Choose storage for a SolusVM 2 compute resource before allocating production servers. The choice affects provisioning, capacity monitoring, snapshots, backup compatibility and future migration. This is an infrastructure-administrator task; a customer VPS disk is not the place to create a host storage pool.
IN THIS ARTICLE
What you need before you begin
Inventory physical disks, existing filesystems, redundancy and recovery arrangements. Confirm that every intended device is unused before any storage preparation. Reserve host operating-system space and capacity for temporary backup or migration files. Keep a tested off-host backup of existing workloads.
01 Select storage for a SolusVM 2 compute resource
- Choose a supported backend that fits the operation. File-based storage uses a directory; LVM uses a volume group; ThinLVM uses a thin pool; shared storage requires its own supported configuration.
- Prepare the selected backend using the operating-system and SolusVM storage documentation. Never run a disk-initialization command on a device identified only by a guessed name.
- Open the compute resource, select Storage > Add Storage, and register the correct path or prepared pool. Match the backend to the intended plan.
- Review image format, storage tags and new-server placement. Keep experimental or nearly full storage unavailable for new allocations until it is ready.
- Create one disposable server using the intended plan. Test booting, a small write, snapshot eligibility where applicable and the planned backup workflow before wider use.
Does thin provisioning create more physical space?
No. It changes when space is allocated. Actual writes and snapshot growth still consume finite storage, so oversubscription needs explicit limits and monitoring.
Confirm the expected result
Compare panel capacity with host filesystem or pool measurements. For thin provisioning, monitor both data and metadata consumption rather than adding together advertised guest sizes. Confirm alerts reach someone who can respond before capacity is exhausted.
Troubleshoot unexpected results
If a pool is absent, check preparation, permissions and the selected storage type. If capacity unexpectedly shrinks, investigate snapshots, temporary files and guest growth before deleting anything. Stop new allocations while investigating a nearly full backend. Storage conversion is a separate planned operation, not a way to repair an unknown pool.