StorMagic SvHCI Data Sheet

Published On: 1st May 202610.6 min readTags: , , , ,

Full-stack hyperconverged infrastructure

StorMagic SvHCI is a full-stack hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) software solution. It combines virtualized storage with a StorMagic hypervisor, virtualized networking, and management components. SvHCI includes 24x7x365 StorMagic Platinum support for the entire HCI stack.

SvHCI is reliable and simple, and provides HCI at a lower cost, making it the ideal solution for a variety of use cases. Those use cases are being expanded and driven by changes in the computing landscape. For example, Gartner predicted “By 2028, more than 50% of enterprise-managed data will be created and processed outside the data center or cloud, which is a major increase from 25% in 2025.”1 and that “By 2029, 50% of enterprises will be using edge computing, up from 20% in 2024.”2 They also see big changes as a result of Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware, with a doubling of the non-VMware full-stack HCI installed base in 5 years, from 30% to 60%.3 In other words, many current VMware customers are looking for and will move to non-VMware HCI solutions.

Right-sized

SvHCI is the most cost-effective HCI solution for on-site applications and data. It is built on proven technologies and has high availability built in. SvHCI can be deployed on a single server or deployed on two servers to eliminate downtime.

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SvHCI 2-node HCI with expanded stack illustration

With SvHCI, organizations at the edge and in edge-like environments no longer need to deploy overengineered, overprovisioned, overpriced HCI solutions that are too much and too complicated for their needs. SvHCI has a combination of right-sized features and functionality, minimal hardware requirements, and is supported on a choice of server models from major vendors.

SvHCI is easy to deploy and manage and can be up and running in less than an hour. VMs can be easily brought across from VMware environments with the VMware VM Import Utility, while VMs from any virtualization platform can be imported in OVF or OVA format using the VM Import/Export feature. Furthermore, the solution can be deployed and managed remotely with Edge Control, the centralized fleet monitoring and management tool for SvHCI. Consequently, there is no need for onsite, specialized IT personnel at each location. And the solution is fast, with VM failover in under 30 seconds vs. a typical Hyper-V failover of 4 minutes and a vSphere failover of 2.5 minutes.

VM Failover Times
StorMagic SvHCI <30 Seconds
Microsoft Hyper-V 4 Minutes
VMware vSphere 2.5 Minutes

Full-Stack Solution, Rock Solid Foundation

SvHCI integrates an advanced, trusted hypervisor and virtual networking based on open-source KVM/QEMU technology and Open vSwitch with highly available storage delivered by StorMagic’s proven, ironclad SvSAN virtualized storage software. It provides all the data storage features and performance of SvSAN, as enjoyed by thousands of customers globally with over 50,000 installations. All elements (hypervisor, virtual networking, and virtual storage) install together, directly on the server (bare metal) with no other operating system required.

The solution is designed for 100% uptime. And, unlike most high availability HCI solutions that require three or more servers, SvHCI eliminates downtime with only two servers and a remote witness, which can support up to 1,000 clusters. Each cluster has the option of being deployed as a stretched, or metro cluster, meaning that the individual nodes within the cluster can be separated geographically, whether a separate rack, room, or building, for added resiliency in the event of disasters such as fire or power outage. For added peace of mind, SvHCI includes VM-level snapshot capability, while backup and recovery products, such as those from Acronis, Commvault, and Veeam, can provide additional protection.

System Requirements:

SvHCI has the following minimum hardware requirements:

Server • x86 server from Hardware Compatibility List (HCL)
• 2+ CPU cores. More recommended for performance
• Support for hardware virtualization (Intel VT-x or AMD RVI) must be enabled on x86-64 CPUs
Memory 2GB RAM (4GB+ recommended)
Disk 1 drive with 32GB+ boot disk (HDD, SSD or NVMe)
Network 1 or more 1Gb+ Ethernet controller

Fully Supported by StorMagic

StorMagic provides enterprise-grade support, which is consistently cited by customers as a key benefit in choosing StorMagic software. StorMagic support has maintained a 99.3% CSAT (customer satisfaction) score for the past two years and is rated 4.5 stars for service and support from customer reviews.

SvHCI licenses include 24x7x365 Platinum support from StorMagic. This covers all components of the technology stack: Edge Control fleet management, web-based Graphical User Interface (GUI), StorMagic hypervisor, network virtualization capabilities, and virtualized storage layer. Support is also provided for the servers on the hardware compatibility list (HCL) and approved guest OSes.

Platinum Support
Hours of operation 24 hours a day, (7 days a week)
Length of service 1, 3 or 5 years
Product updates Yes
Product upgrades Yes
Access method Email + Telephone (via platinum engagement form on
support.stormagic.com)
Response method Email + Telephone + WebEx
Maximum number of support administrators per contract 4
Response time 1 hour

Pricing and Savings

SvHCI is sold as a 1-, 3-, or 5-year subscription based on the amount of storage capacity needed, with options for 2TB, 6TB, 12TB, 24TB, 48TB and Unlimited capacities. SvHCI is priced per server node, unlike other HCI solutions that are priced per core or per CPU.

Recent analysis of SvHCI pricing shows a range of savings from 21% to 62% vs. VMware by Broadcom pricing, depending on the license term and capacity.4 Additional savings are available on hardware in several areas.

For high availability (HA) configurations, the savings should be at least 33%, as SvHCI requires only two servers for HA, whereas other HCI solutions require 3 servers or more. Hardware requirements are also lower for SvHCI regarding the number of cores, memory, storage minimums, etc. vs. other HCI providers. Short- and long-term operating expenses should be less with SvHCI as well, enabling lower TCO overall. Fewer and more lightweight servers equate to less power, cooling, and spare parts. And, with Edge Control, the simplicity of deployment and ongoing management means lower IT personnel costs. For organizations with many locations, deploying SvHCI can contribute to sustainability efforts.

Summary

StorMagic is solving the world’s edge data problems so organizations can protect, use, and manage their on-site applications and data. StorMagic SvHCI is purpose-built and right-sized, it’s a full-stack HCI solution that is easy to deploy and manage, and eliminates downtime through proven technologies to provide benefits crucial for many use cases. Backed by enterprise-grade support and trusted by thousands of customers worldwide, StorMagic SvHCI is a complete, cost-effective HCI solution.

Supported Guest Operating Systems:

  • Microsoft Windows Server 2025 64-Bit (x86)
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2022 64-Bit (x86)
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2019 64-Bit (x86)
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 9.x 64-Bit (x86)
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8.x 64-Bit (x86)
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 (SLES15) SP5 64-bit (x86)
  • Canonical Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS 64-bit (x86)
  • Canonical Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS 64-bit (x86)
  • Canonical Ubuntu Server 20.04 LTS 64-bit (x86)
  • Debian OS Linux Server 12.x 64-bit (x86)
  • Rocky Linux 8.x 64-bit

SvHCI Features and Benefits

SvHCI features
Hypervisor

  • Based on open-source Linux/KVM/QEMU technology
  • Enterprise-grade, reliable virtualization
  • Fully supported by StorMagic
Virtualized networking

  • Based on open-source Open vSwitch technology
  • Create and configure virtual networking actions directly from the SvHCI GUI
  • Reduces network hardware by shifting functions to software
  • Fully supported by StorMagic
Virtualized storage

  • Based on StorMagic SvSAN storage virtualization
  • Leverages internal direct attached storage and re-presents the storage as an iSCSI volume
  • Fully supported by StorMagic
Flexible architecture

  • Option for clusters of 1 or 2 nodes (servers)
  • Use 1-node clusters when high availability is not needed, and 2-node clusters when it is
  • Install on a range of servers from major vendors included on the SvHCI Hardware Compatibility List
  • Guest operating system support for 64-bit Microsoft Windows Server 2019, 2022 and 2025, and 7 Linux versions, with a full list available here.
High availability (HA)

  • Data is written to two nodes to ensure service uptime
  • Write operations only complete once acknowledged on both nodes
  • In the event of a failure, VMs are failed over to other available resources
  • VM failover time <30 seconds
  • Protect up to 50 VMs per cluster with high availability
Witness

  • Enables high availability in 2-node SvHCI clusters
  • Acts as a quorum or tiebreaker and assists cluster leadership elections to prevent “split-brain”
  • Hundreds of clusters can share a single witness, and it tolerates low bandwidth, high latency WAN links
  • Supported configurations include local witness, remote shared witness or no witness
  • Read more about the witness feature on its dedicated page
Stretched/metro clusters

  • Separate SvHCI nodes geographically to provide an added layer of resiliency
  • Different racks, separate rooms or buildings, or even across an entire city
  • Read more about the stretch cluster feature in the dedicated white paper
Intel VROC

  • SvHCI supports Intel Virtual RAID on CPU (VROC) embedded storage RAID controllers for RAID 0, 1 and 10
  • Allows the use of server hardware that doesn’t contain, or doesn’t allow, physical RAID controllers, such as lightweight edge-specific server models
  • StorMagic recommends using a single VROC controller with up to four disks
Simple deployment

  • Simple, guided deployment experience
  • Installs all virtualization layers in one integrated flow
  • Option to deploy remotely onto bare-metal, headless servers with automation workflow, allowing rapid, repeatable rollout across large site counts.
Non-disruptive software upgrades

  • Upgrades don’t impact data availability or performance
  • No downtime, no impact to data accessibility, no degradation in performance
Edge Control centralized management

  • Single interface for managing the entire stack of every SvHCI cluster within an organization
  • Edge Control is a cloud-based console accessible via any web browser – monitor and manage SvHCI from anywhere in the world with an internet connection
  • Use it as an inventory of clusters, nodes and VMs, with filters, sorting, and keyword search
  • Access individual server configuration data and launch into a server’s local web interface
  • Simple, single-vendor approach for all elements of the solution
  • Read more about Edge Control on its dedicated page
VM Import/Export

  • Import of OVF and OVA packages, including validation, network mapping, disk placement, and identity management
  • Export of VMs in OVF format, including full disks, metadata, and manifest files, including the use of snapshots for exporting running VMs
  • API and CLI coverage for automation of import, export, and template workflows
  • Support of customer scripts to implement both backup-restore and template-based deployment scenarios
  • Additional options available to import VMs as raw disks or ISO images if preferred
  • Read more about the VM Import/Export feature on its dedicated page
VMware VM Import Utility

  • Scripted process to import VMs from VMware to SvHCI
  • VM configuration settings and all virtual disks with data are copied over
  • Easily import multiple VMs, with imports queued and run sequentially
  • Warm import option available using a pre-copy and delta synchronization to significantly reduce workload downtime during migration
  • Read more about the VMware VM Import Utility feature in the dedicated white paper
Live migration of VMs

  • Migrate a running VM from one server host to another without any downtime
  • Available for HA-protected VMs only
  • Minimizes both scheduled and unscheduled downtime
Volume migration

  • Transparently and non-disruptively migrate volumes from one storage location to another
  • Simple and mirrored volumes can be migrated between storage pools on the same node or to another node entirely
  • Read more about the volume migration feature in the dedicated white paper
VM-level snapshots

  • Crash-consistent recovery only
  • Maximum of 16 VM snapshots are retained for each VM
  • Preserve VM disk data and virtual machine configuration settings
  • Rollback a VM to a previous point-in-time and deliver quick recovery
  • VM snapshots to enable quick remediation in cases of accidental deletion, data loss, data corruption, or malicious attacks
  • Preserves records as an integral part of the backup and recovery process
  • Point-in-time (PIT) copy of data from the operating system, software application, or disk state
  • Read more about the VM-level snapshots feature in the dedicated white paper
Backup and disaster recovery

  • Restore data and applications to a previous state when needed
  • Agent-based approach
  • Documented integrations with Veeam, Acronis, and Commvault
Platinum support

  • 24/7 Platinum-level support from technical experts at StorMagic
  • Covers all components of the technology stack
Additional add-on features available
Data Encryption Add-on (more information)

  • 100% software approach
  • Eliminates the need for complex, expensive specialist hardware and OS-level solutions
  • Data encrypted before it is written to disk
  • FIPS 140-2 compliant
Predictive Storage Caching Add-on (more information)

  • Can use multiple storage types as a cache
  • Significant performance gains and considerable reductions in CapEx and OpEx

1 Hype Cycle for Storage Technologies, 2025 by Julia Palmer, 19 June 2025.
2 Hype Cycle for Edge Computing, 2025 by Thomas Bittman, 18 July 2025.
3 Gartner Market Guide for Full-Stack Hyperconverged Infrastructure Software by Jeffrey Hewitt, Philip Dawson, Julia Palmer, Tony Harvey, 8 April 2024
4 Savings based on pricing as of May, 2024, for 1-, 3-, and 5-year subscriptions of SvHCI at 2TB, 6TB, 12TB, 24TB, and 48TB capacities compared to the same subscription lengths and capacities of VMware VVF w/vSAN and VMware VCF w/vSAN.

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