Cloud storage options
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The existing storage types available in our clouds are:
- Volume storage: The standard storage unit for cloud computing; can be attached to and detached from an instance.
- Ephemeral/Disk storage: Virtual local disk storage tied to the lifecycle of a single instance.
- Object storage: Non-hierarchical storage where data is created or uploaded in whole-file form.
- Shared filesystem storage: Private network attached storage space (similar to NFS/SMB shares); must be configured on each instance where it is mounted.
Attributes of each storage type are compared in the following table:
| Attribute | Volume storage | Ephemeral/Disk storage | Object storage | Shared filesystem storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Default storage option | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Can be accessed via a web browser | No | No | Yes | No |
| Access can be restricted for specific source IP ranges | N/A | N/A | Yes (S3 ACL) | N/A |
| Can be mounted on a single VM | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Can be mounted on multiple VMs (and across projects) simultaneously | No | No | No | Yes |
| Automatic backups | No (manually with snapshots) | No | No | Yes (nightly to tape) |
| Suitable for write once, read only, and public access | No | No | Yes | No |
| Suitable for data/files that change frequently | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Hierarchical filesystem | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Suitable for long-term storage | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Suitable mountable dedicated storage for individual servers | Yes | Only for temporary data | No | No |
| Deleted automatically upon deletion of VM | No | Yes | No | No |
| Standard magnitude of allocation | GB | GB | TB | TB |
| Multi-disk fault tolerance | Yes | c-flavors No; p-flavors Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Physical disk-level encryption | No | No | No | No |