Create a volume

Documentation Index

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_{Updated May 8, 2026} A volume is block storage you attach to a VM as additional disk capacity beyond its base disk. Volumes live in the same region as the VM they attach to, can be detached and reattached to a different VM in that region, and survive the VM if it’s deleted. This page walks the dashboard create flow. For the in-guest formatting / mounting / resizing steps, see Attach to a VM.

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Before you start

• A Raff account
• (Optional) A target VM in active or passive state — you can also create the volume unattached and attach later
• An idea of how much space you need (volumes range from 10 - 1000 GiB)

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1. Open the Add Volume dialog

From the Compute Resources page, switch to the Volumes tab and click + Add Volume. The Add Volume dialog opens with all the fields you’ll fill on this one form.

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2. Select volume size

Type a size in GiB. Range is 10 - 1000 GiB. You can grow the volume later, but you can’t shrink it — pick conservatively if you’re unsure.

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3. Pick a billing period

Volumes are subscription-based by default, paid in advance from your account balance. Pay-as-you-go is available for enterprise and SMB customers on request — same effective $0.05/GiB/month rate, billed hourly at cycle close. The volume cost is reserved at creation. If you delete the volume mid-term, the unused days and hours are credited back to your account balance — same model as VMs. See Billing model.

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4. Select VM to attach to (optional)

The VM must be in active or passive state to attach. Volumes inherit the VM’s region and project — they can only be reattached to other VMs in the same region. If you pick None, the volume is created in the dashboard’s currently-selected region.

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5. Name the volume

A free-form label. Pick something descriptive — db-backups, customer-uploads, acme-data — so it’s easy to spot in the Volumes list.

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6. Choose configuration options

This step changes based on the selected VM’s OS. Linux and Windows behave differently.

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Linux VMs (or no VM selected)

Two options: Filesystem (Auto-format only): Either way, you’ll need to mount the volume in the OS after creation. See Attach to a VM for the lsblk → mount → /etc/fstab flow.

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Windows VMs

Auto-format is not supported on Windows. The dashboard surfaces this with an inline note and only offers manual format & mount: The volume attaches as a raw disk. After creation, format it from inside Windows:

1. Server Manager → Tools → Computer Management → Disk Management
2. New disk shows as Offline and Not Initialized → right-click → Online → Initialize Disk (pick GPT)
3. Right-click the unallocated space → New Simple Volume → walk the wizard, format NTFS, assign a drive letter

This is also covered in the Attach to a VM walkthrough.

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7. Proceed to checkout

Click Proceed to Checkout. The order summary applies your account balance first, then charges your saved card for the difference (same flow as VMs). Confirm to provision. The volume is created in seconds. If you picked a target VM, it appears as a new block device almost immediately — re-scan with lsblk (Linux) or Disk Management (Windows).

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After creation

• Linux, auto-formatted — disk has a filesystem; mount it (mount /dev/vdX /mnt/data) and add a /etc/fstab entry. See Attach to a VM → step 4 onward.
• Linux, manual — same as above, plus mkfs.ext4 or mkfs.xfs first.
• Windows — Disk Management as described above.

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Pricing summary

Bandwidth between a VM and its attached volume is free and not metered — the volume bills only for stored capacity.

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Next steps