What is Shared Volume?

Shared Volume Logo

SharedVolume is a powerful Kubernetes operator that revolutionizes how you share data between pods and workloads. Effortlessly sync content from Git repositories, S3 buckets, HTTP sources, and more with just a few lines of YAML.

🎯 The Problem It Solves

In traditional Kubernetes environments, sharing data between pods often involves:

  • Kubernetes has no native multi-source sync, so fetching data from Git, S3, HTTP, or SSH usually requires custom init containers, sidecars, or sync jobs.
  • Kubernetes causes data duplication and waste, since each workload often stores its own copy of the same dataset.
  • Kubernetes enforces namespace isolation, making volume sharing across namespaces difficult or impossible without hacks.
  • Kubernetes requires manual updates, meaning new Git commits or S3 changes must be synced with custom cron jobs or pipelines.

Shared Volume eliminates these complexities.

🚀 How It Works

Shared Volume introduces three key concepts:

📦 Define a SharedVolume (SV or CSV)

  • In your cluster, you create a SharedVolume (namespace-scoped) or ClusterSharedVolume (cluster-wide)
  • You specify the data source (Git repo, S3 bucket, HTTP endpoint, SSH source, etc.).

🔄 Operator Handles Data Sync

  • The SharedVolume operator automatically pulls and keeps the data in sync with the source.
  • Only one copy of the data is stored in the background, no matter how many pods use it.

📎 Pods Attach with Simple Annotations

  • Instead of writing complex PersistentVolume YAML, you just annotate your pod and the operator injects the volume automatically into the pod.

✨ Key Benefits

Effortless Data Sharing

  • Share data between pods and workloads without writing complex PVC or storage configs.

Multi-Source Support

  • Sync directly from Git, S3, HTTP, and SSH without custom init containers or sidecars.

Single Storage Copy

  • Keeps only one copy of the data, reducing storage usage and avoiding duplication.

Cross-Namespace Sharing

  • Use ClusterSharedVolume(csv) to share data across namespace boundaries.

Always Up-to-Date

  • Automatic sync keeps data fresh without manual cron jobs or pipeline hacks.

Simple Integration

  • Just add a pod annotation to mount shared volumes instantly.

Cost & Resource Efficiency

  • Saves both storage costs and operational overhead compared to traditional solutions.

📌 Perfect Use Cases

⚙️ Configuration Management

Share configuration files, certificates, and settings across multiple microservices without rebuilding containers.

🌐 Static Asset Distribution

Distribute web assets, documentation, or media files from your CDN, S3 bucket, or Git repository directly to your pods.

🔄 CI/CD Data Flow

Pass build artifacts, test results, or deployment configurations seamlessly between different pipeline stages.

📊 Multi-Stage Processing

Share datasets, intermediate results, or processed files between different processing steps in data or ML pipelines.

🤖 Data Processing & AI/ML

Distribute large datasets, trained models, or analytics results across multiple compute workloads efficiently.

🛠️ Development Environments

Provide shared SDKs, dependencies, or tools across development pods and teams without duplication.

🔗 Cross-Namespace Collaboration

Enable teams in different namespaces to securely share the same data sources without complex hacks.

🏗️ Architecture Overview

┌─────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐
│   Git Repo  │  │  S3 Bucket   │  │ HTTP Source │  │ SSH Source  │
│    🗂️      │  │     🪣       │  │     🌐     │  │     🔐     │
└─────────────┘  └──────────────┘  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘
       │                │                │                │
       └────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────┘
                        │                │      (External sources - Optional)
                        │                │
                 ┌──────▼────────────────▼──────┐
                 │   Shared Volume Controller   │ ← 🎛️ Kubernetes Operator
                 │    (Syncs data to shared     │
                 │     storage for each SV/CSV) │
                 └──────────────┬───────────────┘
                                │
                 ┌──────────────▼───────────────┐
                 │        Shared Storage        │
                 │       (NFS Server)           │ ← 📦 Generated single for each SV/CSV
                 │  • Dynamic (nfs-server op)   │     Can be:
                 │    (requires privilege mode) │     - Generated by nfs-server operator (only if cluster allows privileged mode)
                 │  • Static (external NFS)     │     - Static external NFS server
                 └──────────────┬───────────────┘
                                │
       ┌────────────────────────┼────────────────────────┐
       │                        │                        │
   ┌───▼───┐                ┌───▼───┐                ┌───▼───┐
   │ Pod A │                │ Pod B │                │ Pod C │
   │  📱   │                │  🖥️   │                │  🔧   │
   └───────┘                └───────┘                └───────┘

🚀 Ready to Get Started?