Block Storage
High-performance, durable block storage for your virtual machines. Persistent, low-latency storage volumes that can be attached to any instance.
Key Features
Our block storage service provides the performance, reliability, and flexibility your applications need.
Low-latency, high-throughput storage for demanding workloads with consistent performance.
Designed for five nines of durability, with automatic replication across multiple availability zones.
Create volumes from 1 GB to 64 TB with customizable performance characteristics.
Detailed Features
Volume Types
Choose from multiple volume types to match your performance and cost requirements.
Standard Volumes
Balanced performance for general-purpose workloads at an affordable price.
Performance Volumes
High IOPS and throughput for data-intensive applications and databases.
Cold Storage Volumes
Lower cost option for infrequently accessed data with moderate performance.
Snapshots & Backups
Protect your data with point-in-time snapshots and automated backup solutions.
Volume Snapshots
Create point-in-time snapshots of your volumes for backup and recovery.
Incremental Backups
Only changes since the last snapshot are stored, saving on storage costs.
Automated Backup Schedules
Set up regular backup schedules with customizable retention policies.
Security & Encryption
Comprehensive security features to protect your data at rest and in transit.
Encryption at Rest
All volumes are automatically encrypted using AES-256 encryption.
Customer-Managed Keys
Option to use your own encryption keys for additional control.
Access Controls
Fine-grained IAM policies to control who can access and manage your volumes.
Use Cases
Block Storage is ideal for a wide range of applications and workloads.
Provide reliable, high-performance storage for relational and NoSQL databases. Ideal for MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and other database systems.
Run mission-critical enterprise applications like ERP, CRM, and business intelligence systems with consistent performance and high availability.
Create and manage development and testing environments with the ability to quickly create volume snapshots and restore to previous states.
Technical Specifications
Standard Volumes
IOPS: Up to 3,000 IOPS per volume
Throughput: Up to 125 MB/s per volume
Latency: Single-digit millisecond
Performance Volumes
IOPS: Up to 16,000 IOPS per volume
Throughput: Up to 500 MB/s per volume
Latency: Sub-millisecond
Cold Storage Volumes
IOPS: Up to 250 IOPS per volume
Throughput: Up to 40 MB/s per volume
Latency: Double-digit millisecond
Pricing
Simple, transparent pricing with no hidden fees. Pay only for what you provision.
- Up to 3,000 IOPS per volume
- Up to 125 MB/s throughput
- Single-digit millisecond latency
- Ideal for general-purpose workloads
- Up to 16,000 IOPS per volume
- Up to 500 MB/s throughput
- Sub-millisecond latency
- Ideal for databases and I/O-intensive apps
- Up to 250 IOPS per volume
- Up to 40 MB/s throughput
- Double-digit millisecond latency
- Ideal for infrequently accessed data
Additional charges apply for snapshots ($0.05 per GB per month) and data transfer.
View full pricing detailsFrequently Asked Questions
Find answers to common questions about our Block Storage service.
Yes, you can increase the size of your block storage volumes at any time without downtime. Simply modify the volume size through the console, API, or CLI, and then extend the file system within your operating system to use the additional space. Note that you cannot decrease the size of a volume once it has been created.
Snapshots are point-in-time copies of your volumes that are stored incrementally—only the blocks that have changed since your last snapshot are saved. This means your first snapshot of a volume is a full copy, while subsequent snapshots only contain the changed data. Snapshots are billed at $0.05 per GB per month based on the actual data stored, not the full volume size.
Yes, you can attach multiple block storage volumes to a single virtual machine instance. This allows you to separate your data for different purposes (e.g., operating system on one volume, database on another) or to create larger logical volumes using software RAID or logical volume management (LVM).
Choose Standard Volumes for general-purpose workloads like web servers and development environments. Performance Volumes are best for I/O-intensive applications like databases, analytics, and high-performance computing. Cold Storage Volumes are ideal for infrequently accessed data, backups, or archival storage where performance is less critical but cost savings are important.
Ready to get started?
Sign up for a free account and get 100 GB of free Block Storage for the first month.