A GlusterFS volume is a virtual disk that comprises bricks. A brick is a directory on the servers within the Trusted Pool dedicated to being joined into a GlusterFS volume.

Related: How to create storage cluster for GlusterFS

A GlusterFS volume would then be exported and mounted by remote clients. There are multiple types of GlusterFS volume, and each provides a different level of scalability and performance.

Steps to create GlusterFS volume:

  1. Allow network access for volume communication from the firewall on all nodes.

    $ sudo firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-port=24009/tcp --permanent && sudo firewall-cmd --reload # CentOS, Fedora, Red Hat
    $ sudo ufw allow 24009 # Ubuntu and Debian variance  Rules updated Rules updated (v6) # Ubuntu and Debian

    Each volume requires a dedicated port, starting from 24009. If you're to create more than one volume, also allow access to port 24010, 24011 and so on accordingly.

  2. Create directory for our GlusterFS volume on all nodes. 

    $ sudo mkdir -p /var/data/gluster/brick

    For the production server, it’s recommended to create the brick or GlusterFS volume on dedicated partition instead of in a system directory.

    XFS is the recommended filesystem type for GlusterFS volume though other filesystem types can still be used.

  3. Create GlusterFS volume from first node. 

    $ sudo gluster volume create volume1 replica 2 transport tcp node1:/var/data/gluster/brick node2:/var/data/gluster/brick force volume create: volume1: success: please start the volume to access data

    Related: Types of GlusterFS volumes

    Recommended to use more than 3 nodes to prevent split brain.

  4. Enable the newly created volume from first node. 

    $ sudo gluster volume start volume1 volume start: volume1: success

  5. Verify if the GlusterFS volume was created successfully from first node. 

    $ sudo gluster volume info all   Volume Name: volume1 Type: Replicate Volume ID: 19550419-3495-45d7-bdc6-cab4fa4fb516 Status: Started Snapshot Count: 0 Number of Bricks: 1 x 2 = 2 Transport-type: tcp Bricks: Brick1: node1:/var/data/gluster/brick Brick2: node2:/var/data/gluster/brick Options Reconfigured: cluster.granular-entry-heal: on storage.fips-mode-rchecksum: on transport.address-family: inet nfs.disable: on performance.client-io-threads: off