What happens to the data volume if a pod in a StatefulSet is deleted and recreated?

What happens to the data volume if a pod in a StatefulSet is deleted and recreated?

• A. The data is destroyed when the pod is deleted
• B. The data is transferred to a new cluster
• C. The data persists and is reattached to the new pod
• D. The data migrates to an external database

Answer: (C)

StatefulSets give each Pod its own stable storage through a PersistentVolumeClaim tied to that Pod’s ordinal index. The data lives on the PersistentVolume (PV) and persists independently of the Pod lifecycle. When the Pod is deleted and a new Pod with the same identity is created, Kubernetes reattaches the same PersistentVolumeClaim to the new Pod. The application then sees the data that was on the volume before the Pod was deleted, so the data persists and is reattached to the new Pod. This behavior contrasts with destroying data or moving it elsewhere, which would require explicit actions like deleting the PV/PVC or migrating data.

StatefulSets give each Pod its own stable storage through a PersistentVolumeClaim tied to that Pod’s ordinal index. The data lives on the PersistentVolume (PV) and persists independently of the Pod lifecycle.

When the Pod is deleted and a new Pod with the same identity is created, Kubernetes reattaches the same PersistentVolumeClaim to the new Pod. The application then sees the data that was on the volume before the Pod was deleted, so the data persists and is reattached to the new Pod.

This behavior contrasts with destroying data or moving it elsewhere, which would require explicit actions like deleting the PV/PVC or migrating data.