Table of contents

File Storage

File Storage is Podstack’s project-scoped S3 service backed by self-hosted MinIO/TrueNAS infrastructure. It uses the same S3 protocol as Object Storage but is hosted on cluster-local hardware — ideal for working datasets that pods read from heavily, where egress to a third-party object store would dominate cost.

Find it under File Storage in the sidebar (/portal/storage). The page is hidden when the platform sets REACT_APP_ENABLE_FILE_STORAGE=false at build time.

When to Use File Storage vs Object Storage

Use File Storage when…Use Object Storage when…
Data is hot — pods read it on every jobData is archival or cold
You want low egress between pods and storageYou need public sharing or presigned URLs
You’re keeping the data inside one clusterYou want managed regional storage with a subscription plan

For long-term archives, public datasets, and model release artifacts, prefer Object Storage.

Creating a Bucket

  1. Open File Storage and pick your project.
  2. Click Create Bucket.
  3. Configure:
    • Name: lowercase, S3-compatible bucket name
    • Description (optional)
    • Max Size: provisioned quota (1 GB – 10 TB)
    • Visibility: Public or Private
    • Versioning: keep file history when objects are overwritten
  4. Click Create.

The bucket is provisioned on the cluster’s storage backend and a set of S3 credentials is issued.

Managing Files

Upload

  • Web UI: drag and drop or click Upload. The global upload manager handles chunking and continues uploads across page navigation.
  • S3 API: use any S3-compatible client with the bucket’s credentials.

Browse and Operate

The bucket detail view exposes folder navigation, search, single-object download, bulk-select with bulk delete, and a per-object presigned URL generator for sharing.

Bucket Settings

From the settings icon you can:

  • Edit the description
  • Toggle public/private visibility
  • Update the maximum size (quota)
  • Force-delete the bucket including all contents (irreversible)

Quotas

Buckets enforce a maximum size at write time:

  • Uploads that would exceed the quota fail at the API level.
  • The bucket card surfaces current usage vs. quota.
  • You can raise the quota anytime; lowering it requires support.

Billing

File Storage is billed per project on quota and usage (not on a fixed plan). See your wallet’s expenditure breakdown for the current rate.

Next Steps