Working with storage volumes

We recommend attaching disks (also sometimes called storage volumes) to any virtual computers you create in Lightsail for Research (LSfR). Attaching a disk to your virtual computer will increase its storage capacity.

Quick tips about disks

• You can only attach your disk to one virtual computer at a time, just like an external hard drive.
• You can only attach a disk to a virtual computer for the first time if the virtual computer is running.
• You can attach multiple disks to the same virtual computer.
• You must detach a disk from a virtual computer before you can delete it.
• Your disk usage counts towards your monthly AWS budget.

Creating and attaching a disk

1. Navigate to the Storage section of the LSfR console and click the Create disk button.

   

2. Give your disk a descriptive name, select the us-east-2 region, pick an appropriate size for your disk, and click Create disk.

   

3. You can attach a disk to a virtual computer two ways:

   a. By selecting a virtual computer from the dropdown menu when creating a disk

   

   b. By navigating to the Storage tab when viewing the virtual computer in the LSfR Console

   

   Clicking attach disk will allow you to select the disk you created from the dropdown menu

   

Disk path

The disk will be mounted in your home directory in your LSfR virtual computer.

If you attached a volume called cell-typing, you could use the following command in the terminal to navigate to it:

cd ~/cell-typing

Detaching and deleting a disk

Detaching

To detach a disk, navigate to the Storage tab of the virtual computer it is attached to, select the disk, and click the Detach button.

Confirm detaching the disk when prompted.

Deleting

Warning

Deleting a disk will permanently delete all of the data on it.

Disks can be deleted only once they have been detached from a virtual computer. To delete a disk, navigate to Storage, select the disk, and then click Delete disk.

Confirm deletion when prompted.