Simplyblock CSI Driver for Kubernetes

High-performance NVMe/TCP (NVMe-over-Fabrics) CSI Driver for Kubernetes

---

🚀 Overview

simplyblock-csi is the official simplyblock storage plugin for Kubernetes.

The simplyblock CSI extension delivers high-performance block storage to Kubernetes. Simplyblock leverages SPDK and NVMe-over-TCP to implement a high-performance and ultra-low latency storage solution.

Simplyblock's CSI driver enables enterprise-grade, NVMe/TCP-powered block storage directly inside Kubernetes, offering high performance, scalability, and resilience without the need for specialized hardware or vendor lock-in. It supports dynamic provisioning, snapshots, and seamless integration via the Container Storage Interface (CSI).

With simplyblock, you can seamlessly integrate software-defined storage (SDS) into your Kubernetes environment, enabling support for advanced features like:

• ⚡ Ultra-low latency: Unlock performance with NVMe-over-TCP
• 🧩 Native Proxmox integration: Manage volumes directly in Kubernetes
• 🛡️ Enterprise data services: Snapshots, clones, erasure coding, multi-tenancy
• 🔒 Secure & robust: Cluster authentication and Quality of Service (QoS)
• ☁️ Cloud & on-prem flexibility: Deploy into any Kubernetes-based distribution

👉 For full documentation, see the Simplyblock Kubernetes Deployment Guide.

---

✨ Features

Feature	Benefit
Dynamic Volume Provisioning	Dynamically provision and lifecycle-manage persistent volumes in Kubernetes
NVMe/TCP Support	High throughput, low latency storage over standard Ethernet
Snapshots & Clones	Efficient data protection and instant provisioning
Erasure Coding	Fault-tolerant, space-efficient redundancy
Multi-tenancy & QoS	Isolated tenants with guaranteed IOPS, bandwidth, and latency
Resilient Networking	Supports redundant or isolated storage/control networks
Auto-Reconnect	Automatic reconnection of NVMe devices after network or host failures

---

Kubernetes Version Support

Branch/Tag	Kubernetes Version	Stability
master	1.21+	Stable
v0.1.0	1.21+	Beta
v0.1.1	1.21+	Stable

---

📦 Getting Started

The following section describes the installation of the CSI driver only. If you want to install a full simplyblock storage cluster into Kubernetes, please refer to the full documentation: Simplyblock Kubernetes Deployment Guide.

1. Prerequisites

Ensure your cluster meets the requirements:

• Kernel NVMe/TCP driver is loaded:

  modprobe nvme-tcp
  lsmod | grep 'nvme_'

You should see nvme_tcp, nvme_fabrics, and related modules. To make it persistent, add to /etc/modules-load.d/nvme-tcp.conf or /etc/modules depending on your distro.

2. Install via Helm (Recommended)

helm repo add simplyblock-csi https://install.simplyblock.io/helm
helm repo update

export CLUSTER_UUID="<CLUSTER_ID>"
export CLUSTER_SECRET="<CLUSTER_SECRET>"
export CNTR_ADDR="<CONTROL_PLANE_ADDR>"
export POOL_NAME="<STORAGE_POOL_NAME>"

helm install -n simplyblock-csi --create-namespace simplyblock-csi simplyblock-csi/spdk-csi \
  --set csiConfig.simplybk.uuid=${CLUSTER_UUID} \
  --set csiConfig.simplybk.ip=${CNTR_ADDR} \
  --set csiSecret.simplybk.secret=${CLUSTER_SECRET} \
  --set logicalVolume.pool_name=${POOL_NAME}

Verify the deployment:

kubectl -n simplyblock-csi get pods -l release=simplyblock-csi

You should see controller and node pods in the Running state.

Storage Cluster Installation in Kubernetes

Simplyblock supports different Kubernetes deployment topologies:

• Disaggregated Setup Storage nodes on dedicated worker nodes or separate clusters; CSI driver connects client clusters to storage. 📖 Docs

• Hyper-Converged Setup CSI driver runs alongside storage and workloads in the same cluster, enabling local storage affinity and simplified topology. 📖 Docs

For details, see the Kubernetes Deployment Guide.

---

🖥️ Usage

Once deployed, you can manage persistent volumes using standard Kubernetes objects:

• StorageClasses
• PersistentVolumeClaims
• Volume Snapshots
• Clones and resizing
• QoS policies via CSI driver

See full examples in the Usage Guide.

---

🛠️ Troubleshooting & Operations

• Verify CSI pods are running:

  kubectl -n simplyblock-csi get pods

• Check logs for a node or controller pod:

  kubectl -n simplyblock-csi logs <pod-name>

For advanced troubleshooting, monitoring, and maintenance guidance, see the Operations Docs.

---

📄 License

This project is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License — see the LICENSE file for details.

---

📚 Documentation

• Kubernetes Deployment Guide
• Install CSI Driver Only
• Disaggregated Setup
• Hyper-Converged Setup

---

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions!

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/my-feature)
3. Commit your changes with a clear message
4. Push to your fork and open a Pull Request

Please review the CONTRIBUTING.md for details.

---

📬 Support

• 📖 Documentation
• 🐞 GitHub Issues
• 🌐 Simplyblock Website

Maintained by the simplyblock team.

---

Unlock NVMe-grade performance for your Kubernetes workloads with Simplyblock CSI.