Setting up File Storage for shared team access
Quick answer
File Storage gives a team or a group of systems shared access to the same files over NFS or SMB, organised in ordinary folders and subfolders. You control who can read and write with rights management, keep usage in check with quotas, and let people recover their own files from snapshots without opening a support ticket.
What it is
File Storage is Worldstream's alternative to running your own file server. Instead of connecting through an API the way you would with Object Storage, systems and users connect directly with the standard file-sharing protocols they already know: NFS and SMB. Files sit in a recognisable folder hierarchy, the same structure any operating system already presents, which is what makes it straightforward to hand to a team without training.
Folder structure and access
Because File Storage mounts like a normal network share, you organise it the way you'd organise any shared drive: folders and subfolders per team, project, or function. Multiple users and applications can read and write to the same share at once, which is the core difference from Block Storage, where a volume is attached to a single server.
Rights and quota management
File Storage includes rights management for controlling who can access which folders, so you can scope access by team without splitting the data across separate shares. Alongside that, you can set quotas to keep storage consumption under control, useful for shared drives that would otherwise grow without anyone noticing.
Snapshot-based recovery
If snapshots are configured on a share, users can recover earlier versions of their own files themselves through "previous versions," without needing IT to step in. That self-service path is one of the main reasons to pick File Storage over a manually managed file server: recovery from an accidental overwrite or deletion doesn't have to wait for a ticket.
When to use it
- Centralised file sharing and document management across a collaborating team.
- Secure storage with fast, self-service recovery after accidental loss or deletion.
- User profile and centralised data storage in more complex IT environments.
If what you actually need is a disk for a single VM or database rather than a share multiple people connect to, see Block Storage instead. If you're storing files you write once and read back over HTTP rather than mounting a share, that's Object Storage.
Quotas and sizing: This page does not list quota limits or share size limits. Open a support ticket in Portal for the current figures before you size a specific workload.