Volumes in xneelo Cloud
Looking to learn more about volume storage and how this works in xneelo Cloud? Read on to find out about our service offerings, including our volume types, sources, and storage limits.
What are volumes?
Volumes are virtual block storage devices that provide persistent storage for your instances. They can be set as either bootable or non-bootable volumes.
Volume sizes are provisioned in units of gibibytes (GiB), but are charged at a rate per gigabyte-hour. See more on the pricing in xneelo Cloud.
Bootable volumes
Bootable volumes can be created when creating an instance, and allow you to launch an instance from that volume. They serve as the persistent storage that saves instance data.
Non-bootable volumes
Non-bootable volumes can be created separately from an instance. They can be attached and detached to instances, without losing the data stored. This is a flexible way to provide additional storage capacity for your data and applications.
Up to 26 volumes can be attached to an instance.
A volume can only be attached to a single instance at one time.
Volume types
Volume types are the different storage tiers available in xneelo Cloud. Volume types offer varying levels of performance and price, catering to different storage requirements.
There are currently 2 volume types available: standard and premium.
When creating a new empty new volume you can choose the volume type. Volume snapshots are also provisioned on the same type as the volume
Standard volume type
Standard volumes utilise spinning disk technology and are best suited for environments which require low to medium read and write speeds. They provide cost-effective storage for large quantities of less frequently accessed data.
The standard volume type is the default selection for non-bootable volumes.
Premium volume type
Premium volumes utilise NVMe SSD technology and are best suited for environments which require high performance read and write speeds. Premium volumes are priced higher as they provide improved performance for transactional data which is frequently accessed.
The premium volume type is the default selection for all bootable volumes.
Volume sources
When creating a new volume you can choose to create an empty volume.
You can also create a new volume from an existing source, including:
- A volume, replicating the data from an existing storage device.
- A volume snapshot, converting a point-in-time copy of another volume into a usable storage device
- An image, using a predefined public or private image as a blueprint.
Volumes created from an existing volume or snapshot are automatically set to the same type as the source. This includes images which are created via an instance snapshot, (as there is a linked snapshot containing the data).
Volume sizes
In xneelo Cloud you have the flexibility to create as many volumes as you need, at the size that you need them.
Changing volume sizes
An existing volume can be increased in size at any time by extending the volume. See the steps on how to increase volume size.
An existing volume cannot be directly decreased in size once created. However, there are other methods to provision a smaller volume and migrate the data. See the steps on how to decrease volume size.
Volume size limit
There are certain limits on the minimum and maximum sizes allowed. This applies to bootable and non-bootable volumes.
Minimum volume size
The minimum size of a volume is 10GB.
Maximum volume size
The maximum size of a volume is 1000GB.
The maximum allowed size will also depend on the storage limit set in your project limits. You cannot create a volume at a size that will exceed your total storage limit.
For example:
- You have a limit of 1000GB on your project
- You already have a 400GB volume provisioned
- You will only be able to create a new volume up to 600GB
Now that you understand the basics, you’re ready to start creating your own volumes.
You can follow our step-by-step guides on how to create and manage volumes in the xneelo Cloud dashboard.
