Block Storage

Boost instance storage with flexible, hot-swappable volumes up to 16 TB

High-performance, scalable cloud block storage

Expand storage for demanding workloads with high-speed NVMe volumes up to 16 TB. Independent of compute, volumes offer durability and persist even if virtual machines (VMs) are deleted (see TechDocs for details and limitations). Get 10x–20x more throughput and up to 2,000x the IOPS of spinning disks.

Features

  • Store website data, databases, media, backups — even operating system (OS) images — on durable block storage
  • Add new block storage volumes instantly to scale total storage without downtime
  • Enable data durability with built-in erasure coding for fault-tolerant replication
  • Attach high-performance NVMe volumes up to 16 TB for data-intensive workloads
  • Manage volumes independently of compute instances for data that can be configured for persistence even after VM deletion
  • Get 24/7 incident response and support from Akamai’s expert Managed Services teams
  • Extend storage with Amazon S3–compatible Object Storage for unstructured data at scale
Full-Featured API

Programmatically control and manage your infrastructure

Step 1: Create and attach a volume

Step 1: Create and attach a volume

Use the Linode API to dynamically create volumes and attach them to compute instances. You can use cURL to access the API from your command line, or take advantage of our API's Python bindings.

If you use Terraform to provision your infrastructure, you can use the “linode_volume” resource to entirely manage your volumes from within your Terraform plan.

Step 2: Mount an attached volume

Step 2: Mount an attached volume

After you attach a volume to a compute instance, format it and mount it from inside the instance. This makes the volume's file system available to you.

You can issue a few commands from your SSH connection to mount your volume. If you use a configuration management tool like Salt, Ansible, or Puppet for your instances, you can also manage this mount from your formulas, playbooks, and modules.

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

A scalable storage system is a type of storage service that adjusts capacity based on your workload needs. It allows you to add or reduce storage without reconfiguring compute resources or experiencing downtime.

 

Akamai Block Storage is designed for scalability, enabling users to provision up to 16 TB per volume on demand. You can expand or resize storage as your applications grow — without impacting performance or availability.

Block storage in cloud computing refers to a storage service in which data is stored in fixed-size blocks that can be attached to virtual machines. It’s ideal for high-performance use cases like databases, logs, and bootable volumes, and typically offers better IOPS and latency than file storage.

 

Akamai Block Storage provides high-speed NVMe block volumes that are independent of dedicated compute, highly available, and easily managed — similar to services like AWS EBS, but with transparent pricing and no lock-in.

Block storage is detached from the compute instance and persists independently, even if the VM is deleted (see TechDocs for details and limitations). It supports redundancy, high availability, and easier migration. Local storage, on the other hand, is tied to the VM and lost when the instance is shut down.

 

With Akamai Block Storage, volumes can be attached or moved between compute instances without rebooting, making it a more flexible and reliable choice for production workloads.

Block storage and object storage are different approaches to storing data, each suited for different needs. Block storage breaks data into fixed-size blocks, making it ideal for high-performance applications like databases and virtual machines where fast data access and updates are critical. Object storage stores data as objects with associated metadata, making it well-suited for large-scale, unstructured data like backups, archives, and static web content. 

 

Akamai offers both Block Storage and Object Storage solutions to address your specific needs.

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