ZStack 3.10.0>Tutorials>Advanced Features>vCenter Management Tutorial>Volume

Volume

In vCenter, a volume provides storages for vCenter VM instances. A volume can either be a root volume or a data volume.

Root volume: a system disk where the VM instance operating system is installed.
Data volume: a data disk that provides additional storages for a VM instance.

In vCenter, data volumes are mainly involved in volume management.

The following part describes how to create a vCenter volume in ZStack.

Create a vCenter volume.
In the navigation pane of the ZStack Private Cloud UI, choose vCenter > Volume. Then, the Volume page is displayed, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. vCenter Volume

Note: ZStack allows you to manage resources of multiple vCenters. You can view resources of all vCenters or a vCenter by clicking the vCenter drop-down arrow.
Click Create Volume. On the displayed Create Volume page, set the following parameters:
- Name: Enter a name for the vCenter volume.
- Description: Optional. Enter a description for the vCenter volume.
- Create Method: Select a method to create the vCenter volume. Options: Disk offering | Volume image.
  - Disk offering:
    If you choose to create a vCenter volume by using a disk offering, set the following parameters:
    
    Disk offering: Select a proper disk offering.
    
    Primary Storage and VM Instance: Optional. Select a primary storage or VM instance.
    
    If neither of these two parameters is specified, the volume you created will not be instantiated, and will be displayed on the Not Instantiated tab page.
    Note:
    Uninstantiated volumes are only conceptual devices that do not occupy any actual space. These volumes will be instantiated after they are attached to a VM instance.
    
    If both of these two parameters are specified, the volume will be created in the specified primary storage and attached to the specified VM instance.
    
    If only VM Instance is specified, the volume will be created in the primary storage where the VM instance is located.
    
    If only Primary Storage is specified, the volume will be created in the specified primary storage. In addition, the volume will be in the available state and will occupy actual spaces.
  - Volume image:
    If you choose to create a vCenter volume by using a volume image, set the following parameters:
    
    Volume image: Select a proper volume image. Note that you need to upload the required volume image to the backup storage in advance.
    
    VM Instance: Select the VM instance to attach the volume. After selected, the volume will be created in the primary storage where the VM instance is located.
    
    Specify primary storage: Optional. If this checkbox is selected, the volume will be created in the specified primary storage.
The following figure is an example of creating a vCenter volume by using a disk offering, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Create vCenter Volume from Disk Offering

The following figure is an example of creating a vCenter volume by using a volume image, as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3. Create vCenter Volume from Volume Image
Click OK. Then, the vCenter volume is successfully created.

Similar to volumes in a KVM environment, vCenter volumes are divided into existing volumes, uninstantiated volumes, and deleted volumes.

You can perform the following operations on an existing volume:

Create: Create a new volume based on a disk offering or volume image.
Enable: Enable a volume that is the stopped state.
Disable: Disable a volume.
Attach: Attach a volume to a specified VM instance to act as a data volume.
Detach: Detach a volume from a VM instance.
Change owner: Change the owner of a volume.
Note:
ZStack supports multi-tenant management in the managed vCenter. Normal accounts and project members can perform operations on vCenter volumes.
Delete: After you delete a volume, you can view it on the Deleted tab page.
Modify name and description: Modify the name and description of a volume.

You can perform the following operations on an uninstantiated volume:

Enable: Enable an uninstantiated volume that is in the disabled state.
Disable: Disable an uninstantiated volume.
Attach: Attach an uninstantiated volume to a specified VM instance to act as a data volume.
Delete: After you delete an uninstantiated volume, you can view it on the Deleted tab page.
Modify name and description: Modify the name and description of an uninstantiated volume.

You can perform the following operations on a deleted volume:

Restore: After you restore a deleted volume, you can view it on the Available tab page.
Expunge: Completely delete a volume.

When you use a vCenter volume, note that:

Volumes are hypervisor specific. That is, a volume that has been attached to a VM instance of one hypervisor type cannot be attached to a VM instance of another hypervisor type. For example, a volume of KVM VM instances cannot be attached to vCenter VM instances.
A volume can be attached to or detached from different VM instances of the same hypervisor type.
A volume can only be attached to one VM instance at a time.
A volume can have two sizes: real size and virtual size. The space occupied by a volume is calculated by using its virtual size. When you create a volume, the virtual size is occupied, and only a small amount of actual size is used. As the number of written files increases, the real size will gradually increase.
A root volume is always attached to its owner VM instance and cannot be detached.

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