File Storage Objects

Mount Target

A mount target is an NFS endpoint in a subnet of your choice. The mount target provides the IP address that is used in the mount command when connecting NFS clients to a file system. File systems are exported (made available) through mount targets.

For an instance to mount a file system, the instance's Virtual Cloud Network (VCN) must have a mount target. A VCN can only have one mount target.

You can reuse the same mount target to make many file systems available. To reuse the same mount target for multiple file systems, create an export in the mount target for each file system.

Export

Exports control how NFS clients access file systems when they connect to a mount target. File systems are exported (made available) through mount targets. Each mount target maintains an export set which contains one or many exports. A file system must have at least one export in one mount target for compute instances to mount the file system.

Export Set

An export set is a collection of one or more exports that control what file systems the mount target exports and how those file systems are found using the NFS mount protocol. Each mount target has an export set. Each file system associated with the mount target has at least one export in the export set.

Export Path

The export path uniquely identifies the file system within the mount target. The export path is used by a compute instance to mount (logically attach to) the file system. For more information, see File Storage Paths.

Export Options

NFS export options are a set of parameters within the export that specify the level of access granted to NFS clients when they connect to a mount target. An NFS export options entry within an export defines access for a single IP address or CIDR block range.

File System

In Private Cloud Appliance, file system refers to a file system that is accessed by one or more clients over the network. File systems are associated with a single compartment. File systems must have at least one export in one mount target for any client to mount and use the file system.

Data is added to a file system from the client that has mounted (has access to) the file system. A file system can have a quota of up to 8 petabytes.

The total number of file systems is limited to 100 per tenancy.

Virtual Cloud Network (VCN)

A private network that you set up in the Private Cloud Appliance, with firewall rules and specific types of communication gateways that you can choose to use. A VCN covers a single, contiguous IPv4 CIDR block of your choice.

Subnet

Subnets are subdivisions you define in a VCN (for example, 10.0.0.0/24 and 10.0.1.0/24). Subnets contain virtual network interface cards (VNICs), which attach to compute instances. A subnet consists of a contiguous range of IP addresses that do not overlap with other subnets in the VCN.

Security Rules

Security rules are virtual firewall rules for your VCN. Your VCN comes with a default security list, and you can add more. These security lists provide ingress and egress rules that specify the types of traffic allowed in and out of the compute instances. You can choose whether a given rule is stateful or stateless. Security list rules must be set up so that clients can connect to file system mount targets.

Another method for applying security rules is to set them up in a network security group (NSG), and then add the mount target to the NSG. Unlike security list rules that apply to all VNICs in the subnet, NSGs apply only to resource VNICs you add to the NSG.

Snapshots

Snapshots provide a consistent, point-in-time view of your file system, and you can take as many snapshots as you need. Each snapshot reflects only data that changed from the previous snapshot.