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xCloud Storage

Overview

xCloud Storage is a comprehensive S3-compatible object storage solution that provides multiple storage types (flavors) with varying redundancy levels and pricing tiers.

Designed for businesses and individuals who need reliable, scalable cloud storage, xCloud Storage offers enterprise-grade features including object locking and tiered pricing.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

  • An active xCloud account
  • Basic understanding of object storage concepts
  • S3-compatible client software or applications

Initial Setup

  1. Access xCloud Storage
  2. Navigate to the Storage section in your xCloud dashboard

  3. Review available storage flavors and their characteristics

  4. Select Storage Flavor

  5. Choose the storage type that best fits your needs

  6. Consider redundancy requirements and geographic distribution

  7. Activate Subscription

  8. Review and accept the terms of service
  9. Complete the subscription activation process

Storage Flavors

xCloud Storage currently offers 2 different storage flavors with varying redundancy and availability characteristics:

3 Copies at One Location

Description: Traditional replication approach with three copies of data stored at a single geographic location.

Characteristics:

  • Redundancy: Triple replication provides high availability
  • Performance: Fast read speed, high write speed thanks to low-latency replication in the same data center
  • Simplicity: Simple replication model without computational overhead

Geographic Redundancy

Description: Data distributed across multiple geographic locations for maximum availability and disaster recovery.

Characteristics:

  • Disaster Recovery: Protection against site-wide failures
  • Compliance: Meets strict availability requirements
  • Performance: Fast read speed, medium write speed due to necessary replication across 3 locations

Best For:

  • Mission-critical applications
  • Disaster recovery requirements
  • Regulatory compliance needs

S3 Compatibility

What is S3?

Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) is the de facto standard for object storage APIs. xCloud Storage implements full S3 compatibility, allowing you to use existing S3 tools, libraries, and applications without modification.

S3 API Support

xCloud Storage supports all standard S3 operations:

  • Bucket Operations: Create, list, delete, and configure buckets
  • Object Operations: Create, retrieve, delete, and copy objects
  • Multipart Uploads: For large files and improved reliability
  • Object Versioning: Multiple versions of the same object
  • Metadata Management: Custom object metadata
  • Access Control: Bucket and object permissions

Authentication

Access is granted via key pairs, each of which is bound to one storage flavor. Every key pair consists of:

  • Server Address: S3 endpoint URL of the flavor
  • Access Key: Public identifier for authentication
  • Secret Key: Private key for secure access

You can create multiple key pairs in parallel, for example a dedicated one per application – see Access Credentials.

Bucket Management

Creating Buckets

  1. In xCloud Storage, select a storage flavor
  2. In the "Buckets" list, click Create Bucket
  3. Set a valid bucket name
  4. Optional: enable object locking (see Object Lock)
  5. Confirm with Create Bucket

The following rules apply to bucket names:

  • 3 to 63 characters long
  • Only lowercase letters (a-z), digits (0-9), period (.) and hyphen (-)
  • Must begin and end with a letter or a digit
  • Period and hyphen must not be consecutive
  • Must not begin with xn-- and must not end with -s3alias

Bucket Information

Each bucket displays:

  • Name: Unique bucket identifier
  • Size: Total storage used (in KB, displayed as human-readable)
  • Created: Creation timestamp
  • Object Lock (🔒) Indicates if object locking is enabled for the bucket

Bucket Operations

Viewing Buckets:

  • All buckets are listed in a sortable data grid
  • Sort by name, size, or creation date
  • Real-time size updates
  • Responsive design for mobile devices

Deleting Buckets:

  1. Select the bucket to delete
  2. Click the delete action button
  3. Confirm deletion in the dialog box
  4. Warning: This action cannot be undone

Object Lock

The "Object Lock" feature is a compliance function that makes object versions immutable for a specified period. This prevents accidental or malicious deletion and helps meet regulatory requirements.

Retention Modes

There are two different operating modes that the feature can be set to: Governance and Compliance.

Governance

  • Objects protected from normal deletion
  • Can be overridden by privileged users
  • Suitable for internal governance policies
  • Flexible for administrative needs

Compliance

  • Objects cannot be deleted by any user
  • Strictest level of protection
  • Required for regulatory compliance
  • Cannot be overridden, even by administrators

Enable Object Lock

  1. In xCloud Storage, select a Storage Flavor
  2. In the "Buckets" list, select "Create Bucket"
  3. Set a valid bucket name
  4. Enable the "Enable Object Lock" checkbox
  5. Choose the retention mode (Governance or Compliance)
  6. Set a retention period (1-365 days)
  7. Confirm with "Create Bucket"

The newly created bucket uses versioning and maintains the configured retention period for object versions.

Configure Object Lock

Once enabled, the mode and retention time can be changed later.

Effectiveness of Changes

Changes to object lock settings only apply to new object versions, i.e., all new or modified objects that occur after the setting change. Already existing object versions retain their original retention periods.

  1. In xCloud Storage, select a Storage Flavor
  2. In the "Buckets" list, click on the lock symbol (🔒) next to a bucket
  3. In the appearing dialog, set the new settings
  4. Save with a click on "Confirm Changes"

Change Object Retention Period

To delete an object in "Governance" retention mode before the retention period expires, an S3 client must be used that can set the x-amz-bypass-governance-retention header (e.g., MinIO client's mc rm --bypass). The credentials used for the request must also have the s3:BypassGovernanceRetention permission.

If both conditions are met, in "Governance" mode both the retention period for object versions can be shortened and early deletion can occur.

In "Compliance" mode, this is not possible. Object versions can only be deleted after their retention period expires.

Pricing Structure

Tiered Storage Pricing

xCloud Storage uses a tiered pricing model according to the current price list. Only the following are charged:

  • stored data volume (measured daily, billed monthly)
  • outgoing data transfer (accumulated monthly).

Incoming data traffic and API access are included.

Access Credentials

Access keys are credentials that allow S3 clients to authenticate with xCloud Storage:

  • Access Key: Acts as a username (safe to share)
  • Secret Key: Acts as a password (keep secure)

You manage all access keys centrally in the key management view. This lets you use a dedicated key per application and keep track of them.

Opening Key Management

  1. Open the Storage section in the xCloud web app
  2. Click Open key management

The "Access keys" table shows the access key, the secret key, an optional description, the associated storage flavor, and the server address for every key pair. Use the copy buttons to copy values to the clipboard.

Creating a New Key Pair

  1. In the key management view, click New key pair
  2. Choose the storage flavor the key pair should apply to
  3. Optionally add a description (e.g. the name of the application)
  4. Confirm with Create

Secret key is shown only once

The secret key is displayed only a single time. Copy it and store it in a safe place immediately.

Deleting a Key Pair

Key pairs that are no longer needed can be removed in the key management view via the Delete action. Applications using the deleted access key immediately lose access.

S3 Client Integration

xCloud Storage is compatible with popular S3 clients. The only requirement for basic support is the ability to set a custom server URL.

Terminal

Graphical User Interface