gke-storage

GKE Storage

This reference covers storage configuration for GKE clusters including persistent disks, file storage, and cloud storage integration.

MCP Tools: apply_k8s_manifest, get_k8s_resource, describe_k8s_resource, get_cluster

Golden Path Storage Defaults

The golden path Autopilot config enables these CSI drivers:

StorageClasses

Default StorageClasses

GKE provides built-in StorageClasses:

Custom StorageClass

apiVersion: storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: StorageClass
metadata:
  name: fast-regional
provisioner: 

PersistentVolumeClaims

Block Storage (ReadWriteOnce)

Shared File Storage (ReadWriteMany via Filestore)

GCS Bucket Mount (Cloud Storage FUSE)

Mount a GCS bucket as a volume without a PVC:

Requires Workload Identity for the pod's service account to have storage.objectViewer on the bucket.

Volume Expansion

If allowVolumeExpansion: true is set on the StorageClass, resize by updating the PVC:

Kubernetes automatically resizes the filesystem.

Best Practices

1. Always enable volume expansion: Set allowVolumeExpansion: true on all StorageClasses
2. Use regional PDs for production: replication-type: regional-pd replicates across 2 zones for HA
3. Use WaitForFirstConsumer: Ensures the PV is provisioned in the same zone as the pod
4. Choose the right disk type: pd-ssd for databases, pd-balanced (golden path default) for general use, pd-standard for cold storage
5. Use Filestore for shared access: When multiple pods need to read/write the same files
6. Use GCS FUSE for data pipelines: Mount buckets directly for ML training data, logs, etc.
7. Back up PVCs: Use Backup for GKE (see the gke-backup-dr skill) to protect persistent data