Storage View

The Storage View provides management of Kubernetes storage resources including Persistent Volumes, Persistent Volume Claims, and Storage Classes.

Overview

Navigate to Workloads > Storage to access:

Persistent Volumes - Cluster-wide storage resources
Persistent Volume Claims - Storage requests by pods
Storage Classes - Storage provisioning templates

Persistent Volumes (PV)

Persistent Volumes are cluster-level storage resources provisioned by administrators or dynamically through Storage Classes.

Viewing Persistent Volumes

Navigate to Workloads > Storage > Persistent Volumes.

Column	Description
Name	PV name
Capacity	Storage size (e.g., 10Gi)
Access Modes	RWO, ROX, RWX
Reclaim Policy	Retain, Delete, Recycle
Status	Available, Bound, Released, Failed
Claim	Bound PVC name
Storage Class	Associated storage class
Age	Time since creation

Access Modes

Mode	Description
RWO	ReadWriteOnce - Single node read-write
ROX	ReadOnlyMany - Multiple nodes read-only
RWX	ReadWriteMany - Multiple nodes read-write

Reclaim Policies

Policy	Description
Retain	Manual reclamation after PVC deletion
Delete	Automatically delete PV when PVC is deleted
Recycle	Basic scrub (deprecated)

PV Status

Status	Description
Available	Ready to be bound to a PVC
Bound	Currently bound to a PVC
Released	PVC deleted, awaiting reclamation
Failed	Automatic reclamation failed

Persistent Volume Claims (PVC)

PVCs are requests for storage by pods. They consume PV resources similar to how pods consume node resources.

Viewing PVCs

Navigate to Workloads > Storage > Persistent Volume Claims.

Column	Description
Name	PVC name
Namespace	Kubernetes namespace
Status	Pending, Bound, Lost
Volume	Bound PV name
Capacity	Allocated storage size
Access Modes	Requested access modes
Storage Class	Requested storage class
Age	Time since creation

Creating a PVC

Click + Create PVC
Select the target namespace
Enter the PVC name
Specify storage size (e.g., 5Gi)
Select access mode
Choose storage class (or use default)
Click Create

Example PVC YAML

apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: my-app-data
  namespace: production
spec:
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  storageClassName: standard
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 10Gi

PVC Actions

Action	Description
View	See PVC details and bound volume
Edit	Modify PVC (limited after binding)
Expand	Increase storage size (if supported)
Delete	Remove the PVC

Storage Classes

Storage Classes define different types of storage available in the cluster, enabling dynamic provisioning of Persistent Volumes.

Viewing Storage Classes

Navigate to Workloads > Storage > Storage Classes.

Column	Description
Name	Storage class name
Provisioner	Storage backend (e.g., kubernetes.io/aws-ebs)
Reclaim Policy	Default reclaim policy
Volume Binding	Immediate or WaitForFirstConsumer
Allow Expansion	Whether volumes can be resized
Default	Whether this is the default storage class

Common Provisioners

Provisioner	Cloud Provider
`kubernetes.io/aws-ebs`	AWS EBS
`kubernetes.io/gce-pd`	Google Cloud Persistent Disk
`kubernetes.io/azure-disk`	Azure Disk
`kubernetes.io/azure-file`	Azure File
`rancher.io/local-path`	Local path (development)

Volume Binding Modes

Mode	Description
Immediate	Provision volume immediately when PVC is created
WaitForFirstConsumer	Delay provisioning until pod uses the PVC

Example Storage Class

apiVersion: storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: StorageClass
metadata:
  name: fast-ssd
provisioner: kubernetes.io/aws-ebs
parameters:
  type: gp3
  iopsPerGB: "50"
reclaimPolicy: Delete
allowVolumeExpansion: true
volumeBindingMode: WaitForFirstConsumer

Common Operations

Expanding a Volume

If the storage class allows expansion:

Select the PVC
Click Expand
Enter the new size
Click Apply

Note: Volume expansion may require pod restart depending on the storage backend.

Troubleshooting Storage

Issue	Possible Cause	Solution
PVC stuck in Pending	No matching PV available	Check storage class, create PV, or verify provisioner
PV stuck in Released	Reclaim policy is Retain	Manually delete or recycle the PV
Volume not mounting	Access mode mismatch	Verify pod and PVC access modes match
Expansion failed	Storage class doesn’t allow expansion	Use a different storage class

Best Practices

Persistent Volumes

Use Storage Classes for dynamic provisioning when possible
Set appropriate reclaim policies based on data importance
Use WaitForFirstConsumer for topology-aware provisioning
Monitor PV utilization to avoid storage exhaustion

Persistent Volume Claims

Always specify a storage class for predictable behavior
Request only the storage you need
Use labels for organization and filtering
Consider backup strategies for stateful data

Storage Classes

Create different classes for different performance tiers
Enable volume expansion for flexibility
Use WaitForFirstConsumer in multi-zone clusters
Document storage class capabilities for developers

Next Steps

Workloads View - Manage StatefulSets using persistent storage
Configuration View - Manage ConfigMaps and Secrets
Monitoring - Monitor storage metrics

Configuration Access Control