---
title: "Put data on a disk"
description: "Copy files onto a mounted TIR Block Storage disk from a terminal on the instance, including data from an Object Storage (EOS) dataset."
content_type: "how-to"
product: "tir-block-storage"
platform: "TIR"
url: "/tir/tir-block-storage/how-to/put-data-on-a-disk/"
topic: ["data"]
---

# Put data on a disk

Put data on a disk from the instance that mounts it. Every file goes in through the instance, including data you copy from an Object Storage (EOS) dataset.

## Before you begin

- The disk [mounted on an instance](/tir/tir-block-storage/how-to/mount-a-disk-on-an-instance/),
  so its folder `/datasets/<name>` exists.
- A terminal on the instance, in JupyterLab or [over SSH](/tir/tir-instance/how-to/connect-to-an-instance-over-ssh/).
- Enough room on the disk for the data. The portal shows a disk's size, not how much of it is used.

## Copy files in

Copy files into the disk's folder as you would on any file system, or write to the folder from your
code. Replace `<name>` with your disk's **Dataset Name** and `<file>` with a file on the instance:

```bash
cp <file> /datasets/<name>/
```

To bring files from your own computer or another server onto the instance first, see
[Copy files to and from an instance](/tir/tir-instance/how-to/copy-files-to-and-from-an-instance/).
Compress data before you write it to save space on the disk.

## Copy data from an Object Storage dataset

An Object Storage dataset mounts read-only, so keep data you change on a disk. To copy a
dataset onto a disk, mount both on the same instance, then copy from one folder to the other.
Replace `<alias>` with the Object Storage dataset's **Alias (Dataset Name)**:

```bash
cp -r /datasets/<alias>/. /datasets/<name>/
```

Keep large reference data in Object Storage and mount it from there, and keep the disk small for
scratch space and steps that write. For the mount steps, see
[Mount datasets and file systems on an instance](/tir/tir-instance/how-to/mount-datasets-and-file-systems/).

## Take data out

Copy files out of the mounted folder from the same terminal, as [Copy files to and from an instance](/tir/tir-instance/how-to/copy-files-to-and-from-an-instance/) describes.
To remove data, delete the files from the folder. Deleting files frees space on the disk, and the
bill stays the same, because a disk is billed by the size you allocated.

The data stays on the disk when you unmount it, so you can mount the disk on another instance and
find it there.

If the folder is missing in the instance, see
[Troubleshooting TIR Block Storage](/tir/tir-block-storage/troubleshooting/tir-block-storage/).