StarWind Software

Greetings,

I am currently using Starwind version 6.0.5713 with no HA and it is very stable. Can i upgrade this version to the latest version 8? I will still using it as only 1 node. Do you recommend that i do a fresh install with using the current img file or upgrade it?

Could you please describe the advantages/performance using the latest version?

Regards.

Hi,

First of all I'd like you to follow StarWind release notes here https://www.starwindsoftware.com/release-notes-build and here https://forums.starwindsoftware.com/vie ... f=5&t=2069

In you case, it might be a performance improvement, but nevertheless it requires testing. For example, we increase IOs limit per one LUN from 60.000 to 100.000+, but if your IOs hit is less than 60.000, then IOs limit enhancement does not affect your environment performance.

Version 6 has a lot of issues fixed in the latest v8 release, but it looks like you have never encountered them, but v8 might have some issue you will encounter. Therefore, a final decision is up to you.

You can safely upgrade your StarWind. It is not necessary to reinstall it from scratch. Please follow: https://knowledgebase.starwindsoftware. ... d-version/

If it ain't broke don't try and fix it.

Read the forums over, V8 is a complete disaster.

LSFS still doesn't work properly, L2 Caching has not been disabled in current builds.

If you want higher performance there are better ways to go.

I went with freenas and have been able to build a couple boxes with performance I was never able to see on my starwind software.

But like I said, if it's working and stable like you say, leave it alone.

I do not agree, that v8 so bad you say kspare. StarWind flat images are stable enough and now they are faster comparison to v6.

LSFS: ok, it has issues, but in most cases all negative feedbacks are caused by misunderstanding that LSFS is not a THIN drive. Yeah yeah, I know, thin is mentioned in StarWind GUI, but it is still a log structured file system, not a thin drive, and LSFS grows and the growth is normal from the LSFS definition.

L2: It's an optional feature which we can do without.

Back to the initial question I can say that StarWind thick images have always been stable and v8 is not an exception

Thank for the reply.

I must admit that i encounter some issues using the version 8 in lab. Please see my post: https://forums.starwindsoftware.com/vie ... f=5&t=4306

I am doing some personal vmware training lessons to a friend and I was using again starwind v8 as virtual san. I had the same issue. Even in a single node with flat image, I got a vcenter error message and had to rescan the datastore. Maybe it is because i am using ESXi 6.

Anyway, I am using v6 with a HP DL320 G6 server w 4 x 2TB SATA 7k drivers. I am not hitting 60k IOPs limit. One the biggest improvement I may see is to benefit hardware acceleration as my v6 datastore not support hardware acceleration.

Hello!

Please let me know if you have any questions left, thank you.

So if he's stable, why upgrade? You can't use L2 Cache, and you can't use LSFS, so whats the benefit? There are NO performance increases what so ever.

Hello!

L2 cache is stable now.

As for the LSFS, we are still working on it and unfortunately we have no ETA.
Although using L2 cache will provide you with a performance boost.