What should I use for persistent storage in Kubernetes?

For persistent storage in Kubernetes, the usual choice is:

Use a PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) backed by a PersistentVolume (PV), ideally provisioned by a StorageClass.

In practice:

• PVC: what your app requests
• PV: the actual storage resource
• StorageClass: defines how storage is dynamically created

Common backend options

Choose based on your environment:

• Cloud Kubernetes:
  • AWS: EBS
  • GCP: Persistent Disk
  • Azure: Managed Disks
• On-prem / self-managed:
  • NFS
  • Ceph
  • Longhorn
  • OpenEBS
  • vSAN / other enterprise storage

Good rule of thumb

• For single-pod, block storage: use a PVC with a cloud disk or equivalent
• For shared storage across multiple pods: use RWX-capable storage like NFS, CephFS, or a storage system that supports ReadWriteMany
• For high availability and portability: prefer a CSI-based StorageClass

Avoid

• Storing important data in the container filesystem
• Relying on emptyDir for anything you need to keep after pod deletion

Example

apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: app-data
spec:
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  storageClassName: standard
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 10Gi

If you tell me your environment (EKS/GKE/AKS/on-prem) and whether you need shared or per-pod storage, I can recommend the best option.