Storage

Overview

The Compute Clear API supports provisioning storage volumes alongside GPU instances. Storage is configured in the storage: section of the YAML spec.

Three dimensions of storage

Every storage volume is defined by three properties:

1. Type

The underlying storage technology:

Type	Description
`block_disk`	Block storage attached to a single VM. Like an SSD/HDD connected to one machine.
`filesystem`	Shared filesystem mountable by multiple VMs simultaneously. Ideal for training data and checkpoints.

2. Class

The performance tier. Maps to vendor-specific storage products:

Class	Description
`standard`	Default. General-purpose network SSD. Replicated for durability. Typical: 10,000-30,000 IOPS.
`performance`	High-IOPS SSD optimized for latency-sensitive workloads. Typical: 50,000-100,000+ IOPS.
`economy`	Cost-optimized storage for large datasets where throughput matters more than latency. May use non-replicated SSD or HDD.
`premium`	Highest-performance distributed filesystems (e.g., parallel file systems). Optimized for large-scale ML training with many concurrent readers/writers.

Not all vendors support all classes. Use GET /available_storage to check what’s available per vendor and region, including pricing.

3. Persistent

Controls whether the storage survives VM deletion:

Value	Behavior
`false` (default)	Ephemeral — storage is bundled with the VM and deleted when the VM is destroyed.
`true`	Persistent — storage gets its own `resource_id` and independent lifecycle. It survives VM deletion and can be reattached to new VMs later.

YAML spec examples

VM with ephemeral block storage

compute:
  gpu_type: H100
  gpu_count: 1
storage:
  - type: block_disk
    class: standard
    size: 500GB

VM with persistent shared filesystem

compute:
  gpu_type: H100
  gpu_count: 8
storage:
  - type: filesystem
    class: standard
    size: 2TB
    persistent: true

Multiple volumes

compute:
  gpu_type: H100
  gpu_count: 1
storage:
  - type: filesystem
    class: premium
    size: 5TB
    persistent: true
  - type: block_disk
    class: standard
    size: 200GB

Storage discovery

Check available storage options and pricing before writing your spec:

curl https://supply-api.compute-desk.com/available_storage \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"

This returns available types, classes, size limits, and per-GB pricing across all vendors and regions.

How storage affects offers

When you include storage: in your spec, the API automatically:

Filters vendors — only vendors supporting your requested storage type and class are included
Includes pricing — offer responses show a cost breakdown (compute + storage + total)
Handles ordering — some vendors require storage to be created before VMs; the API handles this transparently

Getting Started

Concepts

Overview

Discovery

Offers

Resources

Overview

Three dimensions of storage

1. Type

2. Class

3. Persistent

YAML spec examples

VM with ephemeral block storage

VM with persistent shared filesystem

Multiple volumes

Storage discovery

How storage affects offers

​Overview

​Three dimensions of storage

​1. Type

​2. Class

​3. Persistent

​YAML spec examples

​VM with ephemeral block storage

​VM with persistent shared filesystem

​Multiple volumes

​Storage discovery

​How storage affects offers

Overview

Three dimensions of storage

1. Type

2. Class

3. Persistent

YAML spec examples

VM with ephemeral block storage

VM with persistent shared filesystem

Multiple volumes

Storage discovery

How storage affects offers