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        <article role="main" id="furo-main-content">
          <section id="storage-drivers">
<span id="id1"></span><h1>Storage drivers<a class="headerlink" href="#storage-drivers" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h1>
<p>LXD supports several storage drivers for storing images, instances, and custom volumes. Where possible, LXD uses the advanced features of each driver to optimize operations.</p>
<p>Storage drivers are divided into local and non-local storage, based on their accessibility.</p>
<section id="feature-comparison">
<span id="storage-drivers-features"></span><h2>Feature comparison<a class="headerlink" href="#feature-comparison" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>Legend: ✅ supported, ❌ not supported, ➖ not applicable</p>
<section id="local-storage-features">
<span id="storage-drivers-features-local"></span><h3>Local storage features<a class="headerlink" href="#local-storage-features" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<div class="table-wrapper colwidths-auto docutils container">
<table class="docutils align-default">
<thead>
<tr class="row-odd"><th class="head text-left"><p>Feature</p></th>
<th class="head text-left"><p>Directory</p></th>
<th class="head text-left"><p>Btrfs</p></th>
<th class="head text-left"><p>LVM</p></th>
<th class="head text-left"><p>ZFS</p></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="row-even"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-optimized-image-storage"><span class="std std-ref">Optimized image storage</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-optimized-instance-creation"><span class="std std-ref">Optimized instance creation</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-optimized-snapshot-creation"><span class="std std-ref">Optimized snapshot creation</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-optimized-backup"><span class="std std-ref">Optimized backup (import/export)</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-optimized-volume-transfer"><span class="std std-ref">Optimized volume transfer</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-optimized-volume-refresh"><span class="std std-ref">Optimized volume refresh</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅<a class="footnote-reference brackets" href="#id5" id="id2" role="doc-noteref"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span>1<span class="fn-bracket">]</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-copy-on-write"><span class="std std-ref">Copy-on-write</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-block-based"><span class="std std-ref">Block-based</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-instant-cloning"><span class="std std-ref">Instant cloning</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-driver-usable-in-container"><span class="std std-ref">Storage driver usable inside a container</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅<a class="footnote-reference brackets" href="#id6" id="id3" role="doc-noteref"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span>2<span class="fn-bracket">]</span></a></p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-restore-older-snapshots"><span class="std std-ref">Restore from older snapshots (not latest)</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-quotas"><span class="std std-ref">Storage quotas</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅<a class="footnote-reference brackets" href="#id7" id="id4" role="doc-noteref"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span>3<span class="fn-bracket">]</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-available-init"><span class="std std-ref">Available on lxd init</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-object-storage"><span class="std std-ref">Object storage</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-volume-recovery"><span class="std std-ref">Volume recovery</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</section>
<section id="non-local-storage-features">
<span id="storage-drivers-features-nonlocal"></span><h3>Non-local storage features<a class="headerlink" href="#non-local-storage-features" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<div class="table-wrapper colwidths-auto docutils container">
<table class="docutils align-default">
<thead>
<tr class="row-odd"><th class="head text-left"><p>Feature</p></th>
<th class="head text-left"><p>Ceph RBD</p></th>
<th class="head text-left"><p>CephFS</p></th>
<th class="head text-left"><p>Ceph Object</p></th>
<th class="head text-left"><p>Dell PowerFlex</p></th>
<th class="head text-left"><p>Pure Storage</p></th>
<th class="head text-left"><p>HPE Alletra</p></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="row-even"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-optimized-image-storage"><span class="std std-ref">Optimized image storage</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>➖</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>➖</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-optimized-instance-creation"><span class="std std-ref">Optimized instance creation</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>➖</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>➖</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-optimized-snapshot-creation"><span class="std std-ref">Optimized snapshot creation</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>➖</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-optimized-backup"><span class="std std-ref">Optimized backup (import/export)</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>➖</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>➖</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-optimized-volume-transfer"><span class="std std-ref">Optimized volume transfer</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅<a class="footnote-reference brackets" href="#id14" id="id8" role="doc-noteref"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span>4<span class="fn-bracket">]</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>➖</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>➖</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-optimized-volume-refresh"><span class="std std-ref">Optimized volume refresh</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅<a class="footnote-reference brackets" href="#id15" id="id9" role="doc-noteref"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span>5<span class="fn-bracket">]</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>➖</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>➖</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅<a class="footnote-reference brackets" href="#id16" id="id10" role="doc-noteref"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span>6<span class="fn-bracket">]</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅<a class="footnote-reference brackets" href="#id16" id="id11" role="doc-noteref"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span>6<span class="fn-bracket">]</span></a></p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-copy-on-write"><span class="std std-ref">Copy-on-write</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>➖</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-block-based"><span class="std std-ref">Block-based</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>➖</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-instant-cloning"><span class="std std-ref">Instant cloning</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>➖</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-driver-usable-in-container"><span class="std std-ref">Storage driver usable inside a container</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>➖</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>➖</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-restore-older-snapshots"><span class="std std-ref">Restore from older snapshots (not latest)</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>➖</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-quotas"><span class="std std-ref">Storage quotas</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-available-init"><span class="std std-ref">Available on lxd init</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-object-storage"><span class="std std-ref">Object storage</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td class="text-left"><p><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-volume-recovery"><span class="std std-ref">Volume recovery</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅</p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅<a class="footnote-reference brackets" href="#id17" id="id12" role="doc-noteref"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span>7<span class="fn-bracket">]</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>✅<a class="footnote-reference brackets" href="#id17" id="id13" role="doc-noteref"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span>7<span class="fn-bracket">]</span></a></p></td>
<td class="text-left"><p>❌</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<p>For driver-specific information and configuration options, see the pages for the individual drivers, linked below.</p>
</section>
</section>
<section id="local">
<span id="storage-drivers-local"></span><h2>Local<a class="headerlink" href="#local" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>LXD provides drivers for the following types of local storage:</p>
<div class="toctree-wrapper compound">
<ul>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../storage_dir/">Directory - <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">dir</span></code></a></li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../storage_btrfs/">Btrfs - <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">btrfs</span></code></a></li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../storage_lvm/">LVM - <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lvm</span></code></a></li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../storage_zfs/">ZFS - <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">zfs</span></code></a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<p>A local volume resides on the storage pool of a single LXD server and is only accessible to instances running on that server. In a cluster, other members cannot access local volumes directly.</p>
</section>
<section id="non-local">
<span id="storage-drivers-nonlocal"></span><h2>Non-local<a class="headerlink" href="#non-local" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>LXD supports three categories of non-local storage drivers, described below.</p>
<section id="remote">
<span id="storage-drivers-remote"></span><h3>Remote<a class="headerlink" href="#remote" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<p>LXD provides drivers for the following types of remote storage:</p>
<div class="toctree-wrapper compound">
<ul>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../storage_ceph/">Ceph RBD - <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ceph</span></code></a></li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../storage_powerflex/">Dell PowerFlex - <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">powerflex</span></code></a></li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../storage_pure/">Pure Storage - <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">pure</span></code></a></li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../storage_alletra/">HPE Alletra - <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">alletra</span></code></a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<p>A remote volume is stored on a storage backend that supports cluster-wide access. It is a block volume rather than a shared file system. A remote volume can be attached from any cluster member, but concurrent access by multiple instances or members is not allowed by default and not considered safe. Even when concurrent attachment is allowed (for example, with the volume’s <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">security.shared</span></code> option enabled), it can still risk data corruption.</p>
<p>Compared to local storage, remote pools make <a class="reference internal" href="../../howto/instances_migrate/#howto-instances-migrate"><span class="std std-ref">instance migration</span></a> faster because the instance’s root volume can be re-attached from another cluster member without copying the disk data. With local storage, the root disk must be transferred over the network during migration, which takes more time.</p>
</section>
<section id="shared">
<span id="storage-drivers-shared"></span><h3>Shared<a class="headerlink" href="#shared" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<p>LXD provides the following driver for shared storage:</p>
<div class="toctree-wrapper compound">
<ul>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../storage_cephfs/">CephFS - <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">cephfs</span></code></a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<p>Like remote volumes, shared volumes are accessible cluster-wide. Unlike remote volumes, shared volumes can be mounted concurrently by multiple instances or cluster members while remaining safe for concurrent access. Shared pools only support custom filesystem volumes; they cannot host instance root volumes or custom block volumes.</p>
</section>
<section id="object-storage-backend">
<span id="storage-drivers-object"></span><h3>Object storage backend<a class="headerlink" href="#object-storage-backend" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<p>LXD provides the following driver for an object storage backend:</p>
<div class="toctree-wrapper compound">
<ul>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../storage_cephobject/">Ceph Object - <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">cephobject</span></code></a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<p>Ceph Object is a dedicated object storage backend that exposes buckets over HTTP(S). It uses the S3-compatible API and stores data as discrete objects instead of mounted volumes. Like shared storage, using an object storage backend allows concurrent access by multiple instances across the cluster.</p>
</section>
</section>
<section id="recommended-setup">
<span id="storage-drivers-recommended-setup"></span><h2>Recommended setup<a class="headerlink" href="#recommended-setup" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>The two best options for use with LXD are ZFS (local) and Ceph (non-local).</p>
<p>Whenever possible, dedicate a full disk or partition to your LXD storage pool. LXD allows you to create loop-based storage, but this isn’t recommended for production use. See <a class="reference internal" href="../../explanation/storage/#storage-location"><span class="std std-ref">Data storage location</span></a> for more information.</p>
<p>The <a class="reference internal" href="../storage_dir/#storage-dir"><span class="std std-ref">Directory</span></a> backend should be considered as a last resort option. It supports all main LXD features, but is slow and inefficient because it cannot perform instant copies or snapshots. Therefore, it constantly copies the instance’s full storage.</p>
</section>
<section id="security-considerations">
<span id="storage-drivers-security"></span><h2>Security considerations<a class="headerlink" href="#security-considerations" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>Currently, the Linux kernel might silently ignore mount options and not apply them when a block-based file system (for example, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ext4</span></code>) is already mounted with different mount options.</p>
<p>This means when dedicated disk devices are shared between different storage pools with different mount options set, the second mount might not have the expected mount options.</p>
<p>This becomes security relevant when, for example, one storage pool is supposed to provide <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">acl</span></code> support and the second one is supposed to not provide <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">acl</span></code> support.</p>
<p>For this reason, it is currently recommended to either have dedicated disk devices per storage pool or to ensure that all storage pools that share the same dedicated disk device use the same mount options.</p>
</section>
<section id="features-reference">
<span id="storage-drivers-features-reference"></span><h2>Features reference<a class="headerlink" href="#features-reference" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<section id="optimized-image-storage">
<span id="storage-optimized-image-storage"></span><h3>Optimized image storage<a class="headerlink" href="#optimized-image-storage" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<p>Most LXD storage drivers provide an optimized image storage format. To make instance creation near instantaneous, LXD clones a pre-made image volume when creating an instance rather than unpacking the image tarball from scratch.</p>
<p>To prevent preparing such a volume on a storage pool that might never be used with that image, the volume is generated on demand. Therefore, the first instance takes longer to create than subsequent ones.</p>
</section>
<section id="optimized-instance-creation">
<span id="storage-optimized-instance-creation"></span><h3>Optimized instance creation<a class="headerlink" href="#optimized-instance-creation" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<p>Some storage drivers can create instances by cloning an existing volume rather than copying all data, which reduces the amount of data that must be written.</p>
</section>
<section id="optimized-snapshot-creation">
<span id="storage-optimized-snapshot-creation"></span><h3>Optimized snapshot creation<a class="headerlink" href="#optimized-snapshot-creation" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<p>Some storage drivers can create snapshots without copying full volumes. This optimizes speed and resources compared to full-copy snapshots.</p>
</section>
<section id="optimized-backup-import-export">
<span id="storage-optimized-backup"></span><h3>Optimized backup (import/export)<a class="headerlink" href="#optimized-backup-import-export" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<p>Some storage drivers support LXD’s optimized backup path when exporting and importing instance or volume backups. Optimized exports are usually faster, and snapshots are stored as deltas from the main volume.</p>
</section>
<section id="optimized-volume-transfer">
<span id="storage-optimized-volume-transfer"></span><h3>Optimized volume transfer<a class="headerlink" href="#optimized-volume-transfer" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<p>Btrfs, ZFS, and Ceph RBD have an internal send/receive mechanism that allows for optimized volume transfer.</p>
<p>LXD uses this optimized transfer when transferring instances and snapshots between storage pools that use the same storage driver, if the storage driver supports optimized transfer and the optimized transfer is actually quicker.
Otherwise, LXD uses <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">rsync</span></code> to transfer container and file system volumes, or raw block transfer to transfer virtual machine and custom block volumes.</p>
<p>The optimized transfer uses the underlying storage driver’s native functionality for transferring data, which is usually faster than using <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">rsync</span></code> or raw block transfer.</p>
</section>
<section id="optimized-volume-refresh">
<span id="storage-optimized-volume-refresh"></span><h3>Optimized volume refresh<a class="headerlink" href="#optimized-volume-refresh" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<p>The full potential of the optimized transfer becomes apparent when refreshing a copy of an instance or custom volume that uses periodic snapshots.
If the optimized transfer isn’t supported by the driver or its implementation of volume refresh, instead of the delta, the entire volume including its snapshot(s) will be copied using either <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">rsync</span></code> or raw block transfer. LXD will try to keep the overhead low by transferring only the volume itself or any snapshots that are missing on the target.</p>
<p>When optimized refresh is available for an instance or custom volume, LXD bases the refresh on the latest snapshot, which means:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>When you take a first snapshot and refresh the copy, the transfer will take roughly the same time as a full copy.
LXD transfers the new snapshot and the difference between the snapshot and the main volume.</p></li>
<li><p>For subsequent snapshots, the transfer is considerably faster.
LXD does not transfer the full new snapshot, but only the difference between the new snapshot and the latest snapshot that already exists on the target.</p></li>
<li><p>When refreshing without a new snapshot, LXD transfers only the differences between the main volume and the latest snapshot on the target.
This transfer is usually faster than using <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">rsync</span></code> (as long as the latest snapshot is not too outdated).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>On the other hand, refreshing copies of instances without snapshots (either because the instance doesn’t have any snapshots or because the refresh uses the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">--instance-only</span></code> flag) would actually be slower than using <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">rsync</span></code> or raw block transfer.
In such cases, the optimized transfer would transfer the difference between the (non-existent) latest snapshot and the main volume, thus the full volume.
Therefore, LXD uses <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">rsync</span></code> or raw block transfer instead of the optimized transfer for refreshes without snapshots.</p>
</section>
<section id="copy-on-write">
<span id="storage-copy-on-write"></span><h3>Copy-on-write<a class="headerlink" href="#copy-on-write" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<p>Copy-on-write (CoW) means the storage driver can share unchanged data between a volume and its snapshots. Only changed blocks are written to new locations, which reduces duplication and can improve snapshot performance.</p>
</section>
<section id="block-based">
<span id="storage-block-based"></span><h3>Block-based<a class="headerlink" href="#block-based" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<p>Block-based storage presents volumes as block devices rather than mounted file systems. If a file system is needed, LXD can format the block volume for containers and custom file system volumes, or the instance can format it (for example, for virtual machines). See <a class="reference internal" href="../storage_pure/#storage-pure"><span class="std std-ref">Pure Storage</span></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="../storage_alletra/#storage-alletra"><span class="std std-ref">HPE Alletra</span></a>, and <a class="reference internal" href="../storage_ceph/#storage-ceph"><span class="std std-ref">Ceph RBD</span></a> for driver-specific details.</p>
</section>
<section id="instant-cloning">
<span id="storage-instant-cloning"></span><h3>Instant cloning<a class="headerlink" href="#instant-cloning" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<p>Instant cloning means LXD can quickly create a new volume by cloning an existing one without copying all data.</p>
</section>
<section id="storage-driver-usable-inside-a-container">
<span id="storage-driver-usable-in-container"></span><h3>Storage driver usable inside a container<a class="headerlink" href="#storage-driver-usable-inside-a-container" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<p>Some storage drivers can be used when LXD itself is running inside a container. Drivers that cannot be used inside a container often need access to host capabilities or devices that containers normally don’t have, and other container limits can also apply.</p>
</section>
<section id="restore-from-older-snapshots-not-latest">
<span id="storage-restore-older-snapshots"></span><h3>Restore from older snapshots (not latest)<a class="headerlink" href="#restore-from-older-snapshots-not-latest" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<p>Indicates whether LXD can restore a volume or instance to a snapshot older than the most recent one. Some drivers only allow restoring to the latest snapshot.</p>
</section>
<section id="storage-quotas">
<span id="id18"></span><h3>Storage quotas<a class="headerlink" href="#storage-quotas" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<p>Shows whether the storage driver supports enforcing size limits on storage volumes.</p>
</section>
<section id="available-on-lxd-init">
<span id="storage-available-init"></span><h3>Available on <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxd</span> <span class="pre">init</span></code><a class="headerlink" href="#available-on-lxd-init" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<p>Shows whether the storage driver can be selected during <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxd</span> <span class="pre">init</span></code> (interactive or preseed). Drivers that depend on external storage systems require those systems to be set up first.</p>
</section>
<section id="object-storage">
<span id="storage-object-storage"></span><h3>Object storage<a class="headerlink" href="#object-storage" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<p>Object storage provides access to data over HTTP(S). It stores data as discrete objects within buckets, making it ideal for unstructured data such as backups, images, and logs. Unlike volumes, object storage is not mounted to instances but accessed through APIs.</p>
</section>
<section id="volume-recovery">
<span id="storage-volume-recovery"></span><h3>Volume recovery<a class="headerlink" href="#volume-recovery" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<p>Shows whether <a class="reference internal" href="../../howto/disaster_recovery/#disaster-recovery"><span class="std std-ref">lxd recover</span></a> can re-discover and import existing volumes for the driver after a database loss. Some non-local storage drivers have limitations (see the table footnotes).</p>
</section>
</section>
<section id="related-topics">
<h2>Related topics<a class="headerlink" href="#related-topics" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>How-to guides:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="../../storage/#storage"><span class="std std-ref">Storage</span></a></p></li>
</ul>
<p>Explanation:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="../../explanation/storage/#exp-storage"><span class="std std-ref">Storage pools, volumes, and buckets</span></a></p></li>
</ul>
</section>
</section>
<hr class="footnotes docutils" />
<aside class="footnote-list brackets">
<aside class="footnote brackets" id="id5" role="doc-footnote">
<span class="label"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span><a role="doc-backlink" href="#id2">1</a><span class="fn-bracket">]</span></span>
<p>Requires <a class="configref reference internal" href="../storage_lvm/#storage-lvm-pool-conf:lvm.use_thinpool"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lvm.use_thinpool</span></code></a> to be enabled. Only when refreshing local volumes.</p>
</aside>
<aside class="footnote brackets" id="id6" role="doc-footnote">
<span class="label"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span><a role="doc-backlink" href="#id3">2</a><span class="fn-bracket">]</span></span>
<p>Requires <a class="configref reference internal" href="../storage_zfs/#storage-zfs-volume-conf:zfs.delegate"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">zfs.delegate</span></code></a> to be enabled.</p>
</aside>
<aside class="footnote brackets" id="id7" role="doc-footnote">
<span class="label"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span><a role="doc-backlink" href="#id4">3</a><span class="fn-bracket">]</span></span>
<p>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">dir</span></code> driver supports storage quotas when running on either ext4 or XFS with project quotas enabled at the file system level.</p>
</aside>
<aside class="footnote brackets" id="id14" role="doc-footnote">
<span class="label"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span><a role="doc-backlink" href="#id8">4</a><span class="fn-bracket">]</span></span>
<p>Volumes of type <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">block</span></code> will fall back to non-optimized transfer when migrating to an older LXD server that doesn’t yet support the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">RBD_AND_RSYNC</span></code> migration type.</p>
</aside>
<aside class="footnote brackets" id="id15" role="doc-footnote">
<span class="label"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span><a role="doc-backlink" href="#id9">5</a><span class="fn-bracket">]</span></span>
<p>Only for volumes of type <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">block</span></code>.</p>
</aside>
<aside class="footnote brackets" id="id16" role="doc-footnote">
<span class="label"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span>6<span class="fn-bracket">]</span></span>
<span class="backrefs">(<a role="doc-backlink" href="#id10">1</a>,<a role="doc-backlink" href="#id11">2</a>)</span>
<p>Only when refreshing volumes on the same LXD server using the same storage array.</p>
</aside>
<aside class="footnote brackets" id="id17" role="doc-footnote">
<span class="label"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span>7<span class="fn-bracket">]</span></span>
<span class="backrefs">(<a role="doc-backlink" href="#id12">1</a>,<a role="doc-backlink" href="#id13">2</a>)</span>
<p>Custom volumes can only be recovered when attached to an instance due to the use of transformed volume names.</p>
</aside>
</aside>

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        <ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#">Storage drivers</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#feature-comparison">Feature comparison</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#local-storage-features">Local storage features</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#non-local-storage-features">Non-local storage features</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#local">Local</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#non-local">Non-local</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#remote">Remote</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#shared">Shared</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#object-storage-backend">Object storage backend</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#recommended-setup">Recommended setup</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#security-considerations">Security considerations</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#features-reference">Features reference</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#optimized-image-storage">Optimized image storage</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#optimized-instance-creation">Optimized instance creation</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#optimized-snapshot-creation">Optimized snapshot creation</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#optimized-backup-import-export">Optimized backup (import/export)</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#optimized-volume-transfer">Optimized volume transfer</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#optimized-volume-refresh">Optimized volume refresh</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#copy-on-write">Copy-on-write</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#block-based">Block-based</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#instant-cloning">Instant cloning</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-driver-usable-inside-a-container">Storage driver usable inside a container</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#restore-from-older-snapshots-not-latest">Restore from older snapshots (not latest)</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-quotas">Storage quotas</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#available-on-lxd-init">Available on <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxd</span> <span class="pre">init</span></code></a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#object-storage">Object storage</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#volume-recovery">Volume recovery</a></li>
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<li><a class="reference internal" href="#related-topics">Related topics</a></li>
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