Volumes

#What a volume is for

Every virtual machine already has a root disk, sized by its plan. A volume is a separate disk for data you want to keep when the machine under it goes: a database's files, uploads, backups of your own.

• It attaches to one running machine at a time, in the same zone.
• A machine holds up to eight volumes.
• It is billed from the moment it exists until you delete it, attached or not.
• It can never shrink.

#Choose a size

Go to Volumes and press Create volume. Pick one of the listed sizes (each shows its monthly and hourly price and the kind of storage), or Custom size and type any whole number of gigabytes up to 2 TB. A custom size is billed per GB-month, prorated by the hour, and the form prices it as you type. Prices exclude VAT, which is added to your end-of-period invoice.

#Where a volume lives

A volume is stored on the local disks of one host: the host that runs the virtual machine it is first attached to. Two things follow:

• It has no copy on another host. Protect data you cannot lose with volume snapshots, the same as for any single disk.
• Moving it to a machine on another host is automatic, and takes longer. When you attach a volume to a machine that runs on a different host, Pantech first moves the volume's disk to that host, then attaches it. You do nothing: the volume shows Attaching until it is done. The move copies the data between hosts, so a volume holding a lot of data takes longer to attach. The volume must be detached to move, and it cannot move between regions.

You cannot choose or see which host a machine runs on, and you don't need to. If a move cannot be completed, for example because the other host has no room, the attach fails and the volume stays unattached; try again later or create a new volume on that machine and copy the data over.

#Create one

Under Name and attachment:

1. Volume name: lowercase letters, digits and hyphens, starting with a letter or digit, like db-primary-wal.
2. Attach to: a running virtual machine, or None to create it unattached. Only running machines are listed.

The summary shows the size, the monthly and hourly price, and when billing starts. Press Create and attach, or Create volume if you left it unattached.

A volume is ready in about 20 seconds, with no reboot. Its page follows the work, making the disk and then attaching it if you asked, and fills in when it is done.

#Attach a volume

To attach a volume you made earlier:

1. Open the machine and go to its Storage tab. The machine must be running.
2. Under Attach a volume, choose a free volume from the same zone.
3. Press Attach. It takes under a minute.

#Format and mount it

The machine gets a raw disk. Nothing formats or mounts it for you. Connect over SSH and run the commands for your machine's image:

$ lsblk$ sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/vdb$ sudo mkdir -p /data$ sudo mount /dev/vdb /data$ echo "UUID=$(sudo blkid -s UUID -o value /dev/vdb) /data ext4 defaults,nofail 0 2" | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

$ lsblk$ sudo mkfs.xfs /dev/vdb$ sudo mkdir -p /data$ sudo mount /dev/vdb /data$ sudo restorecon -R /data$ echo "UUID=$(sudo blkid -s UUID -o value /dev/vdb) /data xfs defaults,nofail 0 0" | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

$ lsblk$ sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/vdb$ sudo mkdir -p /data$ sudo mount /dev/vdb /data$ echo "UUID=$(sudo blkid -s UUID -o value /dev/vdb) /data ext4 defaults,nofail 0 2" | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

What each step does:

1. lsblk lists the disks. The first volume is usually /dev/vdb, the next /dev/vdc, and so on. Use the name it shows in the commands after it.
2. mkfs formats the volume. This erases the disk, so run it only on a new, empty volume, and never on one you have reattached with data on it.
3. mount makes it available at /data. Pick another path if you like.
4. The /etc/fstab line mounts it again after every reboot. It names the disk by its UUID rather than /dev/vdb, because device names can change as you attach more volumes and a UUID cannot. nofail lets the machine boot even if the volume is detached.

Before you rely on the /etc/fstab line, check it works:

$ sudo umount /data$ sudo mount -a$ df -h /data

If mount -a reports an error, fix the line in /etc/fstab before you reboot.

#Encrypted volumes

A volume is not encrypted by default, and attaching one to an encrypted VM does not encrypt it: only that VM's root disk is. If you need a data volume encrypted, create it as an encrypted volume (encrypted: true in Create a volume) and format it with the Pantech agent. An encrypted volume works with an encrypted VM and with a plain Ubuntu 24.04 or 26.04 VM, and it can be detached and attached to any instance of your organization. The volume shows its real state as encryption.status: none, requested until it has been formatted, and encrypted once Pantech has confirmed it. See Encrypted data volumes for the steps, what is and is not protected, and how to move existing data onto one.

#The volume's page

Open a volume from Volumes to see:

• Attachment: the machine it is on, if any.
• Capacity: how full it is, and its read and write throughput over the last 24 hours. These appear once the machine reports them.
• Snapshots of this volume, with Take snapshot. See volume snapshots.
• Its size, zone and monthly cost.

The Volumes list shows every volume with its status, what it is attached to, size, how full it is and its cost.

#Detach a volume

Unmount it inside the machine first, or anything still using the disk loses it mid-write:

$ sudo umount /data

Remove its line from /etc/fstab too. Then on the volume's page, under Detach or delete, press Detach. The data stays on the volume, and it is still billed.

#Delete a volume

A volume must be detached before it can be deleted. Then press Delete, and type the volume's name to confirm.

Deleting removes the volume and everything written to it. There is no undo. Take a snapshot first if you might want the data back.

#Growing a volume

Press Resize on the volume's page and choose a bigger size. Then extend the filesystem from inside the machine. See resizing.