Scaleway launches block storage

Cloud hosting company Scaleway is adding a new service today - block storage. Consumers will be able to purchase additional storage, attach that volume to a cloud instance and use it for a database, for instance.

Block storage works pretty much like plugging an external hard drive to your laptop. You get a ton of free space that you can use with your apps on your server. Compared to object storage, it is particularly useful if you need to constantly read and write data to a database, for instance.

Cloud servers usually come with local storage, but you might reach the limit even though you still have a lot of headroom when it comes to CPU and RAM. Additionally, if you delete your cloud instance, your block storage is still available, and you can attach it to another server. You can manage your volumes in the admin interface, using the Scaleway API or standard DevOps tools, such as Terraform.

Scaleway is also working on a managed Kubernetes service to deploy containerized applications directly. That service is also going to take advantage of block storage.

As for specifications, you can create a volume on any size between 1GB and 1TB. Starting in April, you'll also be able to scale up your volume without having to detach your volume from your instance. You also can create as many as 15 different volumes for one instance.

Every volume is replicated three times and you can create snapshots. Scaleway uses SSDs and can handle 5,000 input/output operations per second.

The company charges a0.08 per GB per month. For instance, a 50GB volume will cost you a4 per month. In the future, there will be a more expensive tier at a0.12 per GB per month with performance of 10,000 input/output operations per second.

Scaleway says that its solution is both cheaper and more efficient than what Google and Amazon offer: