Getting Started with IPFS Dedicated Gateways

Learn how to get started using 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:

pageIPFS Gateways

Filebase users that are on a paid IPFS subscription plan have access to Filebase IPFS Dedicated Gateways. 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.

Creating a Gateway

Navigate to the Gateways page on the Filebase web console. Select the ‘Create Gateway’ button in the upper right corner.

What’s the difference between Public, Private, and Scoped?

Public: The gateway can serve any public CID, even ones not pinned by Filebase. Public gateways are great for widespread data accessibility, but can incur higher bandwidth usage charges.

Private: The gateway can only serve CID's that are pinned by Filebase. Private gateways are not limited to CIDs that a user has uploaded to their Filebase account - anything pinned by Filebase can be served via a private gateway.

Scoped: The gateway is tied to a bucket and can only serve content from that specific bucket. Any CIDs for content not stored in the specified bucket will return a 404 Not Found message. Scoped gateways are great for whitelisting content and controlling gateway usage.

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.

How To Use a Gateway

IPFS Dedicated Gateways can be used for retrieving and accessing IPFS content in the same way a public gateway is, such as using the format:

https://my-gateway.myfilebase.com/ipfs/IPFS_CID

Filebase IPFS dedicated gateways can also be used to serve a specific CID through setting a Root CID that will be served by the gateway without specifying the CID in the URL.

To configure this, navigate to the Buckets menu, and select an IPFS bucket. Once inside the bucket, select the file you’d like to set as the root file by selecting the three menu dots on the right-hand side.

Select ‘Set as Root’.

Then choose the dedicated gateway you’d like to use.

Now, when you open the gateway, you’ll see the file you set as the root file displayed rather than the default error message.

Where Can I Use an IPFS Dedicated Gateway URL?

IPFS Dedicated Gateway URLs can be used in place of any IPFS native URL (ipfs://) or any IPFS Public Gateway URL (such as https://ipfs.io/ipfs). This means dedicated gateways can be used in workflows such as:

• Hosting digital assets such as photos, videos, documents, certificates, or other digital files.

• Referring to NFT assets in Metadata files or Smart Contracts.

• Sharing files and folders.

• Hosting decentralized applications.

• Hosting static websites.

• Sharing code repositories or software packages.

• Sharing public resources like eBooks, PDFs, or videos.

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