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D.F. Pray gains consistent uptime for daily operations by achieving reliable CSV clustering with StarWind Virtual SAN (VSAN)

January 15, 2026
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Phil Moran
CIO. Has over 16 years of technology leadership in the construction industry, specializing in Windows Server, security, business process design, and corporate training.
CIO. Has over 16 years of technology leadership in the construction industry, specializing in Windows Server, security, business process design, and corporate training.

CHALLENGE

Before deploying StarWind Virtual SAN (VSAN), D.F. Pray relied on two Hyper-V hosts without Cluster Shared Volumes (CSVs) and used an HPE MSA 2052 SAN with spinning disks to store virtual machines (VMs). The setup was slow, hard to scale, and costly to upgrade. Moving to CSVs or refreshing the SAN required a large investment that the company could not justify.

Performance bottlenecks affected daily operations, and the IT team needed a solution that would improve speed, reduce hardware complexity, and avoid major capital expenses. Other options on the market were either too expensive or didn’t provide the reliability they were looking for.

StarWind VSAN allowed us to reduce the size of the tech stack and fully utilize the server hardware. Implementation was impressive. I’ve never worked with a company that was so solid in remote implementation.

Phil Moran, CIO

SOLUTION

D.F. Pray chose StarWind VSAN after seeing excellent online reviews and relying on insight from their Dell Channel Partner. StarWind VSAN let them fully use their existing server hardware and remove the need for a separate SAN. Local SSD storage boosted VM performance, while the new CSV setup increased reliability and simplified operations.

The environment now runs flawlessly, cuts backend storage maintenance, and brings peace of mind. The company estimates that choosing StarWind saved roughly $15,000 compared to replacing the old SAN. D.F. Pray was also impressed by StarWind’s smooth and highly professional remote deployment process.

About the Company
D.F. Pray is a single-source contractor that handles design-build, preconst ruction, construction management, and general contracting across a wide range of project types. Founded in 1959, it remains a family-led organization and operates through five offices in Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Connecticut.
Region
NA (North America)
Country
United States
Industry
Construction
Product
StarWind Virtual SAN
Inspired by Phil Moran’s success? Want to improve business continuity for your business-critical apps and services?
Dmytro Malynka StarWind Virtual SAN Product Manager
We’ve got you covered! StarWind Virtual SAN (VSAN) is specifically designed to provide highly-available shared storage for Hyper-V, vSphere, and KVM clusters. With StarWind VSAN, simplicity is key: utilize the local disks of your hypervisor hosts and create shared HA storage for your VMs. Interested in learning more? Book a short StarWind VSAN demo now and see it in action!