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vCenter Volume

vCenter volumes provide storages for vCenter VM instances. Volumes can be divided into following two types:

Root volume: A system volume of the VM instance. The root volume supports the system operation of a VM instance.
Data Volume: A data volume used for the VM instance. The data volume provides extended storage space for a VM instance.

The management of vCenter volume focuses on the management of vCenter data volumes. This topic falls into the following parts:

Create a vCenter Volume
Manage a vCenter Volume
Notes

Create a vCenter Volume

On the main menu of ZStack Cloud Private Cloud, choose Resource Center > vCenter > Volume > Create Volume. Then, the Create Volume page is displayed.

Note: On the main page of Create Volume, choose Search and click the input box, and you can select vCenter as the filter criteria. Then, you can screen the information related to the specified vCenter.

On the displayed page, set the following parameters:

Name: Enter a name for the vCenter volume.
Description: Optional. Enter a description for the vCenter volume.
Creation Method: Select a method to create the volume. Options: Disk Offering | Volume Image.
- Disk Offering:
  If you create a vCenter volume with a disk offering, you need to set the following parameters:
  - Disk Offering: Select an appropriate disk offering.
  - Primary Storage and VM Instance: Both optional.
    - Set neither of the two parameters: the volume you create is an uninstantiated volume, and it will be displayed on the Uninstantiated tab page after creation.
      Note: An uninstantiated volume is only a conceptual device that does not occupy any actual space unless you attach it to a VM instance.
    - Set both the two parameters: The volume will be created on the specified primary storage and attached to the specified VM instance.
    - Only set VM Instance: The volume will be created on the primary storage of the specified VM instance.
    - Only set Primary Storage: The volume will be created on the specified primary storage. It is an available volume that occupies the actual space.
- Volume Image:
  If you create a vCenter volume with a vCenter image, you need to set the following parameters:
  - Volume Image: Select an appropriate volume image. Upload the target volume image to the backup storage in advance.
  - VM Instance: Select the VM instance to attach the volume to. The volume will be created on the primary storage of the specified VM instance.
  - Specify Primary Storage: Optional. If you select this checkbox, the volume will be created on the specified primary storage.

Manage a vCenter Volume

On the main menu of ZStack Cloud, choose Resource Center > vCenter > Volume. Then, the Volume page is displayed.

The following table lists the actions that you can perform on a vCenter volume.

Action	Description
Create vCenter Volume	Create a new vCenter volume via a disk offering or a volume image.
Edit vCenter Volume	Edit the name and the description of a vCenter volume.
Enable vCenter Volume	Enable a disabled vCenter volume.
Disable vCenter Volume	Disable an enabled vCenter volume.
Attach vCenter Volume	Attach a vCenter volume to the specified vCenter VM instance as a data volume.
Detach vCenter Volume	Detach a vCenter volume from a vCenter VM instance. Note: Detaching a volume from a running VM instance may affect the business continuity. Proceed with caution.
Change Owner	Change the owner of a vCenter volume. Note: ZStack Cloud supports multi-account management for the managed vCenters. Normal account and project members can perform operations on vCenter volumes.
Delete vCenter Volume	The deleted vCenter volume is displayed on the Recycle Bin tab. Note: Deleting a vCenter volume interrupts data reads/writes of associated VM instances from/to the volume, and makes the volumes unavailable. You cannot attach it to any VM instance unless you recover the volume.
Recover vCenter Volume	Recover a deleted vCenter volume. The recovered volume is displayed on the Available Resource tab.
Expunge vCenter Volume	Expunge a deleted vCenter volume. Note: This operation expunges the volume. The expunged volumes cannot be recovered. Proceed with caution.

Notes

Please notice the following points when you use vCenter volumes:

You cannot attach a volume to the VM instances of different hypervisor type. For example, you cannot attach the volume of a KVM VM instance to a vCenter instance.
You can attach a volume to or detach it from different VM instances of the same hypervisor type.
You cannot attach a volume to more than one VM instance at a time.
The space occupied by the volume is calculated by using its virtual size. The space occupied during the creation is the virtual size of the volume. It only occupies a small amount of actual space. The actual size of the volume will gradually increase as the number of written files increases.
A root volume is an integral part of a VM instance. It cannot be detached from a VM instance.

Next Chapter: vCenter Image

vCenter Volume

Create a vCenter Volume

Manage a vCenter Volume

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