turn around 180 and now pushing CLI instead.
CLI made sense in old days , when hardware power was limited, limited CPU power, limited RAM and ROM
limited storage, limited video chips power. etc.
all of that have changed and improved dramatically, now it should be the time when GUI should rule the infrastructure, and yet they are pushing us back in time.

 

[_alex]

cli is scriptable, gui is not.
This helps to deploy and manage a large number installs (ie with ansible), what is why a cli (again) became a ,must' and GUI more and more a ,nice to have'.

personally, i prefer cli over GUI as available options, even more uncommon, are often hard to find in todays GUI.
(Click Settings, advanced, Protocol, Type, settings, expert is just painfull)
Also, translation of GUI is often horrible and just makes things worse by trying to give fixed terms a ridiculous translation ...

cli for me is just more clear to get things done, as nearly everything is documented in a single place and in a single language with reliable wording.

anyone tried starwind on linux, or is it currently announced but unreleased?

 

[PigLover]

For scripting an API design is actually better - and best case is a system that is API based that also provides a GUI and/or CLI that only uses the API to interact with the system. That way you guarantee that anything you can do in the GUI/CLI can always be done through the API - and the API calls can be logged for audits and intrusion detection traps.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[marcoi]

i downloaded the starwindvsa_esxi and trying it now.
for windows wheres the help for cli? I only see the help for gui. (granted i didnt look to hard) Also anyone have the windows free vsan setup have any pointers for home setup, planing to use 4x8tb base hdd with 4x250gb ssd as cache, both probably raid 0. Right now im just testing a vm ws2012r2 with a few vm disks on the vm.

 

[_alex]

sure, having an API and every other interface built on top is how it should be
for a lot of tasks still cli would be used, as often API wont be exposed and/or is easier to use for simple maintainance tasks.

I just wanted to give some points why cli is having sort of a renaissance