# Persistent Volume

> A PersistentVolume is a piece of cluster storage that outlives pods; applications request it with a PersistentVolumeClaim, often created by a StorageClass.

- Source: https://www.itwonderlab.com/persistent-volume/
- Published: 2026-09-04
- Updated: 2026-09-04
- Author: Javier Ruiz Jiménez (https://www.javierruizjimenez.com/)
- Site: IT Wonder Lab (https://www.itwonderlab.com/)

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A **PersistentVolume** (PV) is storage in the cluster (a cloud disk, an NFS export). A **PersistentVolumeClaim** (PVC) is an application's request for it, which a pod mounts. A **StorageClass** creates PVs on demand (dynamic provisioning). Data survives pod restarts in [Kubernetes](https://www.itwonderlab.com/kubernetes/).

### Key concepts

- **Access modes**: `ReadWriteOnce`, `ReadOnlyMany`, `ReadWriteMany`, `ReadWriteOncePod`.
- **Reclaim policy**: `Delete` or `Retain`.
- **StatefulSet**: one PVC per replica with `volumeClaimTemplates`.
- **`WaitForFirstConsumer`**: create the disk in the zone of the pod.

### Learn it

Read [Persistent Volumes, PVC and StorageClass](https://www.itwonderlab.com/kubernetes-persistent-volumes-storageclass/) and [Kubernetes with NFS](https://www.itwonderlab.com/kubernetes-nfs/).