Create a volume

A volume is a disk you can attach to a cloud server, detach and attach again to another one. Use volumes for data that should outlive a server, such as files or a database. Volumes are billed by the GB-hour from the moment they’re created, attached or not.

Open Volumes

1. Open Infrastructure in the side menu.
2. Select Volumes, under Storage & Backups.

The page has three sections: Volumes, Backups and Backup Plans. This page covers Volumes. See also Back up and restore servers and volumes and Set up a backup plan.

Read the list

Each row shows Name, Status, Size, Attached To, Device and ID. Boot marks a server’s boot volume. Not Attached means the volume is on no server. A volume with no name of its own reads Boot Disk of web-01, Disk 2 of web-01, or Volume followed by the first 8 characters of its ID.

The status tells you what the volume is doing:

• Available means it is ready and not attached.
• In Use means it is attached to a server.
• Creating, Attaching, Detaching, Extending, Backing Up, Restoring or Deleting mean a change is in progress.
• Error means the last change failed. Try again, or open a support ticket.

Use Search… to find a volume.

Create a volume

1. Select Create Volume.
2. Under Start From, keep An Empty Volume, or choose a copy of one of your volumes. A copy starts at that volume’s size and can’t be smaller.
3. Type a Volume Name (1 to 64 characters) and a Size (GB).
4. Confirm. You see Volume Create Requested.

The new volume is on no server. It is blank, or a copy of the volume you chose.

Attach it to a server

1. Open the volume’s row menu and select Attach to Server.
2. Under Server, choose the server.
3. Confirm. It appears on the server as a new disk.
4. Inside the server, format the disk and mount it.

To detach it later, unmount it on the server first, then select Detach. Its data stays on the volume.

Other actions

The row menu also has:

• Open Details, the volume’s own page. See Manage a volume.
• Rename Volume. Nothing on the disk changes. A boot volume’s name can’t be changed.
• Extend Volume. A volume can only grow. Grow its filesystem from the server afterwards. See Manage a server’s storage.
• Delete Volume. Type the volume’s name to confirm. Its backups are kept. This can’t be undone.

The volume’s details page

Each volume has its own Volume Details page, with every fact about the disk, its attachment, its backups and its disk activity. See Manage a volume.

If something goes wrong

• This volume is busy. Try again when it’s finished.
• Too many changes in a short time. Wait a moment and try again.
• Volume Not Found means the volume may have been deleted.
• We didn’t hear back, so the volume may already exist. Try Again is safe: it can’t make a second one.