Additional Disks

Overview#

Additional disks help you get more disk space without having to switch to another plan and paying for resources you are not going to use, such as CPU, RAM, and so on. Instead, you can choose an offer and pay only for extra space you need.

This topic explains how to add, resize, change the name, and delete an additional disk from an existing virtual server.

Prerequisites#

Consider the following before working with additional disks:

• All disks of a virtual server must have the same storage type. For example, if the primary disk has the LVM storage type, all additional disks must be LVM as well. Currently it is impossible to have disks with different storage types on one virtual server.
• You can use additional disks if you create offers on a virtual server.
• To perform actions related to additional disks, you must have the “Add additional disk” permission to create an additional disk, the “Get offers” permission to apply offers for additional disks, the “Resize additional disk” permission to change the size of an additional disk, and the “Delete additional disk” permission to delete an additional disk from a virtual server. For more information, see User Access Control.
• When you add, resize, or delete an additional disk, SolusVM automatically deletes all existing virtual server backups and snapshots. Afterwards, the system creates backups for additional disks simultaneously. The system creates snapshots one after another, which may result in inconsistent data across snapshots.

Adding an Additional Disk to an Existing Virtual Server#

You can add an additional disk on an existing virtual server or while creating a new one. You can add up to 22 additional disks to one virtual server. The following steps show how to create an additional disk on an existing server:

1. Go to Virtual Servers > your server, and then go to the Disks tab.

   

2. Click Add disk.

   

3. Give your disk a recognizable name.

4. Select an offer for additional disks.

   Note:

   While creating an additional disk offer, the SolusVM administrator can set limits on its maximum size, read/write bandwidth, and input/output operations per second.

5. Set the volume size for your additional disk (in GiB).

6. Click Save.

SolusVM creates the additional disk on your virtual server.

Creating and Mounting a File System#

After the system creates the disk, you need to create and mount a file system for it. Follow these steps:

1. Log in to your server via SSH as the root user.
2. Get the list of all disks available on your server by running the lsblk command.
3. Create a mount point by running the mkdir /mnt/<disk_name> command.
4. Install the XFS file system for the additional disk by running the mkfs.xfs /dev/<disk_name> command.
5. Mount the new directory by running the mount /dev/<disk_name> /mnt/<disk_name> command.

Now your additional disk is mounted on your server and ready for further use.

Managing an Additional Disk#

You can change the name or size of an additional disk. Follow these steps:

1. Go to Virtual Servers > your server, and then go to the Disks tab.

2. Do one of the following:

   • Click the icon next to the required additional disk. In the window that opens, specify the new name, and then click Save.
   • Click the icon next to the required additional disk. In the window that opens, specify the desired disk size, and then click Save.

Deleting an Additional Disk#

You can delete an additional disk from your server if you no longer need it. All the data stored on an additional disk will be permanently deleted along with the disk and you will not be able to restore it using backups and snapshots. After you delete an additional disk, SolusVM will stop charging the server owner for that disk.

To delete an additional disk:

1. Log in to your server via SSH as the root user.
2. Get the list of all disks available on your server by running the lsblk command.
3. Unmount the additional disk directory by running the unmount /dev/<disk_name> command.
4. In the SolusVM graphic interface, go to Virtual Servers > your server, and then go to the Disks tab.
5. Click the icon next to the additional disk you want to delete.
6. In the confirmation window, click Delete.

The system deletes the additional disk and stops charging the server owner for its usage.