Proxmox VE storage: types, content and snapshots
How Proxmox VE defines storage in /etc/pve/storage.cfg, what each content type holds, which storage types are file or block level, shared or local and support snapshots, what the shared flag really means, and why a snapshot isn't a backup.
- Level
- Beginner
- Length
- About 45 minutes
- Contents
- 3 lessons · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 1 Oct 2026
- Proxmox VE · open source
Skills you'll practise
- Identify the content types a storage can hold and where the default local and local-lvm storages put them
- Classify common storage types as shared or local and file or block level
- Explain what the shared flag does and doesn't do
- Choose a storage type for a stated need (live migration, HA, backups, snapshots)
- Explain the limits of snapshots and thin provisioning and when a backup is needed instead
Course outline
- 1.The storage modelLesson · 14 min
- 2.Choosing a storage typeLesson · 17 min
- 3.Snapshots, thin provisioning and capacityLesson · 14 min
- 4.Proxmox VE storage: types, content and snapshots: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 13 questions
- 5.Backups failing: the PBS datastore is fullScenario
- 6.Final exam8 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
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