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Integrated like Sangfor. Open, and run for you.

Sangfor HCI bundles compute, storage, networking and security into one proprietary stack. Warren gives you an integrated cloud on open-source foundations (KVM, Ceph, OpenSDN), operated by a European team, on your hardware, in your country.

Last reviewed 4 November 2026 · based on public pricing and documentation.

  • 99.95%

    uptime SLA for customer VMs

  • EU vendor

    headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia

  • PCI · ISO 27001

    ready platform

  • Your country

    your hardware, your data centre

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The short answer

Sangfor HCI or Warren?

Sangfor HCI is the better fit if…

  • You want one vendor for HCI and security, and already run Sangfor firewalls or endpoint protection.
  • You run IT for one organisation and have Sangfor-trained staff or a strong local partner.
  • Your regulators and customers have no concerns about your infrastructure vendor's jurisdiction.

Warren is the better fit if…

  • You, your regulator or your customers need a clear, auditable answer to “who can reach this platform, and under which laws?”
  • You want open-source foundations you can leave without rebuilding everything.
  • You sell cloud to customers and need commercial billing (invoices, local payments, KYC), not just internal chargeback.
Questions Sangfor buyers are asking

Sangfor is a widely used VMware replacement in Southeast Asia. These are the issues buyers, reviewers and the press raise.

Who else can reach the platform?

HCI controls servers, storage, network and every VM. Sangfor is headquartered in Shenzhen; its privacy policy allows some data of users outside the EEA to go to Chinese affiliates, and Chinese law requires organisations to cooperate with state security agencies. A recent ZDNet Korea column asks whether that suits core systems.

With Warren: a European vendor. You choose where data lives. Warren engineers reach the platform through Teleport zero-trust access, with audit trails, and the platform is PCI-DSS and ISO 27001 ready.

One vendor, one stack

The hypervisor (aSV), storage (aSAN), networking (aNET) and security (aSEC) are Sangfor's own components. Leaving later means replacing all of them at once.

With Warren: built on open-source components (KVM, Ceph and OpenSDN), hardened and run by Warren, with standard VM images.

Billing made for chargeback, not for selling

Sangfor's cloud layer, SCP, is a separate product with its own licensing. Its billing sets unit prices, reports costs by organisation and exports bills to Excel.

With Warren: commercial billing is built in: invoices, pre- and post-pay, tiered pricing, credits, local payment methods and KYC.

Renewals and support add up

Reviewers report annual support of roughly 10–15% of the licence cost and call renewal pricing high. Some also mention stability concerns and trouble integrating with VMware.

With Warren: one platform fee that includes upgrades, monitoring and engineering support, with the price locked for up to 10 years.

Side by side

Warren vs Sangfor HCI, feature by feature

Facts as published by each vendor and independent sources, checked 4 November 2026.

Topic

Sangfor HCI

Warren

What it is

HCI software (aSV, aSAN, aNET, aSEC), with SCP as a separate cloud layer

Fully managed cloud platform that Warren operates on your hardware

Hypervisor

aSV, built on KVM

KVM/QEMU with Warren's own resource manager

Who runs it

Your team or a local partner

Warren runs the platform and 2nd-level support

Upgrades

Planned and applied by you or your partner

Twice a month, managed by Warren, release notes in advance

Multi-tenancy and self-service

Through SCP: tenants, quotas, self-service requests

Tenants, quotas, delegated access, portal and REST/GraphQL APIs built in

Billing

Through SCP: metering, unit prices, cost reports, Excel export

Invoices, pre/post-pay, tiered pricing, credits, local payments, KYC

Branding

Through SCP: custom platform name and logos

Your brand, languages and payment methods per market

Object storage

Not built into HCI, according to reviewers

S3-compatible object storage on Ceph, part of the platform

Security

Built-in aSEC/aNET, integrated with Sangfor firewalls

Distributed firewalls, micro-segmentation, zero-trust admin access, audit trails

Licensing

Node-based, perpetual or term; support ~10–15% of licence a year (reviewer-reported)

Capacity-based or revenue share; no licence or setup fees

Price stability

Support renewed yearly

Locked for the term, up to 10 years

Vendor headquarters

Shenzhen, China

Tallinn, Estonia (EU)

Openness

Proprietary components on a KVM base

Open-source core (KVM, Ceph, OpenSDN), standard VM images

Sangfor details come from its product pages, the SCP user manual and PeerSpot user reviews; your quote may differ. Spotted something out of date? Contact us and we will correct it.

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Tell us what you run today, and share your latest Sangfor renewal or support quote if you have it. We'll send a written comparison and migration outline.

Your Information

Current Environment

Anything else we should know?

Cost, honestly

Sangfor wins many deals on day-one price. Check year three.

With Sangfor HCI you pay for

  • Node-based HCI licences, perpetual or term
  • Annual support, which reviewers put at roughly 10–15% of licence cost
  • SCP for tenants and billing, licensed separately, plus security add-ons
  • Hardware warranty (not covered by software support) and your team’s time

With Warren you pay for

  • One platform fee: €750 per location, €50 per node, €0.50 per GB RAM and €2 per raw TB a month, or revenue share up to 20%
  • Operations, upgrades, monitoring and 2nd-level support: included
  • Billing, branded portal, APIs, object storage and backups: part of the platform
  • Your hardware, from any vendor or generation

Sangfor figures are reviewer-reported; your quote may differ. Providers on revenue share pay nothing for the first 3 months. See full pricing

Moving from Sangfor HCI

aSV is built on KVM. So is Warren.

Your workloads stay in the same hypervisor family, and your Sangfor firewalls or other perimeter security can stay in place at your network edge.

Warren's team leads the migration, whichever platform you run today, with dated milestones in your plan.

1
MAP

Get your plan

Share your inventory and renewal date. We return a written migration plan and cost comparison.

2
BUILD

We deploy Warren

Warren deploys the platform on compatible hardware, existing or new, with no setup fee.

3
MOVE

Migrate in waves

Workloads move in planned waves, validated in a test environment before each cut-over.

Proof

Clouds in Southeast Asia already run on Warren

96.5% customer growth

IDCloudHost's first year on Warren, growing to €1.5M ARR in four years across four locations in Indonesia and Singapore.

Read the case study

Live in Thailand since 2023

ReadyIDC launched its cloud on Warren in October 2023, alongside providers across Asia, Europe and Africa.

Read the case study

99.95% uptime SLA

For customer VMs, with service credits, a dedicated Slack channel and direct access to Warren engineers.

SLA and support
quote

The virtualization world is undergoing a historic inflection point, and thousands of service providers and customers are reassessing their future. That’s why HPE is partnering with innovative partners like Warren. Their managed service approach and modern, open-source platform show significant promise for customers seeking stability and cost-predictability.

quote
Roland Frehner, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Roland Frehner, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)

Chief Technologist and Solution Portfolio Lead, Service Provider Business Worldwide

FAQ

Questions Sangfor HCI customers ask us

Are you saying Sangfor is unsafe?

No. Sangfor is widely deployed and has a strong security background. Jurisdiction is a governance question: which laws apply to the company that maintains your core infrastructure. Decide it with your compliance team, and ask us the same questions about Warren.

Do we lose built-in security by leaving Sangfor HCI?

Warren includes distributed firewalls, micro-segmentation, zero-trust admin access and audit trails. Your Sangfor or other perimeter firewalls can stay where they are.

Can Warren run on our existing servers?

Warren runs on compatible hardware of any vendor or generation. Your migration plan confirms which nodes can be reused.

We use SCP for internal chargeback. Can Warren do that?

Yes. Per-unit metering, price lists per pool or location and itemised invoices work for internal chargeback as well as selling to customers.

Who supports us in Southeast Asia?

Warren's engineers, directly, through a dedicated Slack channel and ticketing. ReadyIDC in Thailand and IDCloudHost in Indonesia already run on Warren.

How long does a move take?

Your plan gives dated milestones based on workload count and storage. Warren's team leads the migration from any platform.

Next step

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