What is a disk image?
A disk image is a file containing a copy of the contents of a disk or storage device. It may include an operating system, applications, data and configurations.
Disk images are used to create or restore systems, transfer data and replicate configurations on physical or virtual servers, without having to repeat installation and configuration operations manually.
In Aruba Cloud, images can be used to create Cloud Servers and Block Storage volumes.
What is the Image repository and what is it used for?
The
Image repository is an Aruba Cloud service that allows you to store and manage images for creating cloud resources.
Through
Aruba CMP, you can import images from an external source, create images from Block Storage volumes and use stored images to create new resources.
The service allows you to keep images in a single environment, making them available for future use without having to repeat the steps required to prepare them.
Image size and formats
The Image repository allows you to import files in QCOW2 and RAW formats only, which are commonly used in virtualization environments and OpenStack-based cloud infrastructures.
- QCOW2 (.qcow2): a format that optimizes the storage space occupied by the image file through dynamic space allocation;
- RAW (.raw): a format that directly represents the disk contents, without built-in features for optimizing storage space usage.
There is no limit on the size of imported images.
If the image is available in a format other than QCOW2 or RAW, you can try converting it to one of the supported formats using dedicated tools. However, conversion does not guarantee that the import will complete successfully or that the image will function correctly.
How to obtain an image
You can obtain an image to store in the Image repository in two ways:
How to use an image
You can use images stored in the Image repository to:
Available storage space and costs
The Image repository includes a free storage allowance of
50 GB per Cloud account. Storage usage exceeding this allowance is subject to charges. There is no overall limit on the storage space that can be used.
On the
Image repository page in Aruba CMP, you can view:
- the storage space used by stored images;
- the remaining free storage space.
Image retention
Images stored in the Image repository (whether created or imported) are retained until they are manually deleted.
Image storage incurs a cost only when the total space used exceeds the free storage allowance included in the service.