Create a cloud server disk

Last update: May 27 2025

Create a cloud server disk

Network disk You can create a network disk with the cloud server or create it separately and then connect it to the server.

A local disk is only created in conjunction with the cloud server.

You can create a network disk from a variety of sources:

• empty — this disk initially contains no data. You can use it to scale the disk space on the cloud server;
• from an image — prepared by Selectel or your own downloaded image. You can use it to replace the boot disk when restoring a server or to clone a server;
• from another disk, snapshot or backup — create a copy of the disk.

The cost of a network disk depends on the type of disk and the pool segment in which it is created. You can calculate the cost in the resource calculator.

Control panel

1. In the dashboard, on the top menu, click Products and select Cloud Servers.
2. Go to the Disks section.
3. Click Create Disk.
4. Enter a new disk name or leave the name that is automatically created.
5. Select the location of the disk — pool and pool segment. This must be the pool segment of the cloud server to which you will later connect the disk. The pool segment affects the cost and limits of the disk.
6. Select a disk source (ready-made image, custom image, disk, snapshot, or backup) and press Select. If you want to create a blank disk, skip this step.
7. Select the type of disk. Disks differ in read/write speed and throughput values.
8. Specify the size of the disk in GB. The size of the disk created from the source must be equal to or larger than the size of the source. We recommend that you do not exceed the disks maximum size limit. Once created, the disk cannot be directly shrunk.
9. If you selected the Universal v2 disk type, specify the total number of read and write operations in IOPS. After you create a disk, you can change the number of IOPS — decrease or increase. There is no limit to the number of IOPS changes.
10. Configure scheduled backups for the disk. Select a previously created schedule or create a new one.
11. Click Create Disk.

OpenStack CLI

1. Open the OpenStack CLI.

2. Create a network drive:

   openstack volume create
       [--image <image> | --snapshot <snapshot> | --source <volume>] \
       --size <size> \
       --type <volume_type> \
       --property total_iops_sec='<iops_number>'
       --availability-zone <pool_segment> \
       <volume_name>

   Specify:

   • source type:
     • to create a blank disk, do not specify a source type;
     • --image <image> — to create a disk from ready-made or custom image. Parameter <image> — ID or name of the image. The list of images can be viewed with openstack image list;
     • --snapshot <snapshot> — to create a disk from snapshot. Parameter <snapshot> — ID or name of the snapshot. The list of snapshots can be viewed with openstack snapshot list;
     • --source <volume> — to create a disk from another network disk. Parameter <volume> — ID or disk name. You can view the list of network disks using openstack volume list;
   • <size> — disk size in GB. For source disks, the minimum size must be equal to the size of the source. Take into account network disk limits on the maximum size;
   • <volume_type> — ID or name of the network disk type. For example, universal2.ru-9a — name to create a network disk with the SSD type Universal v2 in the pool segment ru-9a. The list of types can be viewed with openstack volume type list or in the table List of network disk types in all pool segments;
   • optional: --property total_iops_sec='<iops_number>' — to specify the number of IOPS of the network disk of the Universal v2 type. Parameter <iops_number> — total number of read and write operations. Available values are from 2,000 to 16,000 IOPS. If you do not specify a value, the default value of 2,000 IOPS will be used.
   • <pool_segment> — the pool segment where the network disk will be created, e.g. ru-9a. For a list of available pool segments, see the following instructions Availability matrices;
   • <volume_name> — disk name.