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Overview

Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS is capable of provisioning persistent volumes (PVs) using the Container Storage Interface (CSI) driver for AWS Elastic Block Store (EBS).

Familiarity with persistent storage and configuring CSI volumes is recommended when working with a Container Storage Interface (CSI) Operator and driver.

To create CSI-provisioned PVs that mount to AWS EBS storage assets, Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS installs the AWS EBS CSI Driver Operator and the AWS EBS CSI driver by default in the openshift-cluster-csi-drivers namespace.

  • The AWS EBS CSI Driver Operator provides a StorageClass by default that you can use to create PVCs. You also have the option to create the AWS EBS StorageClass as described in Persistent storage using AWS Elastic Block Store.

  • The AWS EBS CSI driver enables you to create and mount AWS EBS PVs.

About CSI

Storage vendors have traditionally provided storage drivers as part of Kubernetes. With the implementation of the Container Storage Interface (CSI), third-party providers can instead deliver storage plugins using a standard interface without ever having to change the core Kubernetes code.

CSI Operators give Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS users storage options, such as volume snapshots, that are not possible with in-tree volume plugins.

Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS defaults to using an in-tree (non-CSI) plugin to provision AWS EBS storage.

In future Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS versions, volumes provisioned using existing in-tree plug-ins are planned for migration to their equivalent CSI driver. CSI automatic migration should be seamless. Migration does not change how you use all existing API objects, such as persistent volumes, persistent volume claims, and storage classes.

After full migration, in-tree plugins will eventually be removed in future versions of Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS.

For information about dynamically provisioning AWS EBS persistent volumes in Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS, see Persistent storage using AWS Elastic Block Store.