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.

Have a question about Filebase? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions below.

What is Filebase?

How does Filebase work?

Filebase is a decentralized, geo-redundant IPFS pinning service that also supports data storage on the Sia network. Filebase operates IPFS nodes located across diverse geographic locations in the US and Europe, and each file uploaded to IPFS is pinned with 3x replication across these servers.

Through either our browser-based interface, using our S3-compatible API, or using the IPFS pinning service API, users can create buckets and pin files to the IPFS network.

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 the difference between a public and private bucket?

Public Buckets can be referenced and accessed through an S3 URL in the following format:

https://bucket-name.s3.filebase.com Private buckets cannot be accessed through this S3 URL publicly. To access content stored in Private buckets, a pre-signed URL is required.

All files stored in IPFS buckets, even if the bucket is private, are publicly accessible through IPFS CIDs and IPFS gateways. All buckets are private by default.

Public bucket functionality is only available to paid subscription users.

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.

What are access keys?

Access keys are a pair of unique credentials that are used for authentication through the Filebase S3-compatible API. This access key pair is required for connecting to Filebase through an SDK, third party tool, CLI tool, or any other interaction using the Filebase S3-compatible API.

What does 'Bandwidth' mean?

Bandwidth refers to the amount of data required to display or download the content that you or your users access through the dedicated gateway. Whether it's an image, video, audio, or any other type of file, the data that makes up the content is transmitted from an IPFS node to your device, and the quantity of this data is what determines the bandwidth.

Filebase only charges for Bandwidth for outgoing data transfer (egress). Upload bandwidth (ingress) is always free.

Does Filebase support multiple access key pairs?

Filebase currently does not support multiple access key pairs per account but plans to support this feature in the future.

Common Functions

How do I create a private bucket?

1. Click on the ‘Buckets’ option from the menu to open the Buckets dashboard.

2. Once at the Buckets dashboard, create a new bucket by clicking the ‘Create Bucket’ option in the top right corner.

3. Enter a bucket name and choose your storage network.

Bucket names must be unique across all Filebase users, be between 3 and 63 characters long, and can contain only lowercase characters, numbers, and dashes.

Filebase currently has 2 different decentralized storage networks to choose from:

IPFS: Files stored on IPFS are publicly accessible through IPFS gateways. Recommended for storing data related to Web3 assets, such as NFTs, metadata, or decentralized website data.
Sia: Private by default. Recommended for data privacy.

Each storage network geo-distributes your data automatically. All data is encrypted at rest and at transit.

4. Once you have filled out these fields, click ‘Create Bucket’. Buckets are private by default. To create a public bucket, you must be a paid user.

How do I create a public bucket?

Public buckets are not available for free accounts. Users will need to have an active Filebase paid account to create and enable public buckets.

Does Filebase have bucket size limits?

No, there is no maximum size limit for a Filebase bucket, as long as it is within the user's maximum storage allocation based on their subscription tier level.

How do I upload an object?

1. To upload objects to a bucket, start by clicking on the ‘Buckets’ option from the menu to open the Buckets dashboard.

2. Click on the bucket name that you want to upload objects to.

3. After clicking on the bucket name, you will see all objects that are currently in the bucket. To upload more objects to the bucket, click on the ’Upload’ button in the top right corner.

4. Select the files you want to upload to the bucket.

Does Filebase have object size limits?

Filebase object size limits vary based on network. IPFS: IPFS does not have a maximum file size, but any file larger than 5GB should be uploaded using the S3-compatible API to benefit from Multipart Upload.

Sia: The largest individual object size supported for objects stored in Sia buckets is 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.

If I upload an object with the same name, will it overwrite the original?

Yes, uploading an object with the same name will replace the existing object.

What is the maximum number of objects per bucket?

There is no maximum number of objects that can be stored in a bucket.

What is the maximum storage amount in a single bucket?

There is no maximum storage amount for a single bucket. Maximum storage limits are only imposed on free users, who are limited to a total of 5GB across all buckets. Paid users have no maximum storage limitations.

S3 API

What is the Filebase S3 API rate limit?

The Filebase S3 API has an effective rate limit of 100 RPS (requests per second).

How do I allow other users to upload objects to a bucket on my account?

You can allow others to upload objects to a bucket on your Filebase account through pre-signed URLs.

If you haven't used AWS CLI before, see here for our guide on configuring and getting started using AWS CLI.

To create a pre-signed URL with AWS CLI:

aws s3 --endpoint https://s3.filebase.com presign s3://filebase-bucket-name/file.name

For more information on pre-signed URLs, check out our documentation here.

How do I use a pre-signed URL?

If you haven't used AWS CLI before, see here for our guide on configuring and getting started using AWS CLI.

To create a pre-signed URL with AWS CLI:

aws s3 --endpoint https://s3.filebase.com presign s3://filebase-bucket-name/file.name

For more information on pre-signed URLs, check out our documentation here.

What is the maximum object size for an object located in an IPFS bucket?

Files up to 1 TB in size are supported. However, we strongly encourage users to keep file sizes to 250 GB or below, as working with larger files can introduce additional challenges. Any file larger than 5GB should be uploaded using the S3-compatible Multipart Upload API.

How do I set a CORS policy on my bucket?

The Filebase S3-compatible API supports CORS configurations for buckets.

The following API methods are supported:

GetBucketCors
PutBucketCors
DeleteBucketCors

To configure a Filebase bucket to allow cross-origin requests, you will need to create a CORS rule. This rule identifies the origins that you will allow to access your bucket, the HTTP methods that will be supported for each origin, and other operation specific information.

This rule can be a JSON or XML file, though if using AWS CLI to apply this rule, a .json file is required.

Example #1 JSON:

This example is a wildcard rule that allows cross-origin GET requests from all origins.

{
"CORSRules":[
    {
        "AllowedHeaders": [],
        "AllowedMethods": [
            "GET"
        ],
        "AllowedOrigins": [
            "*"
        ],
        "ExposeHeaders": []
    }
    ]
}

Example #1 XML:

<CORSConfiguration>
    <CORSRule>
        <AllowedOrigin>*</AllowedOrigin>
        <AllowedMethod>GET</AllowedMethod>
    </CORSRule>
</CORSConfiguration>

Example #2 JSON:

CORS also allows optional configuration parameters, as shown in the following CORS rule.

MaxAgeSeconds: Specifies the amount of time in seconds that the browser caches a response to a preflight OPTIONS request for the specified resource.
ExposeHeader: Identifies the response headers that customers are able to access from their applications. In this example, x-amz-server-side-encryption, x-amz-request-id, and x-amz-id-2.

In this second example, the CORS rule allows cross-origin PUT, POST, and DELETE requests from the http://www.example.com origin, with a MaxAgeSeconds of 3000 and ExposeHeaders of x-amz-server-side-encryption, x-amz-request-id, and x-amz-id-2.

{
"CORSRules": [
    {
        "AllowedHeaders": [
            "*”
        ],
        "AllowedMethods": [
            "PUT",
            "POST",
            "DELETE"
        ],
        "AllowedOrigins": [
            "http://www.example.com"
        ],
        "ExposeHeaders": [
            "x-amz-server-side-encryption",
            "x-amz-request-id",
            "x-amz-id-2"
        ],
        "MaxAgeSeconds": 3000
    }
    ]
}

Example #2 XML:

<CORSConfiguration>
<CORSRule>
<AllowedOrigin>http://www.example.com</AllowedOrigin>
<AllowedMethod>PUT</AllowedMethod>
<AllowedMethod>POST</AllowedMethod>
<AllowedMethod>DELETE</AllowedMethod>
<AllowedHeader>*</AllowedHeader>
<MaxAgeSeconds>3000</MaxAgeSeconds>
<ExposeHeader>x-amz-server-side-encryption</ExposeHeader>
<ExposeHeader>x-amz-request-id</ExposeHeader>
<ExposeHeader>x-amz-id-2</ExposeHeader>
</CORSRule>
</CORSConfiguration>

Applying a CORS Rule to a Filebase Bucket

To apply a CORS rule, you can use a tool such as the AWS CLI to apply the .json file you created containing the rule. For information on how to configure AWS CLI, see here.

From the command line, enter the following command to apply the CORS rule to the intended Filebase bucket:

aws --endpoint https://s3.filebase.com s3api put-bucket-cors --bucket bucket-name --cors-configuration=file://corspolicy.json

IPFS Pinning

How do I pin an object to IPFS?

All files uploaded to IPFS are pinned to IPFS automatically. This means that they are protected from the IPFS garbage collection process. 1. Start by clicking on the ‘Buckets’ option from the menu to open the Buckets dashboard.

2. Select your IPFS Bucket.

3. After clicking on the bucket name, you will see any previously uploaded files. To upload another file, select 'Upload', then select 'File' from the options.

4. Select the file you want to upload to the IPFS.

5. Once uploaded, you will be able to view and copy the IPFS CID from the 'CID' category.

How do I pin a folder to IPFS?

1. Start by clicking on the ‘Buckets’ option from the menu to open the Buckets dashboard.

2. Select your IPFS Bucket.

3. After clicking on the bucket name, you will see any previously uploaded files. To upload another file, select 'Upload', then select 'Folder' from the options.

4. Select the folder you'd like to upload to IPFS.

5. Once uploaded, the folder will look similar to IPFS individual files.

6. Copy the IPFS CID for your folder, then navigate to https://ipfs.filebase.io/ipfs/[CID]. The contents of your folder will be listed.

Is data uploaded to IPFS public?

Yes, all data uploaded to IPFS is public, even if the data is stored in a private Filebase bucket. All data uploaded to IPFS can be referenced and accessed by their IPFS CID through an IPFS gateway.

What does Pinned 3x mean?

Filebase operates a unique IPFS architecture that is specifically designed to maximize performance, availability, and content discoverability.

When you uploaded a file to Filebase, the file is automatically replicated to 3 unique data centers and pinned to IPFS by each of them. Each data center is geographically separated and resides in a different country or continent.

The net result is 3 unique IPFS peers are now pinning the same file, and with IPFS, performance, availability, and discoverability all increase with peer count.

How do I use an IPFS gateway?

Content stored on IPFS can be accessed by using an IPFS gateway. Gateways are used to provide workarounds for applications that don’t natively support IPFS. An IPFS gateway can be local, private, or public, and uses the IPFS content ID to provide a URL link to the content for access to the stored content.

Filebase's native IPFS gateway is as follows: https://ipfs.filebase.io/ipfs/{CID}

The Filebase Public IPFS Gateway has an effective rate limit of 200 RPM (requests per minute).

All content stored on IPFS through Filebase can be accessed through the Filebase gateway with faster response times than accessing the content through any other gateway. This is because the Filebase gateway is peered with our IPFS nodes. The Filebase gateway is also peered with the IPFS gateways of other pinning services.

What is the Filebase IPFS public gateway rate limit?

The Filebase Public IPFS Gateway has an effective rate limit of 200 RPM (requests per minute).

Will my files stay on IPFS if I cancel my account?

Your files will persist on IPFS if they’re being cached by other nodes. However, over time they may become unresponsive if those nodes remove your files through the garbage collection process. Additionally, there is no guarantee that other nodes are caching your files to begin with.

IPFS Dedicated Gateways

What is an IPFS dedicated gateway?

An IPFS gateway is an IPFS peer that accepts HTTP requests for IPFS CIDs. A dedicated gateway provides users with a convenient way to access IPFS content without needing to run an IPFS node themselves. The gateway acts as an intermediary between the user's web browser or application and the IPFS network, retrieving and serving content on behalf of the user.

For a deep dive on IPFS gateways and how they work, plus a full walkthrough of using IPFS gateways on Filebase, see our documentation here.

What are the benefits of using an IPFS dedicated gateway?

Dedicated Gateways come with several benefits, such as:

Increased performance and retrieval times.
No rate limits when accessing content through the dedicated gateway.
Limiting content (whitelisting) that the gateway can serve through the Scope feature of a dedicated gateway.
Setting a Root CID of the gateway that can be used for website or app hosting.

Do you have any examples on how to use IPFS dedicated gateways?

Yes! We have several tutorials in the IPFS Gateways section of our documentation.

Integrations

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 our documentation for the following:

Security

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 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.

Use Cases

How does Filebase help my Disaster Recovery (DR) strategy?

Filebase is pioneering the concept of "native geo-redundancy" for IPFS Pinning and data storage. Native geo-redundancy by default provides 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. To learn more about geo-redundancy, check out our Deep Dive here.

Can I use Filebase for my NFT collection?

Yes, Filebase can be used in a variety of different NFT collection workflows. Check out our Web3 tutorials for detailed walkthroughs on how to use Filebase in different NFT collection smart contracts and workflows.

Can I use Filebase for decentralized application (dApp) storage?

Yes, Filebase can be used in a variety of different dApp workflows. Check out our Web3 tutorials for detailed walkthroughs on how to use Filebase in dApp configurations.

Can I use Filebase for personal data storage?

Yes, Filebase can be used for personal data storage. Filebase can be configured for use with hundreds of different backup tools, NAS devices, and file management applications. Check out our documentation on third party configurations here.

Is Filebase an alternative for AWS?

Yes, Filebase offers an S3-compatible API that can be configured as an alternative to most S3-compatible tools and applications as an alternative to AWS. Read more about our S3 API here.

Is Filebase an alternative for Pinata?

Yes, Filebase offers an IPFS pinning service that can be used as an alternative to the Pinata IPFS pinning service. Read more about our IPFS pinning service here.

Billing and Pricing

How much is pricing on Filebase?

Please review our Pricing Model for more information about our current storage pricing on Filebase.

How do I start a free trial?

Once you create a Filebase account, your account will be a free user by default. Filebase is free to use for all users, who can store up to 5GB of data on Filebase with no credit card required. After 5GB, users will need to upgrade to our subscription model.

What is the bandwidth limit for a free user?

Free users are limited to 5GB of egress bandwidth.

How do I upgrade to a paid subscription?

Upgrading to a Paid Subscription

Visit the Billing page of the dashboard. Subscriptions are split between the IPFS network and the Sia network. The IPFS Pricing Plans will be shown first, followed by the Decentralized Storage Pricing Plan for the Sia network.

2. Select the subscription plan that fits your workflow. For detailed information on each pricing plan, please see our Pricing Model.

3. Once you select a plan, you will be redirected to a Stripe checkout screen. Enter your billing information and confirm your subscription by selecting 'Subscribe'.

The Stripe checkout will detail 3 parts:

Your base subscription plan: In this example, the IPFS Starter Plan is used.
IPFS Storage: This refers to any storage used that is over the selected plan's included storage. For the IPFS Starter Plan, this is any storage over 200GB.
IPFS Bandwidth: This refers to any bandwidth used that is over the selected plan's included bandwidth. For the IPFS Starter Plan, this is any bandwidth over 400GB.

For detailed information on the included values for each subscription plan, please see our Pricing Model.

4. Once subscribed, your current payment method will be listed under 'Payment Method' on the Web Console Billing page.

How do I change a payment method?

Changing a Payment Method

Visit the Billing page of the dashboard. Select 'Edit' next to your currently listed payment method.

2. You will be redirected to a Stripe webpage to enter your new payment information.

3. Click 'Save Card'.

Does Filebase accept crypto payments?

Filebase does not currently accept payment in cryptocurrencies.

Does Filebase have a minimum monthly charge?

Filebase's minimum monthly charge for IPFS paid subscriptions is $20 per month.

What's Included:

Data Storage:

200 GB IPFS Storage. Additional storage over 200 GB is billed @ $0.15/GB.
Unlimited Number of Pinned Files

Bandwidth:

400 GB of egress bandwidth. Additional Bandwidth is billed @ $0.015/GB.

Additional Features:

1 Dedicated IPFS Gateway
IPFS Pinning Service API
S3-Compatible API
Unlimited API Requests
Unlimited Filebase Public Gateway Bandwidth

Filebase's minimum monthly charge for storage on the Sia network only is $5.99, which includes the first 1 TB of storage and 1 TB of bandwidth.

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 are my usage charges calculated?

Storage Usage Charges: Calculated on the amount of active storage that is stored with Filebase for the billing cycle.

Bandwidth Usage Charges: Amount of data (object data only) that leaves (egresses) the Filebase platform.

Billing Periods: Filebase bills on a 30-day cycle, regardless of the length of the month or when the billing cycle starts.

Are there pricing discounts for customers with large amounts of data storage?

Please email hello@filebase.com for more information.

How do I remove a payment method?

Once a payment method is added, it cannot be removed. A new payment method can be added to replace the pre-existing payment method, but a payment method must be on file once you have selected a paid subscription plan.

How do I downgrade to a different paid subscription tier?

Downgrading a Subscription

To downgrade your account to a different paid tier, simply select the tier you'd like to downgrade to and confirm the transaction through the Stripe checkout screen.

If you are using storage or bandwidth over the included amount in the tier you are downgrading to, please note that you will be charged an overage charge for the amount of storage and bandwidth used that is over the amount included in your new subscription tier.

How do I cancel my paid subscription?

Canceling a Paid Subscription

Canceling your paid subscription is simple. To start, your account must be using 5 GB or 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 easy steps:

Visit the Billing page of the dashboard.
Select the Downgrade to Free button under the Free subscription tier.

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 minutes, 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 hello@filebase.com to submit a written request to close your account.