Does StarWind VSAN work with Proxmox VE?

Yes. StarWind supports Proxmox VE as a hypervisor and is one of the storage options Proxmox-focused MSPs deploy for shared HA storage. Combined with the Proxmox VMware exodus in 2026, StarWind + Proxmox is an increasingly common architecture for replacing VMware + vSAN.

What is StarWind ProActive Premium Support?

StarWind remote-monitors subscribed clusters 24x7, identifies issues proactively, and often resolves them before the customer notices. For MSP partners running fleets of two-node sites, this materially reduces the operational burden. The service is included with Premium subscription tiers.

What's the pricing difference in concrete numbers?

A 2-node StarWind VSAN deployment (perpetual software, annual support, no hardware) typically lands at AUD 8,000-15,000 depending on the tier. A 3-node VMware VVF deployment (software subscription, 72-core minimum) runs AUD 15,000-17,000 per year ongoing. Over three years the gap is material and over five years it is very large. CRS will model specifics against your configuration.

Can I run StarWind and vSAN in the same environment?

Technically yes, at different layers. Some organisations running large central vSphere clusters on vSAN deploy StarWind at branch / edge sites for 2-node HA. The environments don't share storage but they can replicate backups or data between them. This is a legitimate pattern for enterprises with mixed scale requirements.

Is vSAN going to get cheaper?

Broadcom's strategy has been to move customers into larger bundled subscriptions, not to lower per-component pricing. Public indications suggest the pricing direction is stable or upward, not downward. Partners making long-term architecture decisions should not assume VCF pricing will become more affordable at the mid-market tier.

Comparison Guide

StarWind Virtual SAN vs VMware vSAN After Broadcom (2026)

VCF has made vSAN unaffordable for mid-market. Where StarWind VSAN picks up the slack.

Option A

StarWind Virtual SAN

StarWind

Two-node HA shared storage, any hypervisor.

Option B

VMware vSAN

VMware (Broadcom)

The VMware-native HCI storage layer.

Quick Summary

Post-Broadcom, VMware vSAN is sold only inside VCF or VVF bundles. Pricing has moved firmly into enterprise territory with 72-core minimums and per-core subscription. StarWind VSAN delivers equivalent HA shared storage on 2 nodes (with witness), works with ESXi and Hyper-V and KVM, and licenses per-node perpetual with no core minimums. For 2-5 node clusters, the cost difference can be 4-6x. vSAN remains the right answer for large all-VMware environments already deep in VCF. For everyone else the maths has moved.

StarWind

StarWind Virtual SAN

StarWind Virtual SAN (VSAN) is a software-defined storage product that turns commodity servers into a mirrored HA shared-storage cluster. Works with VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, Linux KVM, and Proxmox. The 2-node-plus-witness architecture is StarWind's signature pattern.

VMware (Broadcom)

VMware vSAN

VMware vSAN is the storage layer inside VMware's HCI stack, now sold only as part of the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) or vSphere Foundation (VVF) bundles. Three-node minimum for full HA. Mature integration with vSphere, vMotion, and the broader VMware ecosystem.

Head-to-head comparison

Feature	SWStarWind Virtual SAN	VMVMware vSAN
Minimum nodes for HA	2 nodes + witness (works in branch / edge)	3 nodes minimum for vSAN standard HA
Hypervisor support	ESXi, Hyper-V, KVM, Proxmox	ESXi only
Licensing (post-Broadcom)	Per-node perpetual, no core minimum	Per-core subscription inside VCF/VVF, 72-core minimum
Deduplication + compression	Yes	Yes (all-flash)
All-flash support	Yes, NVMe-oF included	Yes (all-flash is primary)
Hybrid (flash + HDD)	Supported	Hybrid vSAN deprecated for new builds
NVMe-oF support	Yes (NVMe-oF target)	Limited
VMware vMotion compatibility	Yes (presents iSCSI/NFS/NVMe-oF)	Native (vSAN is built into vSphere)
Management plane	StarWind Management Console	vCenter native
ProActive 24x7 support	StarWind ProActive Premium Support	Broadcom global support
Entry cost for 2-node HA	Low (two commodity servers + VSAN licences)	High (3 nodes minimum, VVF/VCF bundle)
Mature VMware ecosystem integration	Good (certified, standard protocols)	Deepest (native, built-in)

Highlighted cells show where one product has a clear advantage for the majority of Australian mid-market and MSP use cases. Ties are unhighlighted.

Post-Broadcom vSAN economics

Since the Broadcom acquisition closed in late 2023, VMware vSAN is no longer sold as a standalone product. It's bundled into VCF (VMware Cloud Foundation) or VVF (vSphere Foundation), priced per physical core with a 72-core minimum per order. For an Australian mid-market cluster (three hosts at 24 cores each = 72 cores exactly), VVF is the entry point at roughly USD 135 per core per year. That's AUD ~15,000-17,000/year just for the software bundle, before support uplifts and before adding NSX, vSAN-specific features, or any of the other VCF components.

For customers already deep in VCF the bundle math works because you're getting vSAN plus NSX plus Aria plus Tanzu all together. For customers who just want shared storage for their VMware cluster, paying for the full bundle to get vSAN is a very expensive way to buy software-defined storage.

StarWind VSAN licenses per-node perpetual with a one-off per-node fee and optional annual support. No core minimums, no bundle dependencies. For a 2-3 node mid-market cluster, the software cost difference vs VCF typically runs 3-5x in StarWind's favour.

The 2-node advantage

VMware vSAN requires three nodes for full HA (two active + one tiebreaker, or three active in a stretched cluster). You can run vSAN on 2 nodes with a witness appliance, but it's a less-polished deployment pattern and many features are restricted.

StarWind VSAN's entire architecture is built around 2-node-plus-witness. Two active servers mirror storage synchronously, a witness (can be a lightweight cloud VM or another site's infrastructure) breaks split-brain, and the cluster survives any single-node failure. This is a genuinely different architectural pattern and it's why StarWind has captured so much of the branch / edge / mid-market HCI segment.

For Australian customers with branch offices, regional sites, or mid-market main offices that don't need three-node scale, the 2-node StarWind pattern is materially simpler and cheaper to deploy than the 3-node vSAN equivalent. Add a witness on a cheap cloud VM and the total hardware footprint is two commodity servers instead of three.

Hypervisor flexibility

vSAN is VMware-only. If you're not running ESXi, you're not running vSAN. Full stop.

StarWind VSAN works with ESXi, Hyper-V, KVM, and Proxmox. For organisations mid-migration off VMware post-Broadcom, this is a genuine operational advantage: you can keep the same storage platform while swapping hypervisors underneath. Deploy StarWind on your VMware hosts today, migrate guests to Proxmox tomorrow, and StarWind continues to serve iSCSI / NFS / NVMe-oF targets to the new hypervisor without any storage-layer change.

For Hyper-V environments, StarWind has been a long-standing partner of Microsoft and is frequently the storage layer underneath Azure Stack HCI or Windows Server Failover Clustering deployments. The VMware + Hyper-V interoperability is a real architectural option in mixed environments.

Where vSAN still wins

Two places where vSAN is the defensible answer.

Deep vSphere integration. vSAN is built into vSphere. vMotion, DRS, HA, storage policies, storage-based encryption, and every other vSphere feature works with vSAN as the native storage layer. StarWind presents as iSCSI / NFS / NVMe-oF targets, which all work with vSphere but require slightly more configuration and maintenance than native vSAN.

Large all-VMware environments. For customers running 20+ node clusters already inside VCF, vSAN is the right answer. The cost is already sunk into VCF, the integration is deepest, and the scale-up story is the cleanest. StarWind's architectural sweet spot is 2-8 nodes; at much larger scale, vSAN's horizontal scaling and the native vSphere integration win.

Pretending these don't matter would be dishonest. For the specific deployment patterns where vSAN was built (large all-VMware HCI estates), vSAN remains the best choice.

When to choose each

Choose VMware vSAN when:

You're already committed to VCF and the bundle is paid for.
Environment is 10+ nodes of all-VMware HCI at scale.
Deep vSphere integration (native policies, vMotion compatibility edge cases) is a requirement.
Your platform team is vSphere-only and doesn't want to manage a separate storage layer.

Choose StarWind VSAN when:

Deployment is 2-8 nodes (the mid-market sweet spot).
Hypervisor flexibility matters (mixed ESXi/Hyper-V/KVM or Proxmox migration in progress).
2-node HA with witness fits the branch / edge / small-office pattern.
Per-core subscription licensing is unaffordable.
ProActive 24x7 managed support is a valuable addition to a lean IT team.

Frequently asked questions

For the core HCI-storage requirement (shared mirrored storage across a small cluster, surviving a single-node failure), yes. StarWind serves the same storage role via iSCSI / NFS / NVMe-oF targets. It does not replicate every vSAN-specific feature (native vSphere policies, deep VAAI integration), but for the mainstream use case it delivers equivalent value at significantly lower cost.

Moving off vSAN after Broadcom?

CRS distributes StarWind Virtual SAN and HCI Appliances across ANZ and the Pacific, including ProActive 24x7 support. We will scope a 2-node or 3-node replacement for your current vSAN environment with AUD pricing.