StorMagic · Software-defined
StorMagic SvHCI / SvSAN
SvSAN is a virtual storage appliance that synchronously mirrors internal disks between two servers, with a remote witness that tolerates up to 3,000 ms latency and serves up to 1,000 clusters. SvHCI packages SvSAN with a KVM/QEMU hypervisor and Open vSwitch as a full-stack VMware alternative for one or two nodes. Both are licensed per node in capacity tiers (2 TB to unlimited) and managed centrally with the cloud-based Edge Control; SvHCI is subscription-only with 24x7 Platinum support included.
- Hypervisor
- StorMagic hypervisor (KVM/QEMU, SvHCI), VMware vSphere (SvSAN), Microsoft Hyper-V (SvSAN), Proxmox VE (SvSAN)
- Cluster size
- 1–2 nodes
- Two-node
- Yes · witness
- Management
- SvHCI Virtualization Manager / SvSAN GUI or vCenter plug-in + Edge Control (cloud) for the fleet
- Data reviewed
- 2026-09-19
Strengths
- True 2-node HA with a tiny shared witness tolerating 3,000 ms latency, up to 1,000 clusters per witness.
- SvHCI removes hypervisor licence costs and includes 24x7 Platinum support in a published per-node price.
- Very low hardware overhead (1 vCPU / 2 GB for the SvSAN VSA) and 1 GbE minimum.
- Cloud-based Edge Control manages large fleets from one console.
- Independent vendor with strong support ratings and retail references (e.g. Sheetz 830+ stores).
Considerations
- SvHCI is limited to two nodes and 50 HA VMs per cluster (3+ nodes on the roadmap).
- No dedupe/compression, async replication, native backup or immutable snapshots.
- SvHCI lacks GPU passthrough, DRS and agentless backup (Veeam agentless on the roadmap).
- Encryption, caching and cloud witness are paid add-ons; SvSAN prices are not published.
- No DataCore acquisition could be confirmed on any official site as of September 2026.
Use-case fit
Limited to 2-node clusters with no data reduction; fine only for small sites.
SvHCI with the VMware import utility replaces vSphere at small sites; not for large data centres.
No GPU, no dedupe and a 50 HA VM cluster limit.
Built for thousands of 1-2 node sites with a shared WAN witness and cloud fleet management.
Zero-RPO mirror, but no QoS, NVMe-oF or large-cluster scale.
No self-service, tenancy or SDN.
CSI driver only, validated on old Kubernetes versions.
SvHCI has no GPU passthrough yet.
Metro mirror only; no async replication, backup or DR orchestration.
No cloud-hosted clusters.
Two servers, simple install, published starting price and 24x7 support included.
FIPS 140-2 compliant encryption add-on and UK ownership, but no certifications and cloud-based fleet management.
No free edition and limited snapshots/clones.
Every comparison point
| Architecture & platform | |
|---|---|
| Hypervisor(s)Which hypervisor runs the virtual machines, and whether a choice of hypervisor is supported. |
SvHCI: StorMagic hypervisor based on KVM/QEMU with Open vSwitch, included. SvSAN: runs as a VSA on vSphere (6.5-9.0), Hyper-V (2016-2025) or Proxmox VE 9.0. StorMagic SvHCI Data Sheet (updated 31 July 2026) ↗ |
| Architecture modelSoftware-defined (bring your own certified hardware), turnkey appliance, or disaggregated HCI (dHCI). |
Software-defined on any HCL x86 server; HPE (V-OEM on DL145 Gen11), SNUC and HiveRadar offer bundled appliances. stormagic.com ↗ |
| Storage engineHow the distributed storage is implemented - controller VM, in-kernel, or a separate storage layer. |
SvSAN virtual storage appliance (a VM in SvSAN deployments, integrated in the SvHCI stack) that synchronously mirrors local disks and presents them as iSCSI volumes. SvSAN Data Sheet (requirements, compatibility, support levels) ↗ |
| Minimum nodes per clusterThe smallest supported production cluster. |
SvHCI: one node (no HA) or two nodes for HA. SvSAN: two nodes, third optional. StorMagic SvHCI Data Sheet (updated 31 July 2026) ↗ |
| Maximum nodes per clusterThe largest supported cluster, and how further scale is achieved. |
SvHCI: two nodes per cluster today (3+ on the roadmap). SvSAN mirrors between two nodes and scales out with unlicensed compute-only hosts. stormagic.com ↗ |
| Single-node deploymentWhether a one-node cluster is supported, and with what limits. |
SvHCI supports single-node clusters when HA is not needed (up to 50 non-HA VMs per node). stormagic.com ↗ |
| Two-node cluster & witnessTwo-node support and what it needs as a witness or tie-breaker. |
Core design. Lightweight witness (1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM; even Raspberry Pi) tolerates under 3,000 ms latency and 9 Kb/s; one witness serves up to 1,000 clusters; also Witness-as-a-Service or no-witness mode. StorMagic Witness - 2-node HA and stretched clusters ↗ |
| Stretched / metro clusterOne cluster spanning two sites with synchronous mirroring and automatic failover. |
Stretched/metro clusters supported for SvSAN and SvHCI (racks, buildings or across a city). StorMagic SvHCI Data Sheet (updated 31 July 2026) ↗ |
| Independent scaling (compute-only / storage-only nodes)Whether compute and storage can grow separately. |
SvSAN: compute-only nodes can use the mirrored storage without extra SvSAN licences. SvHCI can present iSCSI to other hosts. stormagic.com ↗ |
| External storage (SAN / NAS) alongside HCIWhether existing SAN or NAS arrays can be attached to the same hosts. |
SvSAN: hosts keep their hypervisor storage options. SvHCI cannot attach external SAN/NAS today (roadmap). stormagic.com ↗ |
| All-flash / NVMe supportAll-NVMe support and any NVMe-optimised storage architecture. |
NVMe drives supported (SvHCI boot and data, Intel VROC); no NVMe-oF or NVMe-specific storage architecture. StorMagic SvHCI Data Sheet (updated 31 July 2026) ↗ |
| Host & VM maximumsPublished maximums per host or per VM - cores, memory, VMs. |
SvHCI: up to 50 HA VMs per cluster, or 50 non-HA VMs per node; up to 100 GbE NICs. SvSAN inherits hypervisor maximums. stormagic.com ↗ |
| Storage & data services | |
| Deduplication & compressionInline or post-process data reduction, and which editions include it. |
None. SvHCI Documentation ↗ |
| Erasure coding (RAID-5/6)Capacity-efficient parity protection instead of full mirroring. |
None; mirroring across two nodes plus local RAID (hardware, software RAID 0/10, or Intel VROC). SvSAN Data Sheet (requirements, compatibility, support levels) ↗ |
| Data resiliency (failures tolerated)Replication factor / failures-to-tolerate options and fault domains (rack, block). |
Two-way synchronous mirror (one node failure) on top of local RAID; automatic resync and VSA restore. SvSAN Data Sheet (requirements, compatibility, support levels) ↗ |
| Snapshots & clonesSpace-efficient snapshots and clones, and their limits. |
SvHCI: crash-consistent VM snapshots, max 16 per VM. SvSAN relies on hypervisor snapshots. StorMagic SvHCI Data Sheet (updated 31 July 2026) ↗ |
| Data-at-rest encryption & KMSSoftware encryption of the datastore, self-encrypting drives, and key management options. |
Paid add-on: FIPS 140-2 compliant XTS-AES-256 encryption of all or selected volumes; works with any KMIP key manager, including StorMagic SvKMS. SvSAN Data Encryption ↗ |
| Storage QoSIOPS / throughput limits or guarantees per VM or volume. |
No QoS limits; Predictive Storage Caching add-on (SSD/memory caching, data pinning) for performance. stormagic.com ↗ |
| File services (SMB / NFS)Native file shares served by the platform. |
None. SvHCI Documentation ↗ |
| Object storage (S3)Native S3-compatible object storage. |
None. SvHCI Documentation ↗ |
| Block storage for external hostsPresenting volumes to physical servers or other clusters over iSCSI or NVMe-oF. |
Yes - mirrored iSCSI targets can be presented to additional compute hosts. stormagic.com ↗ |
| Data protection & DR | |
| Asynchronous replication (RPO)Native async replication and the lowest supported RPO. |
No native async replication to a DR site. stormagic.com ↗ |
| Synchronous replication (zero RPO)Zero-data-loss replication between sites. |
Yes - synchronous mirroring between the two nodes, including stretched clusters. StorMagic SvHCI Data Sheet (updated 31 July 2026) ↗ |
| DR orchestration & runbooksAutomated failover, failback and non-disruptive DR testing. |
None; automatic HA restart of VMs (under 30 s on SvHCI) only. StorMagic SvHCI Data Sheet (updated 31 July 2026) ↗ |
| Native backupBackup built into the platform, without a third-party product. |
None; SvHCI uses agent-based backup (Veeam, Acronis, Commvault). Veeam agentless integration is on the roadmap. The Future of Edge Virtualization: Our Roadmap for the Year Ahead ↗ |
| Immutable snapshots & ransomware protectionTamper-proof snapshots, ransomware detection and recovery features. |
No immutable snapshots; relies on backup software. SvSAN Data Encryption ↗ |
| Third-party backup ecosystemSupport from Veeam, Commvault, Rubrik, Cohesity, HYCU and similar. |
SvSAN: any backup product for vSphere/Hyper-V works as usual. SvHCI: agent-based only today (Veeam, Acronis, Commvault documented). StorMagic SvHCI Data Sheet (updated 31 July 2026) ↗ |
| DR to public cloudUsing a public cloud as the recovery site. |
None; only the witness can run in the cloud or as a service. StorMagic Witness - 2-node HA and stretched clusters ↗ |
| Networking & security | |
| Software-defined networkingOverlay networks, VPCs, distributed routing and load balancing. |
SvHCI: virtual networking with Open vSwitch configured from the GUI (no overlays or distributed routing). SvSAN: hypervisor networking. SvHCI Features (virtualized networking with Open vSwitch) ↗ |
| Microsegmentation / distributed firewallEast-west VM firewalling enforced at the hypervisor. |
None. SvHCI Features (virtualized networking with Open vSwitch) ↗ |
| RBAC, SSO & MFARole-based access control, directory / SAML integration and multi-factor authentication. |
Local users with GUI auto-logout; no SSO/MFA documented for SvHCI (SvSAN inherits vCenter/Windows access). stormagic.com ↗ |
| Platform hardeningSecure boot, TPM, hardened baselines (STIG), automated drift remediation. |
SvHCI is a closed, locked-down Linux system (no customer packages); SvHCI 2.5 adds vTPM and Secure Boot for guests. No STIG. stormagic.com ↗ |
| Security certificationsFIPS 140, Common Criteria, DISA STIG and similar attestations. |
Encryption uses a FIPS 140-2 compliant algorithm; no product-level Common Criteria or STIG published. SvSAN Data Encryption ↗ |
| Management & operations | |
| Management consoleThe day-to-day management interface. |
SvHCI Virtualization Manager (web GUI on each node); SvSAN web GUI and vCenter HTML5 plug-in; Edge Control cloud console for all clusters. stormagic.com ↗ |
| Multi-cluster / fleet managementManaging many clusters and sites from one place. |
Edge Control: cloud-based fleet inventory, monitoring and management of every cluster; air-gapped on-prem fleet management is on the roadmap. StorMagic Edge Control (cloud-based fleet management) ↗ |
| Lifecycle management (full-stack upgrades)Rolling, non-disruptive upgrades of software, drivers and firmware. |
Non-disruptive, cluster-aware rolling upgrades of the StorMagic stack; server firmware is separate. StorMagic SvHCI Data Sheet (updated 31 July 2026) ↗ |
| APIs & automationREST API, Terraform, Ansible, PowerShell and CLI coverage. |
PowerShell script generation (SvSAN); SvHCI API/CLI for import, export and templates, headless install workflow. No Ansible collection yet. stormagic.com ↗ |
| Monitoring, analytics & capacity planningBuilt-in health, performance analytics, forecasting and right-sizing. |
Per-volume I/O, throughput and latency history with CSV export; health via Edge Control. SvSAN Data Sheet (requirements, compatibility, support levels) ↗ |
| Self-service & private-cloud portalCatalogues, projects, quotas and chargeback for consumers. |
None. SvHCI Documentation ↗ |
| Live migration & HALive migration, automatic restart on failure and load balancing (DRS-like). |
SvHCI: live migration for HA VMs and restart in under 30 s; no DRS. SvSAN enables vMotion, DRS and Hyper-V Live Migration. stormagic.com ↗ |
| Cloud, containers & AI | |
| Kubernetes & containersNative or integrated Kubernetes, and persistent storage for containers. |
Free SvSAN CSI driver for persistent storage (validated with vSphere 7 / Kubernetes 1.19-1.20); no Kubernetes platform. SvSAN Container Storage Interface (CSI) driver ↗ |
| Hybrid / public cloudThe same stack in a public cloud, or cloud services managing the on-premises cluster. |
Cloud-delivered Edge Control and Witness-as-a-Service; no cloud-hosted clusters. StorMagic Edge Control (cloud-based fleet management) ↗ |
| VDI / end-user computingValidated VDI brokers - Citrix, Omnissa Horizon, Azure Virtual Desktop and others. |
No validated VDI brokers; SvHCI 2.5 adds Windows 11 guest support. The Future of Edge Virtualization: Our Roadmap for the Year Ahead ↗ |
| GPU & AI workloadsGPU passthrough and vGPU, and packaged AI / inference offerings. |
SvHCI has no GPU or PCI passthrough today (roadmap). SvSAN inherits hypervisor GPU support. stormagic.com ↗ |
| Database servicesBuilt-in database provisioning and lifecycle (DBaaS). |
None. Full-Stack Hyperconverged Infrastructure Software Solution | SvHCI by StorMagic ↗ |
| Deployment & hardware | |
| Deployment method & timeHow a cluster is installed, and how long that typically takes. |
Guided installer; SvHCI up in under an hour; remote headless bare-metal install for large rollouts; multi-VSA deploy wizard for SvSAN. StorMagic SvHCI Data Sheet (updated 31 July 2026) ↗ |
| Hardware optionsAppliances, certified / validated nodes and compatibility lists. |
SvHCI HCL of verified models; SvSAN on any server on the vSphere/Hyper-V HCL; bundled appliances via HPE, SNUC and HiveRadar. SvHCI Hardware Compatibility List ↗ |
| Hardware OEMsWhich server vendors ship or certify nodes. |
Cisco, Dell, HPE, Intel, Lenovo, Supermicro, HiveRadar, RCV Innovations (HCL); SNUC and HPE bundles. SvHCI Hardware Compatibility List ↗ |
| Edge / ROBO suitabilitySmall footprints, remote management and low-touch operation for branches. |
Purpose-built for edge: 2 small servers, shared remote witness, 1 GbE minimum, cloud fleet management; e.g. Sheetz replacing VMware in 830+ stores. stormagic.com ↗ |
| Air-gapped / disconnected operationRunning and updating without any internet or cloud connection. |
Clusters run locally without internet (local GUI, local witness); Edge Control is cloud-based, air-gapped fleet management is roadmap. The Future of Edge Virtualization: Our Roadmap for the Year Ahead ↗ |
| Migration tooling (e.g. from VMware)Built-in or vendor tools for moving VMs onto the platform. |
SvHCI VMware VM Import Utility (batch, warm pre-copy with delta sync) plus OVF/OVA import and raw-disk upload. SvHCI Features - VMware VM Import Utility, VM Import/Export ↗ |
| Licensing & subscription | |
| Licence modelSubscription, term, perpetual or free, and the usual term lengths. |
SvHCI: subscription only, 1, 3 or 5 years. SvSAN: perpetual (plus Gold/Platinum maintenance) or subscription (Platinum included). SvSAN Pricing | Perpetual, Subscription, Cloud | StorMagic ↗ |
| Licence metricWhat is counted - physical cores, sockets, nodes, TiB, or VMs. |
Per node, in usable-capacity tiers of 2, 6, 12, 24, 48 TB or unlimited. Not per core or socket. stormagic.com ↗ |
| Licensing minimumsMinimum cores per CPU, minimum order quantities and similar rules. |
One licence per node (two for an HA cluster); every node licensed at the chosen tier. Encryption, caching and WaaS are priced add-ons. SvSAN Pricing | Perpetual, Subscription, Cloud | StorMagic ↗ |
| EditionsThe editions or packages sold. |
SvHCI (subscription), SvSAN subscription, SvSAN perpetual; add-ons: Data Encryption, Predictive Storage Caching, Witness-as-a-Service. SvSAN Pricing | Perpetual, Subscription, Cloud | StorMagic ↗ |
| Free / community editionA no-cost edition, and what it is licensed for. |
No free edition; 15-day fully functional trial (with Gold support) and a beta programme only. StorMagic Witness - 2-node HA and stretched clusters ↗ |
| Guest OS (Windows Server) licensingWhat the platform does, or does not do, for Windows Server guest licensing. |
Windows Server guests on SvHCI are licensed per physical host under Microsoft rules; StorMagic does not include guest licences. SvSAN Pricing | Perpetual, Subscription, Cloud | StorMagic ↗ |
| Licence portabilityMoving the licence between hardware vendors, or into a public cloud. |
Licences are hardware-vendor independent (any HCL server); no public-cloud deployment option. SvSAN Pricing | Perpetual, Subscription, Cloud | StorMagic ↗ |
| Support & lifecycle | |
| Support offeringsThe support levels sold, and their hours. |
Gold: 8 h/day Mon-Fri (07:00-01:00 UTC window), email, 4-hour response. Platinum: 24x7, phone, 1-hour response. SvHCI and SvSAN subscriptions include Platinum. SvSAN Data Sheet (requirements, compatibility, support levels) ↗ |
| Single point of support (hardware + software)One call for the whole stack, or separate vendors for hardware and software. |
SvHCI covers the whole software stack (hypervisor, network, storage) and HCL servers; hardware repairs stay with the server vendor. StorMagic SvHCI Data Sheet (updated 31 July 2026) ↗ |
| Critical-issue responseTarget response time for a severity-1 issue on the top support tier. |
1-hour response on Platinum, 24x7 for Severity 1 and 2. SvSAN Data Sheet (requirements, compatibility, support levels) ↗ |
| Release & update cadenceHow often feature and maintenance releases ship. |
Frequent SvHCI releases (2.0-2.3 in FY2026; 2.5.1 current); SvSAN 6.7 current. StorMagic Marks 20 Years of Edge Innovation (14 April 2026) ↗ |
| Lifecycle policyHow long a release is supported, and long-term-support options. |
No public end-of-life policy found; manuals are kept for all supported versions and a public roadmap is published. The Future of Edge Virtualization: Our Roadmap for the Year Ahead ↗ |
| Cost | |
| Published list pricingWhether the OEM publishes prices, and the headline list price. |
SvHCI MSRP published: from USD 2,049 (single node, 2 TB, 1-year subscription). SvSAN prices are quote-only. SvHCI Pricing | StorMagic ↗ |
| TCO drivers & hidden costsAdd-ons, minimums, hardware premiums and other costs that move the total. |
Every node is licensed at the capacity tier; encryption and caching add-ons; WaaS optional. SvSAN still needs vSphere/Windows licences; SvHCI avoids them. SvHCI Pricing | StorMagic ↗ |
| Vendor & ecosystem | |
| Vendor & ownershipWho owns and develops the platform, and recent ownership changes. |
StorMagic Ltd, Bristol UK, founded 2006, privately held (Palatine Growth investment 2025). Not acquired by DataCore (unconfirmed on any official site). StorMagic Marks 20 Years of Edge Innovation (14 April 2026) ↗ |
| Ecosystem & communityPartners, certified applications, skills availability and community. |
Niche edge specialist: 50,000+ installations claimed; hardware alliances with HPE, Lenovo, Dell, Supermicro, Cisco, SNUC; retail-heavy customer base. Partner Solutions Hub | StorMagic + Technology Partners ↗ |
| Lock-in & exit optionsOpen formats, standard hypervisors and how hard it is to leave. A higher score means less lock-in. |
SvSAN keeps standard hypervisors. SvHCI uses open KVM with OVF export, but a two-node proprietary stack. SvHCI Features - VMware VM Import Utility, VM Import/Export ↗ |
| Regional availability & sovereigntyWhere the platform is sold and supported, and sovereignty considerations. |
Global channel with 24x7 Platinum; UK-headquartered, European-owned alternative to US vendors. StorMagic Support: world-class help on hand when you need it most ↗ |
Editions
| Edition | Model | Metric | Price / unit / yr | Basis | Support | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SvHCI ↗ | Subscription | per node / host | $2,049 | OEM list price | 24x7 Platinum (1-hour response) included | Replacing vSphere on 1-2 node edge or branch sites without separate hypervisor licences. |
| SvSAN (subscription) ↗ | Subscription | per node / host | $1,500 | Estimate | 24x7 Platinum included | Two-node HA shared storage under existing vSphere, Hyper-V or Proxmox hosts. |
| SvSAN (perpetual) ↗ | Perpetual | per node / host | $614 | Estimate | Gold or Platinum maintenance bought separately (1, 3 or 5 years) | Capex buyers keeping SvSAN for many years on existing hypervisors. |
Hardware routes
- HPE ProLiant DL145 Gen11 + SvHCI integrated solution ↗
Integrated
HPE — Virtual-OEM bundle announced June 2025 (AMD EPYC 8004, iLO, Compute Ops Management). - SvHCI verified servers (Cisco UCS, Dell PowerEdge, HPE ProLiant/Edgeline, Lenovo ThinkSystem, Supermicro, Intel) ↗
Hcl
Multiple — Verified chassis list; other x86 servers get best-effort support. - SNUC / HiveRadar edge appliances ↗
Validated
SNUC, HiveRadar — Fanless and mobile/off-grid edge systems validated with SvHCI and SvSAN. - SvSAN on any vSphere / Hyper-V HCL server ↗
Any
Any x86 vendor — Works with internal disks or JBOD; software RAID for servers without RAID controllers.
Support
- Gold ↗
8 hours/day Mon-Fri (07:00-01:00 UTC window) · Sev-1: 4 hours · Email and WebEx; 2 named support administrators. - Platinum ↗
24x7 for Severity 1 and 2 · Sev-1: 1 hour · Email, phone, WebEx; 4 named admins; included with SvHCI and SvSAN subscriptions.
Deployment
- Networks
- Management, Mirror / iSCSI (can be direct-connected), VM traffic, Witness heartbeat (WAN)
- NICs
- 1 GbE minimum; multiple ports for resilience; 10-100 GbE supported
- Switching
- Mirror links can be cabled back-to-back between two nodes; existing site switch for VM traffic
- Witness
- Lightweight witness (VM, Raspberry Pi or Witness-as-a-Service) at HQ or cloud; one witness serves up to 1,000 clusters, tolerates 3,000 ms latency
- Time to deploy
- Under an hour per site for SvHCI
Reference diagrams
Drawn for the default workload (200 VMs → 6 nodes). Build a comparison to size them for yours.OEM references
- ProductFull-Stack Hyperconverged Infrastructure Software Solution | SvHCI by StorMagic ↗
- DatasheetStorMagic SvHCI Data Sheet (updated 31 July 2026) ↗
- DocsSvHCI Documentation ↗
- RequirementsSvSAN Data Sheet (requirements, compatibility, support levels) ↗
- LicensingSvSAN Pricing | Perpetual, Subscription, Cloud | StorMagic ↗
- PricingSvHCI Pricing | StorMagic ↗
- SupportStorMagic Support: world-class help on hand when you need it most ↗
- LifecycleThe Future of Edge Virtualization: Our Roadmap for the Year Ahead ↗
- HclSvHCI Hardware Compatibility List ↗
- DrStorMagic Witness - 2-node HA and stretched clusters ↗
- SecuritySvSAN Data Encryption ↗
- NetworkingSvHCI Features (virtualized networking with Open vSwitch) ↗
- K8sSvSAN Container Storage Interface (CSI) driver ↗
- CloudStorMagic Edge Control (cloud-based fleet management) ↗
- MigrationSvHCI Features - VMware VM Import Utility, VM Import/Export ↗
- EcosystemPartner Solutions Hub | StorMagic + Technology Partners ↗
- CompanyStorMagic Marks 20 Years of Edge Innovation (14 April 2026) ↗