Attaching Versus Mounting in Cloud Block Storage

In Cloud Block Storage, you both attach and mount a volume to a server. The following information explains these concepts:

For more information about how to mount your volume, see Create and attach a Cloud Block Storage volume

Attach: When you attach a Cloud Block Storage Volume to a server, a logical connection is created from a Cloud Block Storage node to the hypervisor hosting your cloud server. This process happens over a network link via the iSCSI protocol and exposes the new volume as a virtual device to the host. To your Cloud Server, the volume appears as a new raw storage device. You can attach a Cloud Block Storage Volume through either the API or the Cloud Control Panel.

Mount: Mounting is the process in which a user instructs the operating system to map the directory structure logically to a physical storage device. You can mount your volume after you attach and format it for use by a server's operating system. You can only mount a volume through the computer's operating system.

For more information about how to mount your volume, see Prepare your volume.