Block Storage on ECC

Block Storage volumes provide both persistent and replicated storage to virtual machines (VMs). You can dynamically create volumes of different sizes from 1TB to 16TB and attach them. The VM identifies the volume as a raw device and can treat it accordingly (partition, format, etc).

Create a new volume

Create a volume by clicking on the Create Storage Volume button. A dialog will instruct you to choose a name and size. If you click on Create volume a new volume will be created and billing will start. The new volume will be listed with the state DETACHED

Attach a volume

By clicking on Actions, a dialog is shown where you can choose which VM to attach the volume to. The volume will be identified as a raw block device that can then be partitioned, formatted, mounted, etc. Many different volumes can be attached to one VM. One volume cannot be attached to multiple VMs at the same time.

In Linux VMs you can run sfdisk -s to list block devices. In Windows VMs, use Disk Management to initialize your disk.

Detach a volume

When a volume is detached from a VM it will disappear from its operating system. Note that you do not lose data if you for instance attach it to another VM (detach ➡ attach).

Create snapshot

Create a snapshot of the volume. The snapshot will appear as a new entry in the snapshots table.

Note that it is recommended to first detach the volume before creating a snapshot. In some cases, creating a snapshot from an attached volume can result in data corruption.

Delete

The volume will be deleted. All data is lost and billing will stop. Make sure to delete all snapshots of this volume before deleting it.