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How to create a block storage volume

How-to · Updated Sep 2026

Coming from another cloud?

▸AWS·Amazon EBS volumes

Amazon EBS volumeshigh

  • Strictly bound to a single Availability Zone where created; cannot be moved without snapshot.
  • Multiple volume types (gp3, io2, st1) with different performance/billing characteristics; Cinder uses volume_types but backend-defined.
  • Billed per provisioned GB-month regardless of usage; OpenStack typically quota-based without standard usage billing.
  • API via EC2 CreateVolume; differs from Cinder create_volume.
AWS docs ↗
▸Azure·Managed Disks

Azure Managed Diskshigh

  • Azure Managed Disks are fully managed with automatic redundancy (3 replicas, 99.999% SLA); Cinder durability depends on backend.
  • Predefined disk types (Ultra Disk, Premium SSD v2, Premium SSD, Standard SSD, Standard HDD) with fixed performance tiers; Cinder uses volume types with configurable QoS.
  • Disks billed on provisioned size regardless of use; Cinder billing typically on provisioned size too but varies by provider.
Azure docs ↗
▸DigitalOcean·Volumes

Volumeshigh

  • Uses proprietary /v2/volumes API instead of OpenStack Cinder /v3/{project_id}/volumes; actions like attach/detach/resize via undocumented POST /volumes/{id}/actions rather than /os-volume-attach etc.
  • Enforces single-instance attachment only (one Droplet at a time); OpenStack supports multi-attach volumes.
  • Volume names must be globally unique per region; OpenStack uses IDs primarily with optional display names.
  • Size specified in GiB (binary) with 1 GiB to 16 TiB range; OpenStack typically GiB but flexible.
DigitalOcean docs ↗
▸Google Cloud·Persistent Disk

Persistent Diskhigh

  • Uses Google Compute Engine REST API instead of OpenStack Cinder API.
  • Offers multiple performance tiers (pd-standard HDD, pd-balanced SSD, pd-ssd, pd-extreme) with performance scaling linearly with provisioned size, unlike Cinder's backend-dependent performance.
  • Supports regional disks replicated synchronously across 2 zones for higher availability (better than 99.9999% durability), while Cinder volumes are typically zonal unless using replication features.
  • Online resize to increase size without detaching; no manual striping/RAID needed as GCP handles distribution automatically.
Google Cloud docs ↗
▸Hetzner·Cloud Volumes

Cloud Volumeshigh

  • Provisioned via Hetzner CSI driver (csi.hetzner.cloud), ReadWriteOnce only, min 10GB, NVMe-based.
  • Billed €0.044/GB/month until deleted, no pause; attach/detach via CSI, unlike Cinder's broader access modes (RWX via Manila).
  • Snapshots supported but no volume encryption at rest by default; location-specific (e.g., fsn1).
  • Proprietary REST API at https://api.hetzner.cloud/v1/volumes using Bearer token auth, not OpenStack Cinder API (v3 JSON over Keystone). Endpoints like POST /volumes/{id}/actions/attach, POST /volumes/{id}/actions/resize (upsize only). No /v3/{project_id}/volumes/{volume_id}/action os-extend.
Hetzner docs ↗

How to create a block storage volume

Create a persistent block storage volume that you can attach to virtual machine instances. Volumes persist independently of instances; you can detach, reattach, and snapshot them at any time.

Prerequisites

Windows: CLI examples use bash. Set up a Linux CLI environment on Windows before proceeding.

Create a volume#

Verify the volume#

Attach the volume to an instance#

After creating the volume, attach it to a running instance:

See also#

Usage Guidelines

The sample code, software libraries, command line tools, proofs of concept, templates, and other related technology on this page (including any of the foregoing that is provided by Quake AI personnel) is provided to you as Quake AI Content under the Quake AI Customer Agreement, or the relevant written agreement between you and Quake AI (whichever applies). Do not use this Quake AI Content in your production accounts, or on production or other critical data. You are responsible for testing, securing, and optimizing the Quake AI Content (such as sample code) as appropriate for production grade use based on your specific quality control practices and standards. Deploying Quake AI Content may incur Quake AI charges for creating or using Quake AI chargeable resources, such as running Compute instances or storing data in Object Storage. Your use is also subject to the Acceptable Use Policy.

For the full policy, see Usage Guidelines.

Last validated: 01.09.2026

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