Storage
High-Performance Storage
NVMe-backed storage that delivers up to 3x the I/O throughput of standard volumes — available in select data centers for both GPU and CPU instances.
What is High-Performance Storage?
High-Performance Storage is an NVMe-backed tier for Network Volumes that provides significantly faster read/write speeds compared to standard volumes. It is designed for workloads with heavy I/O demands — large-scale model training, dataset preprocessing, and checkpoint-intensive workflows.
The DEVUP AI dashboard labels this tier with a ⚡ 3x Speed badge. This is the throughput improvement displayed in the Create Volume modal when the High-Performance toggle is enabled.
This tier applies at the volume level, not the instance level. Once a volume is created with high-performance storage, any instance that mounts it — GPU or CPU — benefits from the faster I/O.
Standard vs High-Performance
| Attribute | Standard | High-Performance |
|---|---|---|
| Backing hardware | Standard block storage | NVMe SSD |
| Speed (dashboard label) | Baseline | ⚡ 3x Speed |
| Cost per GB/month | Lower (check dashboard) | Higher (check dashboard) |
| Availability | CA-MTL-4 only | All 4 volume data centers |
| GPU compatibility | ✓ | ✓ |
| CPU compatibility | ✓ | ✓ |
Standard storage is only available in CA-MTL-4. All other volume-capable data centers (EU-FR-1, EUR-NO-2, US-CA-2) exclusively use high-performance storage — in those regions, the toggle is locked on automatically.
Data center availability
| Data center | Standard available | High-Performance | UI behavior |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA-MTL-4 | ✓ | ✓ Optional | Toggle on/off freely |
| EU-FR-1 | ✗ | Required | Toggle locked on, cannot disable |
| EUR-NO-2 | ✗ | Required | Toggle locked on, cannot disable |
| US-CA-2 | ✗ | Required | Toggle locked on, cannot disable |
The server enforces these rules — if you attempt to create a standard volume in a high-performance-only data center, the request is rejected with an error.
Enabling High-Performance Storage
- Open the Create Volume modal from the Network Volumes tab.
- Select a data center. Data centers supporting Network Volumes show a ⚡ lightning bolt badge in the top-right corner of their card.
- Below the name and size fields, a High-Performance Storage section appears with a toggle switch:
- In CA-MTL-4: the toggle is off by default — click to enable.
- In EU-FR-1, EUR-NO-2, US-CA-2: the toggle is locked on (dimmed, non-interactive) since high-performance is the only tier available.
- The Total per month cost updates immediately to reflect the high-performance rate.
- Click Create.
High-performance is set at creation time and cannot be changed after a volume is created. To switch tiers, create a new volume, transfer your data via SSH, and delete the old one.
When to use High-Performance Storage
| Workload | Recommended tier | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Large-scale model training | ⚡ High-Performance | Faster checkpoint writes reduce wall-clock training time |
| Dataset preprocessing / ETL | ⚡ High-Performance | I/O-bound pipelines benefit most from NVMe throughput |
| Image / audio datasets (many small files) | ⚡ High-Performance | Random read performance is dramatically better on NVMe |
| Inference with model already in GPU memory | Standard (if available) | Compute-bound — storage speed rarely a bottleneck |
| Long-term cold storage for infrequently used data | Standard (if available) | Cost optimization — lower per-GB rate for archival data |
Works with GPU and CPU instances
High-performance is a property of the volume itself, not the instance. A high-performance Network Volume can be attached to any GPU or CPU instance in the same data center — both instance types benefit from the faster I/O. No additional configuration is needed on the instance side.
FAQ
Can I convert an existing standard volume to high-performance?
No. The storage tier is set at creation time and cannot be changed. Create a new high-performance volume, transfer your data via SSH, then delete the old volume.
Why is the toggle grayed out in some data centers?
EU-FR-1, EUR-NO-2, and US-CA-2 only support high-performance storage. In these data centers, the toggle appears locked on because standard storage is not available. This is enforced both in the UI and on the server — attempts to create a standard volume in these regions are rejected.
Is the "3x Speed" label an exact benchmark figure?
The "⚡ 3x Speed" label in the dashboard indicates the NVMe tier provides up to 3x the throughput of standard storage. Actual performance depends on your workload's I/O pattern (sequential vs. random, read vs. write) and the data center's current load.
Where can I check the exact high-performance pricing?
Open the Create Volume modal, select a data center, enable the high-performance toggle, and the Total per month cost updates in real time based on your chosen size. Comparing with the toggle off (in CA-MTL-4) shows the exact price difference.