.. _storage_card: Storage ======= This component, based on the `OpenStack Cinder Service `_, allows the management of the storage space in cloud projects. Storage in CINECA HPC Cloud machines is based on Ceph platform. Ceph provides reliable distributed and scalable storage without a single point of failure. Within OpenStack, it is possible to create different block storage devices, that can be used by instances (virtual machines) to store data persistently. Volumes ------- A volume is a block storage device that can be attached to instances. It provides persistent storage for data. Snapshots --------- A snapshot is a point-in-time copy of a volume. It can be used to create new volumes or restore existing volumes. Snapshots use the Copy On Write (COW) technique to create lightweight snapshots of volumes. Backups ------- A volume backup is a copy of a volume that can be used to restore data in case of data loss or corruption (**NOT IN FULL PRODUCTION**).