Data Storage Overview

Data Storage Container Overview

A Data Storage Container provides a centralized location for files that need to be shared or managed across multiple environments. It can be used for media files, common configuration data, backups, logs, and other content that should remain separate from individual application containers.
Data Storage Container architecture
Multiple application containers can work with data stored in a shared Data Storage Container.
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What Is a Data Storage Container?

A Data Storage Container is designed for straightforward data storage and remote access. It allows several environments to work with the same centralized data as easily as if the files were stored locally.

  • Share media files between multiple application instances.
  • Maintain common configuration files in one location.
  • Store application backups separately from runtime containers.
  • Collect and preserve logs in centralized storage.
  • Reduce duplicated data across several environments.
Separating persistent data from application containers helps keep the data available even when application containers are updated or replaced.

Main Benefits

Data Persistence & Security Data is kept inside isolated containers and stored separately from application-container updates.
Simplified Management Central storage can serve multiple containers, integrate with container volumes, and be managed through the built-in file manager.
Lower Storage Costs Sharing one copy of common data reduces duplicate disk usage across applications.

How Data Sharing Works

Data Storage Container integration is based on the Network File System (NFS) protocol for client-server communication.

1. Export the Data The required directory is shared from the storage container.
2. Mount the Directory The shared directory is mounted into the client container that needs access to it.
Two-step model: first export the directory from the storage server, then mount that exported directory on the client container.

Shared Storage Container

The platform provides a dedicated Shared Storage Container stack for data-storage workloads. It is prepared specifically for shared storage and offers advantages compared with using a general-purpose container.

  • Required storage-related software is preinstalled.
  • A larger amount of disk space is allocated for storage use.
  • The stack is optimized for acting as a shared data server inside the platform.
For a standard shared-storage requirement, the dedicated Shared Storage Container is usually the simplest starting point.

Using Other Nodes as Storage

The dedicated Shared Storage Container is not the only possible storage server. Any suitable platform node can act as a data-storage server when configured appropriately.

  • Application or infrastructure containers can expose data for sharing.
  • Custom containers can participate in shared-storage architectures.
  • Custom Docker containers can use container-volume functionality for storage integration.
Design choice: Select the storage architecture according to how persistent the data must be, whether several containers need access, and whether the storage should be managed independently from the application layer.

Storage Architecture Options

The platform documentation describes several ways to organize application data depending on the workload and sharing requirements:

  • Local Filesystem — data remains on the same container as the application.
  • Primary (Master) Container — one application container acts as the central data source.
  • Compound Container — storage is organized as part of a multi-container application topology.
  • Dedicated Container — a separate storage container is used specifically for persistent data.
  • External Server — data is stored outside the application environment and mounted remotely.
Data Storage Container summary: centralize persistent files, export them over NFS, mount them into the required client containers, and use a dedicated Shared Storage Container when you want a storage-focused node with preinstalled components and additional disk capacity.

What’s next?