Containers are ephemeral by design—when a pod is deleted or rescheduled, its internal data is lost. However, most applications need to persist data beyond the container lifecycle. Kubernetes provides several abstractions to manage persistent storage for your applications. In this section, we'll explore how to use volumes, persistent volumes, and storage classes to manage stateful data.

Understanding Kubernetes Storage Architecture

Kubernetes has a layered storage architecture with several key components:

Volumes: The most basic storage abstraction, tied to the pod lifecycle
Persistent Volumes (PV): Cluster-wide storage resources that exist independently of pods
Persistent Volume Claims (PVC): Requests for storage by users that are bound to Persistent Volumes
Storage Classes: Define types of storage with different characteristics

Let's explore each of these components in detail.

Basic Volume Types

Kubernetes supports many volume types that mount directly into pods. Here are some commonly used types:

emptyDir

An emptyDir volume is created when a pod is assigned to a node and exists as long as the pod runs on that node. When the pod is removed, the data in the emptyDir is deleted.

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: test-pd
spec:
  containers:
    - name: test-container
      image: nginx
      volumeMounts:
        - mountPath: /cache
          name: cache-volume
  volumes:
    - name: cache-volume
      emptyDir: {}

Use cases for emptyDir:

Scratch space for temporary files
Checkpoint storage for long computations
Shared storage for containers in the same pod

hostPath

A hostPath volume mounts a file or directory from the host node's filesystem into your pod.

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: test-hostpath
spec:
  containers:
    - name: test-container
      image: nginx
      volumeMounts:
        - mountPath: /test-data
          name: test-volume
  volumes:
    - name: test-volume
      hostPath:
        path: /data
        type: Directory

The type field can be:

DirectoryOrCreate: Creates the directory if it doesn't exist
Directory: Directory must exist
FileOrCreate: Creates an empty file if it doesn't exist
File: File must exist
Socket: UNIX socket must exist
CharDevice: Character device must exist
BlockDevice: Block device must exist

⚠️ Warning: hostPath volumes pose security risks because they allow pods to access the host filesystem. Use with caution in production environments.

configMap and secret

As we covered in the previous section, ConfigMaps and Secrets can be mounted as volumes to provide configuration data and sensitive information to pods.

Other Basic Volume Types

Kubernetes supports many other volume types for various use cases:

downwardAPI: Exposes pod and container data to applications
projected: Maps several volume sources into the same directory
csi: Container Storage Interface for third-party storage plugins
Cloud provider-specific volumes: awsElasticBlockStore, azureDisk, gcePersistentDisk

Persistent Volumes and Claims

For data that needs to survive pod restarts and reschedules, Kubernetes provides Persistent Volumes (PVs) and Persistent Volume Claims (PVCs).

Persistent Volumes (PV)

A PersistentVolume is a piece of storage provisioned by an administrator or dynamically provisioned using Storage Classes. It exists independently of any pod.

apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolume
metadata:
  name: pv-example
spec:
  capacity:
    storage: 10Gi
  volumeMode: Filesystem
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy: Retain
  storageClassName: standard
  hostPath:
    path: /data/pv-example

Key fields in a PersistentVolume:

capacity: How much storage is available
volumeMode: Filesystem (default) or Block
accessModes: How the volume can be mounted
- ReadWriteOnce (RWO): Volume can be mounted as read-write by a single node
- ReadOnlyMany (ROX): Volume can be mounted read-only by many nodes
- ReadWriteMany (RWX): Volume can be mounted as read-write by many nodes
persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy: What happens when a claim is released
- Retain: Manual reclamation (default)
- Delete: Automatically delete PV and storage
- Recycle: Basic scrub (deprecated)
storageClassName: Name of StorageClass for dynamic provisioning
Volume-specific parameters (e.g., hostPath, nfs, etc.)

Persistent Volume Claims (PVC)

A PersistentVolumeClaim is a request for storage by a user. It's similar to a pod in that pods consume node resources and PVCs consume PV resources.

apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: pvc-example
spec:
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 5Gi
  storageClassName: standard

When you create a PVC, Kubernetes finds a matching PV based on:

Access modes
Size
Storage class
Volume mode
Selector

Using PVCs in Pods

Once you have a PVC, you can use it in a pod:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: pvc-pod-example
spec:
  containers:
    - name: app
      image: nginx
      volumeMounts:
        - mountPath: '/usr/share/nginx/html'
          name: mypd
  volumes:
    - name: mypd
      persistentVolumeClaim:
        claimName: pvc-example

Storage Classes

StorageClasses enable dynamic provisioning of Persistent Volumes. Instead of pre-provisioning PVs, administrators can define storage classes and let Kubernetes create PVs on demand.

apiVersion: storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: StorageClass
metadata:
  name: fast
provisioner: kubernetes.io/aws-ebs
parameters:
  type: gp2
  fsType: ext4
reclaimPolicy: Delete
allowVolumeExpansion: true
volumeBindingMode: Immediate

Key fields in a StorageClass:

provisioner: The volume plugin to use
parameters: Specific to the provisioner
reclaimPolicy: What happens to PVs when PVCs are deleted
allowVolumeExpansion: Whether PVCs can be expanded
volumeBindingMode:
- Immediate: Binding occurs immediately (default)
- WaitForFirstConsumer: Binding delayed until pod using PVC is created

Using Storage Classes

To use a StorageClass, reference it in your PVC:

apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: fast-pvc
spec:
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 5Gi
  storageClassName: fast

If you don't specify a StorageClass, the default StorageClass is used (if available).

Dynamic Provisioning

With StorageClasses, you can dynamically provision Persistent Volumes. This means:

You create a StorageClass defining the type of storage
A user creates a PVC requesting storage from that class
Kubernetes automatically provisions a matching PV

This workflow is much more convenient than manually creating PVs, especially in cloud environments.

Common Storage Solutions

Let's explore some common storage solutions used with Kubernetes:

Local Storage

Local storage refers to disks or directories mounted on specific nodes. While this provides high performance, it lacks portability because pods can only run on nodes with the attached storage.

apiVersion: storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: StorageClass
metadata:
  name: local-storage
provisioner: kubernetes.io/no-provisioner
volumeBindingMode: WaitForFirstConsumer
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolume
metadata:
  name: local-pv
spec:
  capacity:
    storage: 100Gi
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy: Delete
  storageClassName: local-storage
  local:
    path: /mnt/disks/ssd1
  nodeAffinity:
    required:
      nodeSelectorTerms:
        - matchExpressions:
            - key: kubernetes.io/hostname
              operator: In
              values:
                - worker-node-1

NFS Storage

Network File System (NFS) provides shared storage that can be mounted by multiple nodes.

apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolume
metadata:
  name: nfs-pv
spec:
  capacity:
    storage: 10Gi
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteMany
  persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy: Retain
  nfs:
    server: nfs-server.example.com
    path: '/exports'

Cloud Providers

Each cloud provider offers native storage options:

AWS EBS

apiVersion: storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: StorageClass
metadata:
  name: ebs-sc
provisioner: kubernetes.io/aws-ebs
parameters:
  type: gp3
  fsType: ext4
  encrypted: 'true'

Azure Disk

apiVersion: storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: StorageClass
metadata:
  name: azure-disk
provisioner: kubernetes.io/azure-disk
parameters:
  storageaccounttype: Premium_LRS
  kind: Managed

Google Persistent Disk

apiVersion: storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: StorageClass
metadata:
  name: gce-pd
provisioner: kubernetes.io/gce-pd
parameters:
  type: pd-standard
  fstype: ext4

DigitalOcean Block Storage

DigitalOcean Kubernetes includes a StorageClass that automatically provisions DigitalOcean Block Storage volumes:

apiVersion: storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: StorageClass
metadata:
  name: do-block-storage
  annotations:
    storageclass.kubernetes.io/is-default-class: 'true'
provisioner: dobs.csi.digitalocean.com
parameters:
  fstype: ext4

To use this StorageClass, simply create a PVC without specifying a StorageClass name:

apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: do-pvc
spec:
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 5Gi

StatefulSets with Persistent Storage

StatefulSets are ideal for applications that require stable, unique network identifiers, stable persistent storage, and ordered deployment and scaling. When used with PVCs, they provide a complete solution for stateful applications.

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: StatefulSet
metadata:
  name: postgres
spec:
  serviceName: 'postgres'
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: postgres
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: postgres
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: postgres
          image: postgres:13
          ports:
            - containerPort: 5432
              name: postgres
          volumeMounts:
            - name: pgdata
              mountPath: /var/lib/postgresql/data
  volumeClaimTemplates:
    - metadata:
        name: pgdata
      spec:
        accessModes: ['ReadWriteOnce']
        storageClassName: 'standard'
        resources:
          requests:
            storage: 10Gi

The volumeClaimTemplates field automatically creates a PVC for each pod in the StatefulSet. When pods are rescheduled, they reattach to the same PVC and thus the same data.

Volume Snapshots

Kubernetes allows you to create snapshots of volumes for backup or migration purposes.

apiVersion: snapshot.storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: VolumeSnapshot
metadata:
  name: data-snapshot
spec:
  volumeSnapshotClassName: csi-hostpath-snapclass
  source:
    persistentVolumeClaimName: pvc-example

To restore from a snapshot:

apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: pvc-from-snapshot
spec:
  dataSource:
    name: data-snapshot
    kind: VolumeSnapshot
    apiGroup: snapshot.storage.k8s.io
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 10Gi

Expanding Persistent Volumes

Some storage providers allow you to expand PVCs without interrupting applications:

apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: expandable-pvc
spec:
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 5Gi # Initial size
  storageClassName: expandable-storage

To expand it:

apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: expandable-pvc
spec:
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 10Gi # Increased size
  storageClassName: expandable-storage

The StorageClass must have allowVolumeExpansion: true for this to work.

Volume Topology

In multi-zone clusters, you may want to constrain volumes to specific zones. Volume Topology enables this:

apiVersion: storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: StorageClass
metadata:
  name: topology-aware-storage
provisioner: kubernetes.io/gce-pd
parameters:
  type: pd-standard
volumeBindingMode: WaitForFirstConsumer
allowedTopologies:
  - matchLabelExpressions:
      - key: failure-domain.beta.kubernetes.io/zone
        values:
          - us-central1-a
          - us-central1-b

Advanced Storage Patterns

ReadWriteMany (RWX) Volumes

For applications that need shared access to the same volume from multiple pods, use storage solutions that support ReadWriteMany access mode:

NFS: Network File System
CephFS: Distributed filesystem by Ceph
GlusterFS: Scalable network filesystem
Azure File: SMB file shares
AWS EFS: Elastic File System

apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: shared-pvc
spec:
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteMany
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 10Gi
  storageClassName: nfs-storage

Ephemeral Volumes

For storage that's tied to a pod's lifecycle but more flexible than emptyDir, use ephemeral volumes:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: test-ephemeral
spec:
  containers:
    - name: test-container
      image: nginx
      volumeMounts:
        - mountPath: /test
          name: ephemeral-volume
  volumes:
    - name: ephemeral-volume
      ephemeral:
        volumeClaimTemplate:
          metadata:
            labels:
              type: ephemeral
          spec:
            accessModes: ['ReadWriteOnce']
            storageClassName: 'fast-storage'
            resources:
              requests:
                storage: 1Gi

Data Migration

To migrate data between clusters or storage classes:

Create a VolumeSnapshot of the original PVC
Create a new PVC in the target environment, referencing the snapshot
Create a migration pod that copies data

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: data-migration
spec:
  containers:
    - name: migrator
      image: alpine
      command: ['sh', '-c', 'cp -rv /source/* /destination/']
      volumeMounts:
        - name: source-volume
          mountPath: /source
        - name: destination-volume
          mountPath: /destination
  volumes:
    - name: source-volume
      persistentVolumeClaim:
        claimName: source-pvc
    - name: destination-volume
      persistentVolumeClaim:
        claimName: destination-pvc
  restartPolicy: Never

Backup and Restore Strategies

Kubernetes doesn't provide built-in backup solutions, but you can implement several approaches:

1. Volume Snapshots

As covered earlier, use the Volume Snapshot API to create point-in-time snapshots of volumes.

2. Application-Level Backups

For databases and other stateful applications, use application-specific backup tools:

apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: CronJob
metadata:
  name: postgres-backup
spec:
  schedule: '0 1 * * *' # Daily at 1:00 AM
  jobTemplate:
    spec:
      template:
        spec:
          containers:
            - name: backup
              image: postgres:13
              command:
                - /bin/sh
                - -c
                - pg_dump -h postgres -U postgres -d mydb | gzip > /backup/mydb-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql.gz
              env:
                - name: PGPASSWORD
                  valueFrom:
                    secretKeyRef:
                      name: postgres-credentials
                      key: password
              volumeMounts:
                - name: backup-volume
                  mountPath: /backup
          volumes:
            - name: backup-volume
              persistentVolumeClaim:
                claimName: backup-pvc
          restartPolicy: OnFailure

3. External Backup Solutions

Several tools specifically designed for Kubernetes backup:

Velero: Backup and migrate Kubernetes resources and volumes
Kasten K10: Purpose-built for Kubernetes backup and disaster recovery
Trilios: Data protection for Kubernetes applications

Performance Considerations

When designing for storage performance in Kubernetes:

Choose the right storage type: SSD for high IOPS, HDD for high throughput
Consider local storage for latency-sensitive applications
Use volume caching for frequently accessed data
Set appropriate resource requests and limits for storage-related pods
Use appropriate QoS for storage traffic
Monitor storage metrics to identify bottlenecks

Best Practices for Kubernetes Storage

Plan for data persistence: Decide which data needs to survive pod restarts
Use the right storage for the job: Match storage characteristics to application requirements
Define resource requests accurately: Request what you need to avoid overprovisioning
Implement proactive monitoring: Watch for storage capacity and performance issues
Plan for backup and recovery: Implement and test backup procedures
Consider a multi-zone approach: Distribute storage across availability zones
Use labels and annotations: Organize and describe your storage resources
Test failure scenarios: Verify that your applications can recover from storage failures
Document storage architecture: Maintain clear documentation of your storage setup
Implement proper security: Use encryption for sensitive data

DigitalOcean Volumes for Kubernetes

DigitalOcean makes it easy to provision and manage persistent storage for your Kubernetes clusters. DigitalOcean Volumes provide:

SSD-based block storage
Automatic encryption at rest
Automated volume snapshots
Seamless Kubernetes integration through CSI driver

In the next section, we'll explore Kubernetes resource management, covering how to optimize your cluster's compute resources and implement effective scaling strategies.

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