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File Storage · head to head

Ceph vs WinDirStat

Ceph logo

Ceph

File Storage

Open source distributed storage providing object, block and file from one cluster

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
WinDirStat logo

WinDirStat

Utilities

Windows disk usage analyser that shows where space went as a colour-coded treemap

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Ceph ceph assumes an operator who understands placement groups, CRUSH rules and recovery tuning, so organisations without dedicated storage staff routinely end up with a cluster that works until the first failure and then does not.; WinDirStat it walks the directory tree rather than reading the NTFS master file table, so a full scan takes minutes where WizTree takes seconds on the same drive.
  • They diverge on capability: Ceph covers RADOS object store, WinDirStat covers Treemap visualisation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Ceph and WinDirStat actually diverge.

Attributes where Ceph and WinDirStat differ
AttributeCephWinDirStat
PlatformsLinuxWindows
CategoryFile StorageUtilities

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Open source, no licence fee), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Ceph

  • RADOS object store
  • RADOS Gateway
  • RBD block devices
  • CephFS
  • CRUSH placement
  • Erasure coded pools

Only in WinDirStat

  • Treemap visualisation
  • Three linked views
  • Multithreaded scanning
  • Cleanup actions
  • Any filesystem
  • GPL licensed

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Ceph

  • Backing a private cloud where virtual machine disks, shared filesystems and an S3 endpoint all need the same hardwarenot WinDirStat
  • Growing past the point where a proprietary array upgrade costs more than a rack of commodity serversnot WinDirStat
  • Research and media environments with petabytes of data and staff who can operate storagenot WinDirStat
  • Providing an S3 endpoint on premises with multi site replication under your own controlnot WinDirStat

WinDirStat

  • Finding what filled a Windows system drive when the usual suspects are not responsiblenot Ceph
  • Auditing a shared or network drive where files are spread across thousands of foldersnot Ceph
  • Environments where licence terms forbid personal-use-only freeware on company machinesnot Ceph
  • Explaining disk usage visually to someone who will not read a list of folder sizesnot Ceph

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Ceph

  • Ceph assumes an operator who understands placement groups, CRUSH rules and recovery tuning, so organisations without dedicated storage staff routinely end up with a cluster that works until the first failure and then does not.
  • Small clusters are inefficient: three way replication means a third of raw capacity is usable, and erasure coding needs enough failure domains to be safe, so the economics only work above a certain size.
  • Recovery and rebalancing generate heavy internal traffic, so a failed disk can degrade client latency across the cluster unless backfill is throttled correctly beforehand.
  • Upgrades must follow a strict daemon order across monitors, managers, OSDs and gateways, and a mistake in that order on a live cluster is difficult to reverse.
  • Because it is self hosted, every byte served to the internet is transit you pay for on your own links, so the free licence does not mean free egress and bandwidth planning becomes your problem rather than the providers.

WinDirStat

  • It walks the directory tree rather than reading the NTFS master file table, so a full scan takes minutes where WizTree takes seconds on the same drive.
  • The version most users have installed is the 2007 build, and because it was dormant for so long, search results and download mirrors still point at it.
  • It is Windows only, so a mixed estate needs a different tool for macOS and Linux machines.
  • There is no scheduling, reporting or export for fleet use, so it answers a question on one machine at a time rather than monitoring storage across an organisation.
  • Hard links, junctions and deduplicated volumes can be counted in ways that make the totals disagree with what Windows reports, which causes confusion on servers.

Pricing, plan by plan

Ceph

Free
  • CephFree
    • Full functionality, no capacity limit
    • Object, block and file interfaces
    • Community support via mailing list and Slack

WinDirStat

Free
  • WinDirStatFree
    • GPL licensed
    • Commercial use permitted
    • No paid edition or feature gating

Which should you pick?

Choose Ceph if

  • You need rados object store.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux.
  • You also want rados gateway.
Ceph review

Choose WinDirStat if

  • You need treemap visualisation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want three linked views.
WinDirStat review

Questions people ask

Is Ceph or WinDirStat better?
Neither clearly leads. Ceph starts at Free and WinDirStat at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Ceph or WinDirStat?
Ceph starts at Free and WinDirStat at Free.
Does Ceph or WinDirStat run on more platforms?
Ceph runs on Linux. WinDirStat runs on Windows.
Can I use Ceph for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Ceph best used for?
Ceph is most often used for backing a private cloud where virtual machine disks, shared filesystems and an s3 endpoint all need the same hardware, growing past the point where a proprietary array upgrade costs more than a rack of commodity servers, research and media environments with petabytes of data and staff who can operate storage, providing an s3 endpoint on premises with multi site replication under your own control. Of those, backing a private cloud where virtual machine disks, shared filesystems and an s3 endpoint all need the same hardware and growing past the point where a proprietary array upgrade costs more than a rack of commodity servers are not what WinDirStat is typically brought in for.
What can Ceph do that WinDirStat cannot?
Ceph covers RADOS object store, RADOS Gateway, RBD block devices, CephFS. WinDirStat covers Treemap visualisation, Three linked views, Multithreaded scanning, Cleanup actions.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Ceph: How many nodes do I need to start?

Three is the practical minimum for a replicated cluster with real fault tolerance, and most production advice starts at five once you account for maintenance windows.

WinDirStat: Is WinDirStat still maintained?

Yes. It was dormant from around 2007 until new maintainers resumed development and released the 2.x line with multithreaded scanning and current Windows support.

Ceph: Is it faster than a SAN?

Not on single stream latency. It wins on aggregate throughput and on growing without a forklift upgrade, which is a different property from raw speed.

WinDirStat: Can I use it at work?

Yes. It is GPL licensed with no personal-use restriction, which is the practical advantage over free-for-personal-use alternatives in this category.

Ceph: Can I buy support?

Yes. IBM sells IBM Storage Ceph and SUSE and others have offered supported builds; the upstream project itself is free.

WinDirStat: Why is it slower than WizTree?

Different method. WizTree reads the NTFS master file table directly; WinDirStat traverses directories, which is slower but works on any filesystem, including network shares.

Ceph: Should I use it just for S3?

If object is all you need, a dedicated object store is simpler to run. Ceph earns its complexity when you need block and file as well.

WinDirStat: Does it run on macOS or Linux?

No. Separate projects exist with similar treemap interfaces, but WinDirStat itself is Windows only.

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