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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsVerdict: Tintri VMstore’s original value proposition was plausible but needs qualification: its flash-first hybrid design kept active data on SSDs while moving colder data to disk, and historical tests recorded high I/O rates. That does not establish that every workload will perform “as fast as flash” or that a current system costs “like disk.” The T820, T850, and T880 prices and test results belong to an older generation; Tintri’s current product page presents the T7200 Series instead.
What is Tintri VMstore?
VMstore is enterprise storage designed around virtual machines (VMs), rather than treating the storage array as the only useful unit of management. Its key distinction is VM- and virtual-disk-level visibility: administrators can inspect performance and capacity by VM, apply performance policies at that level, and manage data protection for virtualised workloads.
The platform’s original design was a flash-first hybrid appliance. Tintri’s technical brief describes a combination of SSDs and high-capacity disks, with inline deduplication and compression; Tintri says the system serves 99% of I/O requests directly from flash. That is a vendor statement about the design, not a guarantee that every workload or configuration will see a particular latency.
How does the flash-first design work?
The idea is to keep the active working set—the data being accessed regularly—on flash and evict colder data to disk. That can reduce the need to provision flash for all stored data, while serving frequently accessed I/O from SSDs. The precise benefit depends on workload behaviour: a workload whose active data fits the flash tier is a better match for this approach than one that repeatedly accesses a broad, changing data set.
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Tintri’s technical documentation describes VM-aware file-system behaviour, wear management, garbage collection, and dual-parity protection intended to address flash endurance and device failures. InfoWorld’s review describes a log-structured file system with RAID 6 provided by the Tintri OS rather than hardware RAID, alongside a two-node appliance design. These details help explain the design, but do not replace configuration-specific information about usable capacity, protection, or recovery requirements.
How fast was VMstore in published tests?
Paul Ferrill’s InfoWorld testing used VMware I/O Analyzer workloads against T880, T620, and T540 systems. In the T880 results, reported IOPS rose as the test used more hosts and VMs:
| T880 test setup | Reported average performance |
|---|---|
| One host, four VMs | Just under 30,000 IOPS in InfoWorld’s test |
| One host, eight VMs | Around 35,000 IOPS in InfoWorld’s test |
| Two hosts, four VMs each | Nearly 64,000 IOPS in InfoWorld’s test |
| Three hosts, four VMs each | Approximately 75,000 IOPS in InfoWorld’s test |
These figures are results from a specific historical test setup, not a universal throughput rating or a forecast for a current T7200 system. IOPS alone also do not tell you the response time, workload mix, or consistency your applications will experience; those are important parts of a storage evaluation.
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Evaluator Group reported separate 2023 benchmark results for a T5060. Its validation recorded 3,000 IOmark-VDI Office users and 480 IOmark-VM server applications. Using a $225,000 list price in its calculations, Evaluator Group reported $75 per IOmark-VDI user and $468 per IOmark-VM. Those are benchmark-based cost measures, not a current purchase quote or a like-for-like price comparison with another system.
What did the T820, T850, and T880 cost?
InfoWorld reported these historical prices and raw capacities for the older models. They are not current pricing or evidence that the models can still be ordered.
| Historical model | Price reported by InfoWorld | Flash and raw disk reported |
|---|---|---|
| T820 | $74,000 starting price in the historical review | 1.5 TB flash; 20 TB raw disk |
| T850 | $160,000 list price in the historical review | 5.3 TB flash; 52 TB raw disk |
| T880 | $260,000 list price in the historical review | 8.8 TB flash; 78 TB raw disk |
The same review said compression and deduplication could make effective capacity three to five times raw capacity, depending on the workload. Treat that as a workload-dependent estimate, not guaranteed usable capacity. Actual capacity depends on the data and configuration, so a buyer should request a sizing estimate based on representative data rather than plan around the multiplier.
Rank #3
- Value NAS with RAID for centralized storage and backup for all your devices. Check out the LS 700 for enhanced features, cloud capabilities, macOS 26, and up to 7x faster performance than the LS 200.
- Connect the LinkStation to your router and enjoy shared network storage for your devices. The NAS is compatible with Windows and macOS*, and Buffalo's US-based support is on-hand 24/7 for installation walkthroughs. *Only for macOS 15 (Sequoia) and earlier. For macOS 26, check out our LS 700 series.
- Subscription-Free Personal Cloud – Store, back up, and manage all your videos, music, and photos and access them anytime without paying any monthly fees.
- Storage Purpose-Built for Data Security – A NAS designed to keep your data safe, the LS200 features a closed system to reduce vulnerabilities from 3rd party apps and SSL encryption for secure file transfers.
- Back Up Multiple Computers & Devices – NAS Navigator management utility and PC backup software included. NAS Navigator 2 for macOS 15 and earlier. You can set up automated backups of data on your computers.
How does VM-level performance management help?
VMstore’s VM-centric approach is intended to make it easier to see which VMs are consuming storage resources and to manage performance at VM or virtual-disk granularity. That can be useful in a virtualised environment where many workloads share an array: administrators can investigate a noisy workload without relying only on an array-wide view. InfoWorld’s review describes I/O tracking at VM and vDisk level and quality-of-service controls.
The operational question is not just whether a system exposes per-VM metrics, but whether its policies and telemetry fit the environment. When comparing VMstore with another platform, check:
- Whether performance policies can be set at the VM or virtual-disk level you need.
- How latency behaves during mixed workloads and contention, rather than only at peak IOPS.
- Whether dashboards make it practical to identify a VM contributing to a performance issue.
- How replication, recovery, and protection controls map to the applications’ requirements.
- What analytics and scale-out management cover, and what licensing or support those functions require.
Does the old T800 review describe current VMstore systems?
No. The T800-era review is useful for understanding the original hybrid architecture and the historical results, but it should not be used as a current specification sheet. Tintri Japan labels the T800 series a discontinued product. That is a clear warning against treating its old model prices or configurations as current; product availability can still vary by region and channel.
Rank #4
- Value NAS with RAID for centralized storage and backup for all your devices. Check out the LS 700 for enhanced features, cloud capabilities, macOS 26, and up to 7x faster performance than the LS 200.
- Connect the LinkStation to your router and enjoy shared network storage for your devices. The NAS is compatible with Windows and macOS*, and Buffalo's US-based support is on-hand 24/7 for installation walkthroughs. *Only for macOS 15 (Sequoia) and earlier. For macOS 26, check out our LS 700 series.
- Subscription-Free Personal Cloud – Store, back up, and manage all your videos, music, and photos and access them anytime without paying any monthly fees.
- Storage Purpose-Built for Data Security – A NAS designed to keep your data safe, the LS200 features a closed system to reduce vulnerabilities from 3rd party apps and SSL encryption for secure file transfers.
- Back Up Multiple Computers & Devices – NAS Navigator management utility and PC backup software included. NAS Navigator 2 for macOS 15 and earlier. You can set up automated backups of data on your computers.
Tintri’s current VMstore page presents the T7200 Series and describes autonomous workload management, VMstore Scale-Out, Tintri Analytics, and Tintri Global Center. It says a federated pool can manage up to 64 systems and gives a capacity range of 65 TB to 1,650 TB. The same page labels the upper figure as 165 PB, but 1,650 TB is 1.65 PB, not 165 PB; those published figures do not agree. Confirm the intended capacity range directly with Tintri before using it for planning. The page also says policy settings can persist as application counts grow; confirm how that capability applies to the particular configuration and software being quoted.
Is VMstore a good fit?
VMstore is worth evaluating when VM-level visibility and policy control are important to managing a consolidated virtual environment, and when a flash-first hybrid design fits the workload’s access pattern. Its published results show that an older T880 could reach substantial IOPS in InfoWorld’s multi-host test, while Evaluator Group’s 2023 reports provide separate benchmark measures for a T5060.
The available evidence does not establish a current T7200 price, a current model’s performance under your workload, or a universal cost advantage over disk-based storage. For a current decision, request a region-specific quote and a configuration matched to your capacity and protection needs. Compare alternatives using VM-level QoS, latency consistency under mixed workloads, effective capacity after data reduction, recovery controls, scale-out administration, analytics, and full acquisition, support, and lifecycle costs.
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