Storage

In OpenCloud, Instances and Volumes are represented as linked yet independent objects. A Volume, or Disk with Storage, can be attached to an Instance or not depending on what it is used for. Volume Snapshots are different than Instance Snapshots. It can be helpful to think of Volumes as somewhat of their own entity as they interact with Instances to create fully fledged Virtual Machines.

A Volume is defined by OpenCloud as a unit of storage that is available to an Instance. Volumes are either root disks, or bootable disks for OS, or data disks, which store data for the Instance. The Root disk is usually, but not always, the boot device and has a / in the file system. Data disks serve as additional storage points, such as an E: drive or a /opt drive. Each Instance has at least one Root disk and can have several more data disks.

End users can interact with Volumes and mount different data disks to different Instances if necessary. End users also choose to create new Volumes based on the Storage Offerings provided by US Signal. Please refer to the document regarding Storage Offerings for more information on them.

Volumes are also hypervisor specific. A Volume created for an Instance that is running on XenServer cannot be attached to an Instance running on KVM or vice versa.

Adding a Volume

1. Volumes are created, initially, as separate entities in OpenCloud until they are attached to a specific Instance. Each Volume counts against the Domain and Account Limit for Volumes. To see these limits, please refer to the KB Document on Managing Domains and Accounts.
2. To Create a new Volume in OpenCloud , first click on Storage > Volumes.

3. At the top of the page, click on Create Volume to start the process.

   

4. A Dialog box will appear. Enter the name of the new Volume.

5. The Zone should be the default Zone that the creation is taking place in.
6. Choose the Disk Offering. This will define the starting size of the Disk and the other options Disk Offerings can provide. Please refer to the Managing Offerings KB for more information on Disk Offerings.
7. Once this information is filled in, click OK. The Volume will then be created.

Attaching a Volume to an Instance

1. When Volumes themselves are created, they are not attached to a specific Instance and exist independently.

   Note: A Volume cannot be attached to an Instance that already has an Instance snapshot created. The Instance Snapshot will need to be deleted first.

2. To attach a Volume, click on Storage > Volumes to see the Volumes Overview Page.

3. Select the Volume that should be attached and click on its name to enter its details page.

4. Inside the Volume details page, click on the Attach Disk option in the upper right corner of the page.

   

5. A dialog box will appear. Choose the Instance that the Volume should be attached to.

6. OpenCloud will automatically assign the Volume to the next free Device ID, so this box does not need to be filled in. However, please be aware that the ROOT or Boot Disk is always Device ID 0.
7. Once the Instance has been selected, click OK. The Volume will then be attached to the Instance.
8. Additional work will need to be done inside of the OS to bring the new disk online and viewable to the OS.

The Maximum number of DATA Volumes that an Instance can have is 24.

Removing a Volume from an Instance

Note: A volume can be detached from an Instance and attached to another Instance if required. If the two Instances are in different Zones and the volume is large, it may take several minutes for the volume to be moved to the new Instance or even re-attached to the same Instance. We recommend naming the Volume before moving it so that it is easily recognizable.

1. Log in to the OpenCloud GUI
2. Go to Storage > Volumes and find the Volume of the Instance that needs to be removed. Alternatively click Compute > Instances, click the Instance name, and click View Volumes to see a list of Volumes that are attached to the Instance.
3. Click the name of the Volume that should be detached, then click the Detach Disk button in the upper right row of buttons.
4. To move the volume to another Instance, follow the steps in Attaching a Volume to an Instance.

Download a Volume to a Local Device

1. Instance Volumes can be downloaded to the User's local desktop if need be.
2. First, the Instance that the Volume is attached to needs to be stopped and the Volume detached from the Instance.
3. Click on Storage > Volumes. Click on the name of the Volume to be downloaded.

4. To detach a Volume, click on the Detach Disk button.

   

5. Once the disk is detached, the Volume can be downloaded with the Download Volume button.

   

6. A new window will open. Click on OK to begin the process.

7. A notification will appear in the upper right of the screen. Click on the Hyperlink that is generated to begin the download.

Upload a Volume from a Local Device

1. There may be times when a Volume needs to be uploaded to OpenCloud so that it can be attached to an Instance.
2. OpenCloud only accepts the QCOW2 format for Volumes, so if the Volume is not in this format, it will need to be converted.
3. From the OpenCloud main page, click on Storage > Volumes.

4. Select the Upload Volume button next to the Create Volume button.

   

5. A dialog box will open. Browse the local computer for the QCOW2 volume and name it something that will be recognized.

6. The Zone should be filled in with the user’s current zone. There should be no need to change it.
7. The Disk Offering should be set to Custom Disk, but the Disk Size field does not have to be filled in.
8. Change the Format to QCOW2 as that is the only format that will be accepted for upload.
9. If necessary, choose the MD5 checksum that is associated with the file. This can be used to verify file integrity but is not necessary.
10. Click OK and do not browse away from the screen until the upload is completed.

Upload a Volume from a URL

1. Volumes can be added from URLs that host them as well.

2. To perform this task, click on Storage > Volumes. Select the button that says Upload Volume from URL next to the Create Volume button.

   

3. A dialog box will open.

4. Fill out the URL where the Volume is hosted and give the Volume a recognizable Name.
5. The Zone will be filled in automatically.
6. Change the Format type to QCOW2 as that is the only format that OpenCloud supports.
7. A disk offering can be chosen but does not need to be.
8. An optional MD5 checksum can be provided to validate the integrity of the Volume.
9. Once these options are filled in, click OK. The Volume will start uploading from the URL.

Resize a Volume

1. Volumes can be resized to increase their size, but Volumes should not be shrunk through OpenCloud

2. Instead, a new Volume of the correct size should be added to the Instance.

   Note: Instances that have Instance Snapshots cannot have their Volumes expanded. Any Instance Snapshots will need to be deleted before a ROOT or DATA Volume can be expanded.

3. Both Root and Data Disks can be resized.

4. From the main OpenCloud page, click on Storage > Volumes.
5. Click on the name of the Volume in question to go into its details.

6. From this screen, click on Resize Volume in the upper right corner.

   

7. A dialog box will open asking for the new size of the Volume. One Volume should not be more than 2 TB in size. Enter the new size of the Volume and click OK.

8. The Volume will then be increased to the new size.
9. Additional work will need to be done in the Instance OS to increase the Disk size.

Change a Volume's Name

1. The Names of Volumes can be changed to identify them in OpenCloud.
2. To change a Volume Name, go to Storage > Volumes and find the required Volume or go to Compute > Instances and click on the Instance that the Volume is attached to.
3. Click on Volumes inside of an Instance to get a list of Volumes.
4. Click on the Volume name to go into its specific details screen.
5. Confirm that the Volume's State is Ready
6. Click on the Edit button in the row of options in the upper right of the screen.
7. A new window will open. Change the Volume name and click OK
8. The Volume will then be renamed.