#Introduction

Alauda Container Platform (ACP) Storage with Ceph is a hyper-converged storage solution provided by the platform within the cluster. Based on the open-source Rook + Ceph storage solution, distributed storage achieves automatic management, automatic scaling, and automatic repair capabilities, fulfilling the block storage, file storage, and object storage needs of small to medium-sized applications.

#Feature Overview

• Easy Deployment: Provides graphical automatic deployment and management services for storage clusters; supports both integrated and decoupled deployment modes for compute and storage.

• Professional Operations: Offers persistent volume snapshot backup and clone new volume functionalities; visual monitoring of capacity, performance, and component levels; equipped with built-in alert policies to meet the needs of most storage operation scenarios.

• Secure and Reliable: Distributed and multi-replica mechanisms ensure data security and reliability; simple and reliable automated management supports online expansion of storage resources.

• Excellent Performance: Provides elastic and high-performance storage services; supports the deployment of hybrid disk devices to enhance storage system performance and efficiency.

#Storage Solution Comparison

The platform supports the following two types of storage solutions; you can choose one or the other.

#Creating a Storage Cluster

Requirement	Advantages
You can choose to create either a standard type cluster or an extended type cluster	No need for additional storage solution preparation; configuration can be completed on the business cluster, saving costs.

#Accessing External Storage

Option 1: Access the distributed storage resources of other business clusters within the platform to ensure storage and business are isolated for easier management and maintenance.

Option 2: Integrate external Ceph storage resources as distributed storage.

Requirement (choose one)	Advantages
Option 1: Distributed storage already deployed in other business clusters.	Can fully utilize storage resources across clusters and avoid interference from business changes. Ensures data security and stability while reducing operational complexity. Note: If the storage to be accessed is distributed storage from different platforms, such as a primary/backup platform in a disaster recovery environment, please use the method of integrating external Ceph.
Option 2: External Ceph storage outside the platform, version ≥ 14.2.3.	Compared to directly creating a storage class, this method is more convenient for using the platform’s interface for volume snapshots, scaling, and other functions.

Note: If you need to maintain the storage pool, storage device, and other configurations of external storage, operations must be performed in the management interface of the storage cluster.