Kubernetes SIG Storage

Kubernetes SIG Storage
Name	Kubernetes SIG Storage
Formation	2015
Purpose	Coordinate storage features and interfaces for Kubernetes
Region	Global
Parent organization	Cloud Native Computing Foundation
Website	community SIG page

Kubernetes SIG Storage Kubernetes SIG Storage is a technical special interest group within the Cloud Native Computing Foundation that designs, implements, and maintains storage orchestration, Volume APIs, and ecosystem integrations for the Kubernetes container orchestration platform. The SIG collaborates with vendors, open-source projects, standards bodies, and cloud providers to deliver persistent storage, snapshotting, volume lifecycle, and CSI driver support across diverse infrastructures such as public clouds, on-premises data centers, and edge environments.

Overview

SIG Storage focuses on storage primitives and APIs used by Kubernetes (software), engaging with projects like Container Storage Interface, PersistentVolume, PersistentVolumeClaim, StorageClass, and CSI Drivers. The group coordinates work impacting Cloud Native Computing Foundation, Linux Foundation, and ecosystems involving Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Red Hat, and VMware. SIG priorities include interoperability with OpenStack, Ceph, GlusterFS, Longhorn (software), and integration testing via kubernetes/test-infra and CI systems from GitHub, GitLab, and Jenkins. SIG Storage members interact with standards and vendor initiatives such as CloudEvents, Prometheus, OpenEBS, Rook, Velero (software), and MinIO.

History and Evolution

SIG Storage originated as contributors from Google (company), CoreOS, and Heptio converged to address persistent storage needs for containers after early efforts like Docker (software) volumes and rkt storage integrations. Over time SIG Storage incorporated designs from OpenStack Cinder and lessons from Apache Hadoop HDFS deployments, adding formal CSI support influenced by work from NetApp, Dell Technologies, Pure Storage, and IBM. Key milestones include integrating snapshot APIs inspired by LVM (Linux) and ZFS, advancing topology-aware volume scheduling influenced by Topology-aware scheduling, and establishing yearly roadmaps coordinated with events like KubeCon and CloudNativeCon. The group’s evolution reflects collaborations with projects such as Kustomize, Helm, Istio, and Envoy (software) for broader platform stability.

Governance and Membership

SIG Storage governance aligns with Kubernetes SIG principles overseen by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation community governance model and the Linux Foundation code of conduct frameworks. Membership includes maintainers and approvers drawn from companies like Canonical, SUSE, Oracle, Huawei, Alibaba Cloud, DigitalOcean, NetApp, and independent contributors from academic institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of California, Berkeley. The SIG holds public meetings advertised on the Kubernetes calendar and coordinates with groups like SIG Node, SIG Cluster Lifecycle, SIG API Machinery, and SIG Architecture. Decision-making follows consensus-based models documented in community repositories maintained on GitHub and discussed on Google Groups and Slack (software) channels.

Projects and Subteams

SIG Storage organizes around subteams and projects including CSI driver review, snapshot controller, provisioning controller, topology/policy, and test-infra. Notable subprojects include integration of Container Storage Interface, driver maintainership for Rook and OpenEBS, backup and restore through Velero (software), and block/ file support for Ceph and GlusterFS. The SIG collaborates with vendor-driven initiatives such as NetApp Trident, Portworx, StorageOS, and cloud-native projects like Longhorn (software) and MinIO. Cross-project work engages kube-scheduler, kubelet, etcd, and API Server teams to implement features like CSI volume health monitoring, snapshotting, and resizing.

Contributions and Community Events

SIG Storage contributes code, design proposals, and test suites via GitHub, presents at conferences including KubeCon, CloudNativeCon, Open Source Summit, and regional meetups organized by CNCF chapters. Members publish KEPs (Kubernetes Enhancement Proposals) coordinated with SIG Architecture and present at events such as Storage SIG meetups, Community Days, and vendor summits hosted by AWS, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure. The SIG also runs hackathons and localization efforts in partnership with LF Networking and engages with standards bodies including SNIA and IETF working groups when APIs intersect with broader storage protocols.

Notable Implementations and Integrations

Implementations influenced by SIG Storage include CSI drivers from NetApp, Pure Storage, Dell EMC, IBM Storage, and open projects like Rook, OpenEBS, Longhorn (software), and Ceph. Cloud provider integrations include Amazon Elastic Block Store, Azure Disk Storage, Google Persistent Disk, Alibaba Cloud Disk, and DigitalOcean Block Storage. Backup and snapshot integrations involve Velero (software), Restic, and object stores like MinIO and Amazon S3. The SIG’s interfaces enable stateful workloads such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, Kafka (software), and Elasticsearch to run with persistent volumes across heterogeneous infrastructures.

Security and Compliance Practices

SIG Storage adopts security practices in collaboration with SIG Security, leveraging threat modeling techniques from OWASP Foundation and compliance frameworks represented by HIPAA, PCI DSS, and GDPR where relevant to storage handling. The SIG emphasizes secure CSI driver development, secret management with HashiCorp Vault, encryption integration via KMIP and cloud KMS providers such as Google Cloud KMS and AWS KMS, and auditing through Auditd and OpenTelemetry. Vulnerability reporting and handling follow protocols coordinated with CNCF Vulnerability Disclosure processes and partner programs at Red Hat and Microsoft.

Category:Kubernetes