Volumes provide persistent block storage for your VMs, similar to hard drives or SSDs. Data stored on a volume persists independently of the VM's lifecycle.
a. What are Volumes?
Network-attached storage that appears as a block device (like
vda,vdb,vdc, etc.) to your VM.Essential for storing application data, databases, etc., that need to survive VM reboots or termination.
You can create volumes during VM creation or separately from the Volumes page in the sidebar menu.
Volumes can be detached from one VM and attached to another.
b. Creating a Volume (Separately)
Navigate to the Volumes section from the sidebar menu.
Click the button to create a new volume.
Configuration:
Name: A descriptive name (e.g.,
app-data-vol).Size: Specify the storage capacity (e.g., 50 GB).
Click the create button.
c. Attaching a Volume to a VM
Go to the Volumes list.
Select the volume you want to attach (it must be in an 'Active' or 'Passive' state).
Find the Attach Volume action.
Select the target VM from the list.
Confirm the attachment.
(Important OS Step): Log in to the VM's operating system:
Identify the new device name (e.g.,
vdb,vdc) usinglsblk(Linux) or Disk Management (Windows).(If new): Create a filesystem (e.g.,
mkfs.ext4 /dev/vdbormkfs.xfs /dev/vdbon Linux).Mount the filesystem: Create a mount point (e.g.,
sudo mkdir /mnt/data) and mount the device (e.g.,sudo mount /dev/vdb /mnt/data).(Optional but Recommended): Add an entry to
/etc/fstab(Linux) or configure auto-mount (Windows) to make the mount persistent across reboots.
d. Detaching a Volume
(Important OS Step): Inside the VM's OS, unmount the filesystem (e.g.,
sudo umount /mnt/data) to prevent data corruption.In the Raff Technologies dashboard (Volumes section), select the volume.
Find and click the Detach Volume action.
Confirm the detachment.
e. Managing Volumes
Resize: Resizing existing volumes is not currently supported. Plan your volume sizes accordingly.
Delete: Permanently removes the volume and all its data. Ensure data is backed up or no longer needed!