Technology · Ebook

Longhorn: Distributed Storage for Kubernetes

by Shriira Press

Longhorn is a cloud-native distributed block storage system for Kubernetes — it turns your nodes' disks into reliable, replicated persistent storage for stateful workloads, especially on-prem, bare-metal, and edge. This free book teaches it from the ground up: the persistent storage problem and what Longhorn is, Kubernetes storage concepts (PVs, PVCs, StorageClasses, CSI), Longhorn's architecture (the manager, engines, replicas), volumes and replicas, using Longhorn (StorageClasses, PVCs, provisioning), reliability and replication (surviving disk and node failures), snapshots and backups (point-in-time and disaster recovery), the Longhorn UI and management, performance/scaling/the v2 data engine, and operating Longhorn in practice. Ten focused chapters with clear diagrams that demystify cloud-native storage — providing reliable, replicated, self-healing persistent storage for stateful Kubernetes workloads from commodity node disks, without expensive SANs.

Contents

1. 1Preface
2. 2Chapter 1 — What Longhorn Is
3. 3Chapter 2 — Kubernetes Storage Concepts
4. 4Chapter 3 — Longhorn's Architecture
5. 5Chapter 4 — Volumes and Replicas
6. 6Chapter 5 — Using Longhorn
7. 7Chapter 6 — Reliability and Replication
8. 8Chapter 7 — Snapshots and Backups
9. 9Chapter 8 — The Longhorn UI and Management
10. 10Chapter 9 — Performance, Scaling, and Advanced Features
11. 11Chapter 10 — Operating Longhorn in Practice