> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.rafftechnologies.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Volumes

> NVMe SSD block storage you attach to a VM — survives VM destroy, grows on demand, billed per GiB

<sub>Updated May 8, 2026</sub>

Volumes are **NVMe SSD** block storage you attach to a Raff VM as additional disk capacity. Use them when a VM needs more storage than its plan includes, or — more importantly — when you want **data to outlive the VM itself**. Volumes survive VM destroy, attach to a different VM, and bill independently.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/rafftechnologiesllc/a91oYwDQBgIexVcf/images/products/store/volumes/volume-list-attached.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=a91oYwDQBgIexVcf&q=85&s=3962513907f91cc470649523b2b977a6" alt="Storage Volumes list in the Raff dashboard showing an attached volume &#x22;test&#x22; mapped to the Finance VM with a Provisioning badge" width="2000" height="1008" data-path="images/products/store/volumes/volume-list-attached.png" />
</Frame>

## At a glance

| Property                            | Value                                                                              |
| ----------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Storage class**                   | Single tier — **NVMe SSD** (no tiers to choose)                                    |
| **Size range**                      | 10 — 1000 GiB at create time                                                       |
| **Resize**                          | One-way grow — capacity increases only                                             |
| **Attach**                          | One VM at a time; reattach to a different VM in the same region                    |
| **Survives VM destroy**             | Yes — detached, kept in the account, ready to reattach                             |
| **Filesystems**                     | Linux: ext4 / xfs (auto-format option). Windows: NTFS (manual via Disk Management) |
| **Device naming**                   | `/dev/vdb`, `/dev/vdc`, … (virtio-blk; never `sd*` or `nvme*`)                     |
| **Billing**                         | Subscription default \$0.05/GiB/month (PAYG on request, same rate)                 |
| **Bandwidth between VM and volume** | Free, never metered                                                                |

## When to use a volume

| Goal                                                                    | Use a volume?                        | Use what instead                                                                |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Add disk to one VM beyond the plan's base NVMe SSD                      | **Yes**                              | —                                                                               |
| Keep data when destroying a VM (databases, customer uploads, app state) | **Yes**                              | —                                                                               |
| Move data between VMs serially (detach → attach to another)             | **Yes**                              | —                                                                               |
| Two VMs reading the same files at once                                  | No — single-attach                   | [Object Storage](/products/store/object-storage)                                |
| Files served to the public (static assets, downloads)                   | No                                   | [Object Storage](/products/store/object-storage)                                |
| One-off snapshot before risky changes                                   | No (snapshots are a separate object) | [Snapshots](/products/build/virtual-machines/quickstart-guides/create-snapshot) |
| Reusable disk image for many new VMs                                    | No                                   | [Custom images](/products/build/virtual-machines/concepts/custom-images)        |

If you're hesitating between volumes and Object Storage: **volumes are block devices** (a single VM mounts them like a disk); **Object Storage is HTTP-accessible** (many clients can read/write at once, scales beyond 1 TB, served over a URL).

## How volumes fit in the storage stack

A Raff VM has up to five storage objects in its orbit. Volumes are one of them:

| Storage object              | Lives                 | Survives VM destroy                                           | Best for                                  |
| --------------------------- | --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
| **Base disk** (in the plan) | Inside the VM         | No — destroyed with VM                                        | OS, transient working files               |
| **Volumes**                 | Attached to one VM    | **Yes — kept**                                                | Data you can't afford to lose with the VM |
| **Snapshots**               | Independent of the VM | VM-disk snapshots: deleted with VM. Volume snapshots: survive | Restore points before risky changes       |
| **Backups**                 | Independent           | Yes (per retention)                                           | Routine scheduled VM protection           |
| **Custom images**           | Account-wide          | Yes                                                           | Golden images for new VMs                 |

See [Storage model](/products/build/virtual-machines/concepts/storage-model) for the full survival matrix and decision flowchart across every lifecycle event.

***

## Most viewed

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Create a volume" icon="plus" href="/products/store/volumes/quickstart-guides/create-a-volume">
    Pick size, billing term, target VM, and how it should be formatted.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Attach to a VM" icon="link" href="/products/store/volumes/quickstart-guides/attach-to-vm">
    Dashboard attach + format and mount inside the VM.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Resize a volume" icon="up-right-and-down-left-from-center" href="/products/store/volumes/quickstart-guides/resize-volume">
    Grow capacity, then expand the filesystem inside the guest.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Detach from a VM" icon="link-slash" href="/products/store/volumes/quickstart-guides/detach-from-vm">
    Free a volume cleanly so you can reattach it elsewhere.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

***

## Browse

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Quickstart & guides" icon="rocket" href="/products/store/volumes/quickstart-guides/create-a-volume">
    Create, attach, resize, detach, delete.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Concepts" icon="lightbulb" href="/products/store/volumes/concepts/volume-types">
    Persistence model and single-attach scope.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Details" icon="circle-info" href="/products/store/volumes/details/features-and-limits">
    Features, limits, pricing.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Troubleshooting" icon="life-ring" href="/products/store/volumes/troubleshooting">
    Common volume issues — attach, mount, resize, detach.
  </Card>

  <Card title="API Reference" icon="code" href="/api-reference/volumes/introduction">
    Volume endpoints.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Changelog" icon="clock-rotate-left" href="/api-reference/changelog">
    All API updates and changes.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>