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Create NFS-based file shares and mount them to Linux virtual machines, bare metal servers, or GPU clusters. Two types of file shares are available:
  • Standard are general-purpose file shares using a Ceph-based backend.
  • VAST are high-performance type file shares, available in selected GPU-enabled regions.
File share types are mutually exclusive, meaning each region has either Standard or VAST file shares, but not both.
The best practice is to create VAST shares when creating GPU clusters or before provisioning the corresponding compute resources (such as VMs).
The creation flow for both types starts the same. Use the steps below and follow the instructions for the selected file share type.
Please ensure that there are enough quotas to create the file share. To increase quotas, send us a request according to our guide. The quotas for File Shares are located on the Storage tab and include File Share count and File Share size (GiB).
Storage tab

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Prepare the network for Bare Metal

To mount the file share on a bare-metal server, the network must support bare-metal, and these servers require a dedicated VLAN. If needed, create a new network and enable the Bare Metal Network toggle during configuration.
Bare Metal Network toggle
Manually change the OS settings’ existing Bare Metal network interface.

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Configure file shares for Linux VMs and Bare Metal

This section describes creating and connecting a standard NFS-based file share using a private network. It can be used with Linux virtual machines or bare-metal servers.

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Step 1. Create a file share

  1. In the Cloud menu, click Storage, select File Shares, and click Create File Share on the right.
File Shares
  1. In the Basic settings panel, enter File Share name, specify Size, and select Standard as the File Share type.
File Shares Standard 4 Pn
  1. In the Network settings panel, select the private Network and Subnetwork to use for the file share.
  2. In the Access panel, click Add rule and specify the IP addresses of the resources that should have access to the file share, and their access modes.
  3. Set Additional options, if required.

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Step 2. Set up NFS client support

Connect to the server via the Gcore Customer Portal or SSH and set up NFS client support. For Ubuntu and Debian: 
sudo apt -y install nfs-common
For CentOS: 
sudo yum install nfs-utils

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Step 3. Mount the file share

  1. Use an existing directory for mounting the share, or create a new one, for example: 
    sudo mkdir -p /mount/path
  2. Copy the mount command from the file share Overview tab.
Mount the file share
Mount the file share: 
mount 0.0.0.0:/shares/share-d54589b8-132f-4de4-ae99-af5c6cdfdb9c /mount/path
Replace /mount/path with the absolute local directory path where the file share should be mounted.

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VAST file shares

VAST-based file shares are only available in regions with GPU support and use a high-performance backend designed for intensive data workloads.
The best practice is to create VAST shares when creating GPU clusters or before provisioning the corresponding compute resources (such as VMs).

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Step 1. Create a VAST share

  1. In the Cloud menu, click Storage, select File Shares, and click Create File Share on the right.
  2. In the Basic settings panel, enter File Share name, specify Size, and select VAST as the File Share type.
  3. Set Additional options, if required.
File Share Vast Pn When VAST share type is selected, controls in Network settings and Access panels are disabled, and the network is assigned automatically. The access rules cannot be configured manually — the VAST share is always available in read/write mode within its assigned network only. This network is not visible in the general Network tab. It is only available when attaching interfaces to a resource (VM, Bare Metal, or GPU cluster). VAST file shares always use read/write access; access rules are not supported.

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Step 2. Add VAST network interface to a compute resource

Once the VAST file share is created, it is best to add the VAST network interface while provisioning the corresponding GPU cluster or compute resource.

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Adding VAST interface while creating a compute resource

While provisioning a compute resource:
  1. Scroll down to the Network settings panel.
  2. Click Add interface.
  3. Click the interface to configure, and select the VAST network.
  4. Continue with provisioning the compute resource.
The VAST network only becomes available after the file share has been created. It is a third, dedicated network, separate and distinct from public and private networks. File Share Details Pn

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Adding VAST interface to an existing compute resource

While the VAST interface can be attached to an already-provisioned GPU cluster or compute resource, this requires additional manual network configuration and is not the standard workflow.
The best practice is to create VAST shares when creating GPU clusters or before provisioning the corresponding compute resources (such as VMs).
Attach VAST network interface
  1. Go to server Resource settings (VM, Bare Metal, or GPU cluster).
  2. Select the Networking tab and click Add interface.
  3. Click the Network drop-down and select the VAST network, then click Add.
  4. Once the interface is added, note the following details for use in subsequent steps:
    • IP address (such as 198.51.100.25)
    • MAC address (such as fa:16:3e:12:34:56)
    • CIDR range (such as 198.51.102.0/22)

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Configure attached VAST network interface

This configuration is required only when adding an interface to an existing, already provisioned resource; for interfaces added during resource creation and provisioning, this configuration is performed automatically.
Connect to the server via the Gcore Customer Portal or SSH and configure the attached VAST network interface.
  1. Use ip addr to list all available interfaces.
  2. Identify the VAST interface using the MAC address from the previous step.
  3. Note the interface name (such as enp8s0 or enp4s0) for use in the following steps.
  4. Configure the interface as described below for the relevant instance type.
Configuring VAST interface for VMs and GPU clusters
Replace 198.51.100.25 with the IP address from Step 2. Replace enp8s0 with the interface name from above, if different. Set interface MTU: 
sudo ip link set enp8s0 mtu 9000
Activate the interface: 
sudo ip link set enp8s0 up
Set interface CIDR: 
sudo ip addr add 198.51.100.25/22 dev enp8s0
Add static route to the VAST network. Replace 198.51.100.1 with an address formed by the first three octets from the CIDR range in Step 2, keeping 1 as the last octet for the gateway IP. 
sudo ip route add 172.19.252.0/22 via 198.51.100.1 dev enp8s0
Configuring VAST interface for Bare Metal servers
Bare Metal servers require different configuration depending on the network hardware.
In the commands below, replace 198.51.100.25 with the IP address from Step 2, and replace ens10f0v0 with the interface name identified above.Set interface MTU:
sudo ip link set ens10f0v0 mtu 9000
Activate the interface:
sudo ip link set ens10f0v0 up
Set interface CIDR:
sudo ip addr add 198.51.100.25/22 dev ens10f0v0
Add static route to the VAST network. Replace 198.51.100.1 with an address formed by the first three octets from the CIDR range in Step 2, keeping 1 as the last octet for the gateway IP.
sudo ip route add 172.19.252.0/22 via 198.51.100.1 dev ens10f0v0
For Bare Metal servers with Arista switches (Trunks), create a VLAN interface on the bond. A bond (link aggregation) combines multiple physical network interfaces into a single logical interface, providing higher throughput and redundancy.In the commands below, replace 100 with the VLAN ID shown in the Networking tab of the server details page, and replace 198.51.100.25 with the IP address from Step 2.Create VLAN interface on a bond:
sudo ip link add link bond0 name bond0.100 type vlan id 100
Activate the interface:
sudo ip link set bond0.100 up
Set interface CIDR:
sudo ip addr add 198.51.100.25/22 dev bond0.100
Add static route to the VAST network. Replace 198.51.100.1 with an address formed by the first three octets from the CIDR range in Step 2, keeping 1 as the last octet for the gateway IP.
sudo ip route add 172.19.252.0/22 via 198.51.100.1 dev bond0.100

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Step 3. Set up VAST NFS client support

This step is always required for VAST file shares, regardless of whether they are added during or after resource provisioning.
Connect to the server via the Gcore Customer Portal or SSH and set up VAST NFS client support.
  1. Install NFS client tools: 
    sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install nfs-common -y
  2. Install build tools and headers for kernel modules: 
    sudo apt install dkms debhelper dh-dkms build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r) -y
  3. Install VAST NFS package: 
    curl -sSf https://vast-nfs.s3.amazonaws.com/download.sh | bash -s --

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Step 4. Mount the file share

Use an existing directory for mounting the share, or create a new one, for example: 
sudo mkdir -p /mount/path
Mount the VAST file share:
  • Replace ndp1-2-vast.cloud.gc.onl:/manila/manila-01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef with the connection point from the VAST file share overview tab.
  • Replace /mount/path with the absolute local directory path where the file share should be mounted.
sudo mount -o vers=3,nconnect=56,remoteports=dns,spread_reads,spread_writes,noextend ndp1-2-vast.cloud.gc.onl:/manila/manila-01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef /mount/path
The contents of the VAST file share are now accessible in the specified directory.
Always use NFS version 3 (vers=3) when mounting VAST file shares. If the system does not support the nconnect option, install the VAST Enhanced NFS Client.
File Share Mount Pn

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Resizing file shares

  • VAST shares can be resized directly, without being unmounted.
  • Standard shares must first be unmounted before they can be resized, for example: 
    umount -lf /mount/path
    Once resized, file shares can be remounted as described above for each share type.

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Resize file share

This process is the same for both Standard and VAST-based file shares:
  1. In the Cloud menu, go to the Storage tab, select File Shares, and click the file share to be resized.
  2. In the Overview tab, click Resize and enter the new share size:
Overview tab