1) The Docker Volume Isolator in Mesos allows containers to use external distributed storage volumes for persistent data, providing availability and scale beyond a single host. 2) It uses a driver-based model where volume drivers like Convoy and Rex-ray manage the external storage, and the isolator handles mounting volumes into containers. 3) The isolator mounts and unmounts volumes using the driver name and volume name, providing operators flexibility in their choice of storage platforms like IBM Spectrum Scale, AWS EBS, or GCE.