VAST Cluster supports block storage protocol. The block storage service enables you to flexibly and dynamically configure and present paths on the cluster as block storage subsystems and partition cluster capacity as block storage volumes under the subsystem paths.
Backup is easily implemented by taking a snapshot or configuring scheduled local backup on a subsystem path, a volume path, or a path that covers multiple volumes. A backup can be made accessible by mapping the volume from any snapshot that includes the path to hosts.
VAST Cluster supports connectivity to block storage using Nonvolatile Memory Express over Transport Control Protocol (NVMe/TCP). NVMe/TCP supports high-performance block storage connectivity without requiring specialized networking hardware like Fibre Channel or Infiniband, making it more accessible for many applications, including cloud and data center operations.
Block storage subsystems, implemented as block-enabled views, can be provisioned on the same cluster and tenant as other views enabled for file and object storage.
Supported Client Environments
Linux: RHEL 8.8, RHEL 9.4, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
VMWare vSphere ESXi 7.0 U3, ESXi 8.0
Host Connectivity
NVMe/TCP (only)
Up to 16 paths (one path per virtual IP). During path discovery, up to 16 virtual IPs are chosen from the list of all possible virtual IPs across all virtual IP pools belonging to the relevant tenant.
Provisioning
Block storage resources may be provisioned using:
VAST Web UI, described in this guide.
The VMS REST API
The VAST Block CSI Driver for Kubernetes
The VAST Terraform Provider
The VAST Driver for Cinder