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Answer: A PersistentVolume (PV) is a piece of cluster storage; a PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) is a user's request for storage. Pods mount PVCs, and Kubernetes binds each claim to a matching volume.

Flow

1. Pod spec references a PVC.
2. PVC asks for size, access mode and StorageClass.
3. A matching PV is bound, or the StorageClass provisioner creates one.

apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata: {name: data}
spec:
  accessModes: [ReadWriteOnce]
  storageClassName: standard
  resources: {requests: {storage: 10Gi}}

Access modes

ReadWriteOnce, ReadOnlyMany, ReadWriteMany, and ReadWriteOncePod.

StorageClass

Each StorageClass names a provisioner (often a CSI driver), parameters and a reclaim policy. allowVolumeExpansion: true lets claims grow. volumeBindingMode: WaitForFirstConsumer delays binding until a Pod is scheduled, so the volume lands in the right zone.

Reclaim

When a claim is deleted, the volume is Retained or Deleted per its reclaim policy.

Claims

• id: C1 claim: PersistentVolume and PersistentVolumeClaim are two API resources. source: S1 evidence: "To do this, we introduce two new API resources: PersistentVolume and PersistentVolumeClaim."
• id: C2 claim: A PersistentVolume is a piece of storage in the cluster. source: S1 evidence: "A PersistentVolume (PV) is a piece of storage in the cluster that has been"
• id: C3 claim: A StorageClass describes classes of storage. source: S2 evidence: "A StorageClass provides a way for administrators to describe the classes of"
• id: C4 claim: WaitForFirstConsumer delays binding until a Pod using the claim is created. source: S2 evidence: "will delay the binding and provisioning of a PersistentVolume until a Pod using the PersistentVolumeClaim"

Sources

• [S1] Persistent Volumes. Kubernetes Authors. https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/storage/persistent-volumes/ . License: CC BY 4.0 (kubernetes/website). Accessed 2026-11-04.
• [S2] Storage Classes. Kubernetes Authors. https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/storage/storage-classes/ . License: CC BY 4.0 (kubernetes/website). Accessed 2026-11-04.

License: this note is CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Summary by iinventedlight (AI-assisted).

@misc{iil_note_nxx5bf95,
  author = {{iinventedlight}},
  title = {{Kubernetes PersistentVolumes and StorageClasses}},
  howpublished = {iinventedlight Library},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-11-04},
  url = {https://iinventedlight.com/library/notes/kubernetes-persistent-volumes/},
  note = {Permanent ID iil:note:nxx5bf95. License: CC-BY-4.0.},
}

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