.Available storage types
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|===========================================================
-|Description |PVE type |Level |Shared|Snapshots|Stable
-|ZFS (local) |zfspool |file |no |yes |yes
-|Directory |dir |file |no |no^1^ |yes
-|BTRFS |btrfs |file |no |yes |technology preview
-|NFS |nfs |file |yes |no^1^ |yes
-|CIFS |cifs |file |yes |no^1^ |yes
-|Proxmox Backup |pbs |both |yes |n/a |yes
-|GlusterFS |glusterfs |file |yes |no^1^ |yes
-|CephFS |cephfs |file |yes |yes |yes
-|LVM |lvm |block |no^2^ |no |yes
-|LVM-thin |lvmthin |block |no |yes |yes
-|iSCSI/kernel |iscsi |block |yes |no |yes
-|iSCSI/libiscsi |iscsidirect |block |yes |no |yes
-|Ceph/RBD |rbd |block |yes |yes |yes
-|ZFS over iSCSI |zfs |block |yes |yes |yes
+|Description |Plugin type |Level |Shared|Snapshots|Stable
+|ZFS (local) |zfspool |both^1^|no |yes |yes
+|Directory |dir |file |no |no^2^ |yes
+|BTRFS |btrfs |file |no |yes |technology preview
+|NFS |nfs |file |yes |no^2^ |yes
+|CIFS |cifs |file |yes |no^2^ |yes
+|Proxmox Backup |pbs |both |yes |n/a |yes
+|GlusterFS |glusterfs |file |yes |no^2^ |yes
+|CephFS |cephfs |file |yes |yes |yes
+|LVM |lvm |block |no^3^ |no |yes
+|LVM-thin |lvmthin |block |no |yes |yes
+|iSCSI/kernel |iscsi |block |yes |no |yes
+|iSCSI/libiscsi |iscsidirect |block |yes |no |yes
+|Ceph/RBD |rbd |block |yes |yes |yes
+|ZFS over iSCSI |zfs |block |yes |yes |yes
|===========================================================
-^1^: On file based storages, snapshots are possible with the 'qcow2' format.
+^1^: Disk images for VMs are stored in ZFS volume (zvol) datasets, which provide
+block device functionality.
-^2^: It is possible to use LVM on top of an iSCSI or FC-based storage.
-That way you get a `shared` LVM storage.
+^2^: On file based storages, snapshots are possible with the 'qcow2' format.
+
+^3^: It is possible to use LVM on top of an iSCSI or FC-based storage.
+That way you get a `shared` LVM storage
Thin Provisioning
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-A number of storages, and the Qemu image format `qcow2`, support 'thin
+A number of storages, and the QEMU image format `qcow2`, support 'thin
provisioning'. With thin provisioning activated, only the blocks that
the guest system actually use will be written to the storage.
content images,rootdir
----
+CAUTION: It is problematic to have multiple storage configurations pointing to
+the exact same underlying storage. Such an _aliased_ storage configuration can
+lead to two different volume IDs ('volid') pointing to the exact same disk
+image. {pve} expects that the images' volume IDs point to, are unique. Choosing
+different content types for _aliased_ storage configurations can be fine, but
+is not recommended.
Common Storage Properties
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
images:::
-KVM-Qemu VM images.
+QEMU/KVM VM images.
rootdir:::
associated volumes which are owned by that VM or Container.
-Using the Command Line Interface
+Using the Command-line Interface
--------------------------------
It is recommended to familiarize yourself with the concept behind storage
allocation and removal of volumes is done by the VM and Container
management tools.
-Nevertheless, there is a command line tool called `pvesm` (``{pve}
+Nevertheless, there is a command-line tool called `pvesm` (``{pve}
Storage Manager''), which is able to perform common storage management
tasks.
List iso images
- pvesm list <STORAGE_ID> --iso
+ pvesm list <STORAGE_ID> --content iso
List container templates
- pvesm list <STORAGE_ID> --vztmpl
+ pvesm list <STORAGE_ID> --content vztmpl
Show file system path for a volume