Filebase FAQ

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Filebase FAQ

Below you can find frequently asked questions about Filebase.

Filebase is the world’s first object storage platform powered by decentralized storage networks.
We unify multiple networks under a single S3-Compatible API to make decentralized storage simple, accessible, and easy to use.
How does Filebase work?
Unlike traditional cloud providers, Filebase does not operate any physical infrastructure. Instead, we maintain a cluster of application servers connected to various decentralized networks. This results in a lower overhead and capital expense due to fewer servers.
Through either our browser-based interface or by using our S3-Compatible API, users can create buckets and upload objects to those buckets. Most traffic is served through our S3 API.
What is a Bucket?
In the world of object storage, there are buckets and objects. Buckets are like file folders, they store data and the associated metadata. Buckets are containers for objects.
Learn how to create and manage buckets here.
What is an Object?
In the world of object storage, objects are files and the associated metadata of those files. Objects get stored in buckets, like in traditional file storage, files get stored in folders.
I’ve read a lot about AWS S3 Buckets leaking data - How secure is Filebase by default?
Data stored on Filebase is always encrypted during transit and when the data is at rest. Server side encryption is native and by default enabled for all users.
Since Filebase supports decentralized networks powered by blockchain, objects are stored across in small chunks across multiple nodes around the world. No node ever has complete access to an entire object or unencrypted data.
In an effort to further simplify security and access control, objects on the Filebase platform inherit the ACL of the parent bucket. For example, the GetObjectAcl and GetBucketAcl methods will function as expected, but the GetObjectAcl response will return the ACL of the bucket that the object is contained in.
The Filebase S3-Compatible API supports HTTP/2 (which requires TLS) and data encryption at rest. Data encryption at rest is enabled by default without any additional action required by the user.
Does Filebase have object size limits?
Objects stored on Filebase can range in size from a minimum of 0 bytes to a maximum of 300GB. The largest object that can be uploaded in a single HTTP PUT or POST is 5GB. If you want to upload an object larger than 5GB, you will need to initiate a multipart upload via our S3 API.
For objects larger than 100MB, customers should consider using the Multipart Upload capability for increased reliability.
Learn more about multipart uploads here.​
What storage networks do you support?
Filebase scales horizontally across multiple underlying decentralized storage networks.
Currently, we support the following storage networks:
​Sia​
​Skynet​
​Storj​
Users have the ability to choose between any of these storage networks when creating their bucket, and storing data on Filebase.
If you would like to have your storage network added to Filebase, please email [email protected].
What is the difference between these storage networks and how do I know which one to choose?
Sia is a private network by default and is the recommended choice for storing data that is prioritizing data privacy over performance.
Storj is also a private network by default and is the recommended choice for large sets of data and objects.
Skynet is a publicly accessible network and is the recommended choice for easy file sharing.
For more information on the difference between these networks, see here. 
Why would someone use Filebase instead of going directly to these networks instead?
​Since we started building Filebase in early 2018 and up through today, decentralized storage still very difficult to utilize for the everyday consumer and enterprise. It requires complex software needing to be constantly running to ensure file health, and wallets fed with cryptocurrency. We recognized early on that an “easy on-ramp” was necessary for wide-scale adoption and use of these disruptive technologies.
What API clients or tools work with Filebase?
Since Filebase is S3-Compatible, it works out of the box with S3 API compatible tools, SDKs, and frameworks. For a full list of tools that we have documentation on, please see here.
How does Filebase help my Disaster Recovery (DR) strategy?
Filebase is pioneering the concept of "native geo-redundancy" for Object Storage. Native geo-redundancy by default affords Filebase users a default level of 3x redundancy for all of their data, within one single bucket on the Filebase platform. In order to accomplish the same level of redundancy with AWS, you would need 3 regionally-distributed buckets, at 3 times the cost.
This makes Filebase an ideal platform for developers with valuable data or larger companies and enterprises focused on disaster recovery.
How much is pricing on Filebase?
Please review our Pricing Model for more information around our current storage pricing on Filebase.
Does Filebase have a minimum monthly charge?
Yes, all paid subscriptions are charged a minimum of $5.99 per month. This pricing includes your first 1 TB of storage and 1 TB of bandwidth. All storage and bandwidth usage beyond that is charged a simple and flat-rate $0.0059 per GB.
How is Filebase 90% cheaper than other S3 storage solutions?
Filebase is the first platform that leverages multiple decentralized storage networks, and thus, does not have to build out any physical infrastructure, making the operation of our services far more efficient and cost-effective to our customers. We are taking advantage of and helping to economize all of the existing unused storage capacity that is available around the world, across the decentralized storage networks that we support. These networks offer native erasure coding, which results in high levels of availability, durability, and redundancy.
Filebase's pricing model begins at $5.99 per 1TB of data and 1TB of bandwidth. In comparison, the cost to store and download 1 terabyte of data on AWS with matching 3x regional replication that Filebase has by default, would be about $111 per month. This is an average saving of ~94%.
How is storage usage calculated?
Filebase storage usage is calculated in binary gigabytes (GB), where 1GB is 2³⁰ bytes. This unit of measurement is also known as a gibibyte (GiB), defined by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Similarly, 1TB is 2⁴⁰ bytes, i.e. 1024 GBs.
How do I cancel my paid subscription?
Downgrading your account is simple. To start, your account must be using 5 GB of less to fit within our free tier. You will not be able to downgrade until your account is consuming 5GB or less. Then, follow these 3 easy steps:
1.Visit the Billing page of the dashboard: https://console.filebase.com/billing​
2.Select the Free option from the Plan section. This will cancel your paid subscription.
3.Click Save.
How do I close my Filebase account?
Due to the nature of our service (data storage), customers must clean up and remove all of their data first before closing their account. This can be done from within our console dashboard or using our API, though the API is the recommended workflow.
We only allow 1,000 files to be deleted at a time from our browser dashboard. Depending on the number of files that you have, you can click Delete and wait a few times, or you can use an API client such as CyberDuck or AWS CLI to delete your data.
Once all data has been cleaned up, you will need to email [email protected] to submit a written request to close your account. 
If you have any questions, please send us an email at [email protected]​