Connect file storage to a cloud server in another pool

Last update: November 19 2024

Connect file storage to a cloud server in another pool

If you plan to use file storage to store backups, to improve fault tolerance, we recommend creating the storage and cloud server in the poolahs from different availability zones or regions. If the file storage and the cloud server are in different pools, you must configure private network connectivity at the L3 level to connect the storage via the global router.

1. Create a global router.
2. Connect the network and subnet for the cloud server to the global router.
3. Connect the network and subnet for the file storage to the global router.
4. Assign an IP address to the cloud server.
5. Write routes on the cloud server.
6. Create file storage.
7. Mount the file storage to the cloud server.

Check it out example of connecting file storage to a cloud server in another pool.

The instructions describe connection examples for cloud servers running Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS and Windows operating systems. Instructions for VMware ESXi, Proxmox and FreeNAS servers are available in the Selectel blog article Selectel File Storage.

If you need to increase disk space with file storage, we recommend creating storage in the same pool as the cloud server. Read more in the instructions Connect file storage to a cloud server in a single pool.

Example of connecting file storage to a cloud server⁠

For example, you need to connect file storage in pool ru-2 to a cloud server in pool ru-8.

1. Create a global router.
2. Connect two private networks to the global router — 192.168.0.0/29 gateway 192.168.0.1 for the ru-8 pool and 172.16.0.0/29 gateway 172.16.0.1 for pool ru-2.
3. Assign an address from a subnet 192.168.0.0/29 on a cloud server, like 192.168.0.2.
4. Write a route on the cloud server in the ru-8 pool — to a subnet 172.16.0.0/29 through the gateway 192.168.0.1.
5. Create file storage on a subnetwork 172.16.0.0/29.
6. Mount the file storage to the cloud server.

Create a global router⁠

1. In control panel go to Network services → Selectel Global Router.
2. Click Create a router. Each account is set limit to five global routers.
3. Enter the name of the router.
4. Click Create.

Connect the network and subnet for the cloud server to the router⁠

For your information

If the cloud platform network is connected to a global router, you can only manage it on the global router page.

You need to connect the network and subnet to the global router up to the project and cloud platform pool where the cloud server is created.

You can connect a new network to the router or an existing network if it is not already connected to any of the account's global routers.

Connect a new network

1. In control panels go to Network services → Selectel Global Router.

2. Open the router page → tab Networks.

3. Click Create a network.

4. Enter a network name, this will only be used in the control panel.

5. Select a service Cloud platform.

6. Select pool.

7. Select project.

8. Enter the subnet name — this will only be used in the control panel.

9. Enter the CIDR — IP address and subnet mask. The subnet must meet the conditions:

   • belong to the RFC 1918 private address range: 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12 or 192.168.0.0/16;
   • have a size of at least /29, as three addresses will be occupied by Selectel network equipment;
   • Do not overlap with other subnets added to this router: The IP addresses of each subnet on the router must not overlap with the IP addresses of other subnets on the router;
   • If Managed Kubernetes nodes will be included in the global router network, the subnet must not overlap with the ranges 10.250.0.0/16, 10.10.0.0/16 and 10.96.0.0/12. These subnets participate in the internal addressing of Managed Kubernetes, their use may cause conflicts in the global router network.

10. Enter the gateway IP or leave the first address from the subnet assigned by default. Do not assign this address to your devices to avoid disrupting the network.

11. Enter service IPs or leave the last addresses from the subnet assigned by default. Do not assign these addresses to your devices to avoid disrupting the network.

12. Click Create a network.

13. Optional: check the network topology on the global router. In control panels go to Network services → Selectel Global Router. Open the page of the desired router and click Network map.

Connect existing network

1. Check that the network has not yet been added to any of the account's global routers — in the control panels under Cloud platform → Network → tab Private networks it doesn't have a tag. Global router.

2. Verify that the subnet meets the conditions:

   • belongs to the private address range according to RFC 1918: 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12 or 192.168.0.0/16;
   • is at least /29, as three addresses will be occupied by Selectel network equipment;
   • does not overlap with other subnets added to this router: the IP addresses of each subnet on the router must not overlap with the IP addresses of other subnets on the router;
   • If Managed Kubernetes nodes will be included in the global router network, the subnet must not overlap with the ranges 10.250.0.0/16, 10.10.0.0/16 and 10.96.0.0/12. These subnets participate in the internal addressing of Managed Kubernetes, their use may cause conflicts in the global router network.

3. In control panels go to Cloud platform →Network.

4. Open the tab Private networks.

5. On the menu. networks select Connect to a global router.

6. Select the global router.

7. For each of the network subnets, enter the IP address that will be assigned to the router, or leave the first available address from the subnet assigned by default. Do not assign this address to your devices to avoid disrupting the network. The last two free subnet addresses will be reserved as service addresses.

8. Click Connect. Do not close the window until you see the message that the network is connected. After that, in the control panel:

   • the network will appear in section Network services → Selectel Global Router on the page of the router you connected it to;
   • In section Cloud platform → Network → on the tab Private networks the network will be tagged Global router.

Connect a network and subnet to the router for file storage⁠

For your information

If the cloud platform network is connected to a global router, you can only manage it on the global router page.

You need to connect the network and subnet to the global router up to the project and cloud platform pool where the file storage will be created in the future.

You can connect a new network to the router or an existing network if it is not already connected to any of the account's global routers.

Connect a new network

1. In control panels go to Network services → Selectel Global Router.

2. Open the router page → tab Networks.

3. Click Create a network.

4. Enter a network name, this will only be used in the control panel.

5. Select a service Cloud platform.

6. Select pool This is where the file storage will be created.

7. Select project This is where the file storage will be created.

8. Enter the subnet name — this will only be used in the control panel.

9. Enter the CIDR — IP address and subnet mask. The subnet must meet the conditions:

   • belong to the RFC 1918 private address range: 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12 or 192.168.0.0/16;
   • have a size of at least /29, as three addresses will be occupied by Selectel network equipment;
   • Do not overlap with other subnets added to this router: The IP addresses of each subnet on the router must not overlap with the IP addresses of other subnets on the router;
   • If Managed Kubernetes nodes will be included in the global router network, the subnet must not overlap with the ranges 10.250.0.0/16, 10.10.0.0/16 and 10.96.0.0/12. These subnets participate in the internal addressing of Managed Kubernetes, their use may cause conflicts in the global router network.

10. Enter the gateway IP or leave the first address from the subnet assigned by default. Do not assign this address to your devices to avoid disrupting the network.

11. Enter service IPs or leave the last addresses from the subnet assigned by default. Do not assign these addresses to your devices to avoid disrupting the network.

12. Click Create a network.

13. Optional: check the network topology on the global router. In control panels go to Network services → Selectel Global Router. Open the page of the desired router and click Network map.

Connect existing network

1. Check that the network has not yet been added to any of the account's global routers — in the control panels under Cloud platform → Network → tab Private networks it doesn't have a tag. Global router.

2. Verify that the subnet meets the conditions:

   • belong to the RFC 1918 private address range: 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12 or 192.168.0.0/16;
   • have a size of at least /29, as three addresses will be occupied by Selectel network equipment;
   • Do not overlap with other subnets added to this router: The IP addresses of each subnet on the router must not overlap with the IP addresses of other subnets on the router;
   • If Managed Kubernetes nodes will be included in the global router network, the subnet must not overlap with the ranges 10.250.0.0/16, 10.10.0.0/16 and 10.96.0.0/12. These subnets participate in the internal addressing of Managed Kubernetes, their use may cause conflicts in the global router network.

3. In control panels go to Cloud platform →Network.

4. Open the tab Private networks.

5. On the menu. networks select Connect to a global router.

6. Select the global router.

7. For each of the network subnets, enter the IP address that will be assigned to the router, or leave the first available address from the subnet assigned by default. Do not assign this address to your devices to avoid disrupting the network. The last two free subnet addresses will be reserved as service addresses.

8. Click Connect. Do not close the window until you see the message that the network is connected. After that, in the control panel:

   • the network will appear in section Network services → Selectel Global Router on the page of the router you connected it to;
   • In section Cloud platform → Network → on the tab Private networks the network will be tagged Global router.

Assign an IP address to the cloud server⁠

Configure a local port on the cloud server that is included in the global router network. On the port, assign an IP address from the subnet you created on the global router for the corresponding pool.

1. Add the cloud server to the created subnet of the global router. If you do not already have a cloud server, create one. When creating it, select the subnet of the global router as the subnet.

2. Apply changes depending on the parameter Apply the changes en bloc Configuring ports. The value of the parameter can be viewed in control panels under Cloud platform → Servers → cloud server page:

   • When the server reboots — programmatically reboot the cloud server or manually make changes to the network configuration file on the server;
   • Manually in the network configuration file on the server — manually make changes to the network configuration file on the server.

Prescribe routes on the cloud server⁠

If you create a new server and add it to an existing global router network, you do not need to specify routes. In this case, the server will be immediately available to other devices on the network.

If you are adding an existing server to a global router network, it must have static routes to all subnets with which you want connectivity.

Ubuntu

1. Connect to the server.

2. Disable network configuration. To do this, create a file 99-disable-network-config.cfg:

   echo "network: {config: disabled}" >> /etc/cloud/cloud.cfg.d/99-disable-network-config.cfg

3. Open the configuration file:

   vi /etc/network/interfaces.d/50-cloud-init.cfg

4. Locate the data block of the corresponding network interface.

5. At the end of this block, add the desired route:

   up route add -net <ip_address> netmask <mask> gw <gateway>

   Specify:

   • <ip_address> — the subnet you want to route to, e.g. 192.168.0.0;
   • <mask> — the subnet mask to which you want to route, e.g. 255.255.255.0;
   • <gateway> — gateway for the current server subnet, which is specified on the global router.

6. If you need to prescribe multiple routes, add them sequentially in the same block.

7. Restart the server.

Debian

1. Connect to the server.

2. Open the network settings file:

   vi  /etc/network/interfaces

3. Locate the data block of the corresponding network interface.

4. At the end of this block, add the desired route:

   up route add -net <ip_address> netmask <mask> gw <gateway>
   down route del -net <ip_address> netmask <mask> gw <gateway>

   Specify:

   • <ip_address> — the subnet you want to route to, e.g. 192.168.0.0;
   • <mask> — the subnet mask to which you want to route, e.g. 255.255.255.0;
   • <gateway> — gateway for the current server subnet, which is specified on the global router.

5. If you need to prescribe multiple routes, add them sequentially in the same block.

6. Save the file.

7. Restart the network:

   sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

CentOS

1. Connect to the server.

2. Disable network configuration. To do this, create a file 99-disable-network-config.cfg:

   echo "network: {config: disabled}" >> /etc/cloud/cloud.cfg.d/99-disable-network-config.cfg

3. Add a new desired route:

   echo "<ip_address>/<mask> via <gateway>" > /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/route-<eth_name>

   Specify:

   • <ip_address>/<mask> — the subnet to which you want to route, specifying the mask, e.g. 192.168.0.0/29;
   • <gateway> — gateway for the current server subnet, which is specified on the global router;
   • <eth_name> — the name of the corresponding LAN interface.

   If you need to add multiple routes, specify them in one command. Specify each route on a new line, for example:

   echo "192.168.0.0/29 via 172.16.0.1
   192.168.1.0/29 via 172.16.0.1" >> /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/route-eno2

4. Restart the network:

   systemctl restart network

Windows

1. Connect to the server.

2. Add the required routes one at a time:

   route -p ADD <ip_address> MASK <mask> <gateway> METRIC <x>

   Specify:

   • <ip_address> — the subnet you want to route to, e.g. 192.168.0.0;
   • <mask> — the subnet mask to which you want to route, e.g. 255.255.255.0;
   • <gateway> — gateway for the current server subnet, which is specified on the global router.
   • <x> — number that determines the priority of the specified gateway, 1 being the highest priority.

Create file storage⁠

1. In control panels go to Cloud platform → File storage.

2. Click Create storage.

3. Enter a new storage name or leave the name that is automatically created.

4. Select region and pool segment where the storage will be created.

5. Select the subnet of the global router that you are connected to a router for file storage.. Once the repository is created, the subnet cannot be changed.

6. Enter a private IP address for the vault or leave the first available address from the subnet assigned by default. Once the storage is created, the IP address cannot be changed.

7. Select file storage type:

   • HDD Basic;
   • SSD Universal;
   • SSD Fast.

   File storage types differ in bandwidth values and number of read and write operations, see the table for details File storage limits.

   Once created, the storage type cannot be changed.

8. Specify the storage size: from 50 GB to 50 TB. Once created, you can expand file storage but you can't reduce it.

9. Select a protocol:

   • NFSv4 — for connecting storage to servers running Linux and other Unix systems;
   • CIFS SMBv3 — for connecting the storage to Windows servers.

   Once the repository is created, the protocol cannot be changed.

10. Configure the file storage access rules:

    • available to all — the storage will be available to any IP address of the private subnet in which it is created;
    • access restricted — the storage will be available only to specific IP addresses or private subnets. If you create a file storage without rules, access will be restricted to all IP addresses. To open access, click Add rule, enter the IP address or CIDR of the private subnet, select access level (NFSv4 protocol only) and enter a comment. To add additional rules, click Add rule.

    After creating the storage you can change the access rules, for this purpose you can configure new access rules.

11. Check out the price of file storage.

12. Click Create.

Mount the file storage to the cloud server⁠

The mount process depends on the operating system on the server and the file storage protocol: NFSv4 or CIFS SMBv3.

NFSv4

Linux

1. Connect to the cloud server.

2. Open the CLI.

3. Install the NFS protocol package:

   sudo apt install nfs-common

4. Create a folder to mount the repository:

   sudo mkdir -p /mnt/nfs

5. Mount the file storage:

   sudo mount -vt nfs "<filestorage_ip_address>:/shares/share-<mountpoint_uuid>" /mnt/nfs

   Specify:

   • <filestorage_ip_address> — The IP address of the file storage. You can look in control panels under Cloud platform → File storage → storage page → tab Settings → field IP;
   • <mountpoint_uuid> — The ID of the mount point. You can look in control panels under Cloud platform → File storage → storage page → block Connection → tab GNU/Linux.

Windows

The file storage works only with an NFS client of NFSv4 version. By default, Windows supports NFSv2 and NFSv3 NFS clients. Read more about NFS versions in the article NFS Review Microsoft documentation.

To work with file storage from Windows, we recommend using file storage with CIFS protocol. If you need to connect storage with NFS protocol, install and use a client that supports NFSv4 protocol.

CIFS SMBv3

Linux

1. Connect to the cloud server.

2. Open the CLI.

3. Install the CIFS protocol package:

   sudo apt install cifs-utils

4. Create a folder to mount the repository:

   sudo mkdir -p /mnt/cifs

5. Mount the file storage:

   sudo mount.cifs -o guest //<filestorage_ip_address>/share-<mountpoint_uuid> /mnt/cifs

   Specify:

   • <filestorage_ip_address> — The IP address of the file storage. You can look in control panels under Cloud platform → File storage → storage page → tab Settings → field IP;
   • <mountpoint_uuid> — The ID of the mount point. You can look in control panels under Cloud platform → File storage → storage page → block Connection → tab GNU/Linux.

Windows

1. Connect to the cloud server.

2. Open the CLI.

3. Mount the file storage:

   net use X: \\\\<filestorage_ip_address>\share-<mountpoint_uuid>

   Specify:

   • <filestorage_ip_address> — The IP address of the file storage. You can look in control panels under Cloud platform → File storage → storage page → tab Settings → field IP;
   • <mountpoint_uuid> — The ID of the mount point. You can look in control panels under Cloud platform → File storage → storage page → block Connection → tab Windows.