persistent volume
also: PV, persistent storage
A persistent volume is a storage resource that retains data beyond the lifetime of a container or pod, commonly used in Kubernetes to decouple storage from application lifecycle.
In containerized environments like Kubernetes, a persistent volume (PV) is a cluster-level storage resource that exists independently of any individual pod or container. When a container is deleted or restarted, the data stored in a persistent volume remains intact, allowing applications to preserve state across restarts and pod failures.
Persistent volumes are claimed by applications through persistent volume claims (PVCs), which act as requests for storage. A PVC specifies the size and access modes needed, and Kubernetes binds it to an available PV that meets those requirements. This abstraction separates storage concerns from pod management.
Example: A database pod uses a PVC to request 10GB of storage. Kubernetes binds this claim to a persistent volume backed by a physical disk, NFS share, or cloud storage. If the database pod crashes, a new pod can be scheduled and reconnect to the same PV, accessing all previous data unchanged.