Object Storage
Scalable, durable storage for unstructured data — documents, images, video, backups, and large binaries — reachable from the dashboard, the CLI, or any S3-compatible tool.
Information
Object Storage is where data goes when it does not belong on a server's disk: files that must remain available regardless of which instance is running, that grow without a planned ceiling, and that are read by applications rather than mounted by an operating system.
Built on OpenStack Swift, the service provides high availability, data durability, and strong consistency. Data is replicated across multiple local Availability Zones, there is no artificial limit on how much you can store, and containers are private unless you deliberately publish them. For teams, the practical effect is that storage capacity stops being a procurement question and becomes a line on a consumption bill.
High availability & durability
Your data is replicated across multiple local availability zones to ensure availability and protect against hardware failures.
Strong consistency
All operations are immediately consistent, so you always access the most recent version of your data.
Flexible access
Upload and manage files from the dashboard, the OpenStack CLI, the Swift client, or any S3-compatible SDK or tool.
Private by default
Containers are private, but you can easily make them public for sharing or web hosting. Capacity scales with no artificial limit.
Use cases
Application assets and uploads
Hold documents, images, and user uploads outside the application servers, so any instance can serve them.
Backup and archive targets
Send database dumps, log archives, and long-term retention data to a container instead of a growing volume, and let lifecycle rules expire them on schedule.
Static website hosting
Publish a static site straight from a public container, with no web server to build, patch, or pay for.
Data and analytics landing zone
Collect raw data through the S3 API so existing data tooling can read it without change.
Distribution of large files
Share installers, media, or datasets by link rather than by attachment or a file-transfer request.
Terraform and pipeline state
Keep infrastructure-as-code state and build artefacts in a container reachable by automation with its own credentials.
Access methods
The same data is reachable three ways. Which one you use is a question of the tooling you already have, not of where the data lives.
| Characteristic | Horizon dashboard | Swift API / CLI | S3-compatible API |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Occasional, manual work | Scripting and OpenStack-native tooling | Existing S3 tools, SDKs, and applications |
| Credentials | Your UNIQCloud login | OpenStack RC file or application credential | EC2 access key and secret key |
| Suitable for automation | No | Yes | Yes |
| Public endpoint | Horizon dashboard | OpenStack API endpoints | https://s3.uniccloud.org/ |
| Publish a public container | Yes | ||
| Lifecycle rules (automatic expiration) | No | No | Yes |
| Caveats | Manual only — not scriptable | Some operations need the extra python-swiftclient | S3-compatible, not S3-identical — some features differ |
Usage
Swift Object Storage
Create containers, upload and download objects, and check container usage from the OpenStack CLI.
S3 — Using S3cmd
Generate EC2 credentials and manage buckets with the S3-compatible API.
S3 — Lifecycle Policies
Expire objects automatically after a retention period, instead of deleting them by hand.
Publish Static Website
Serve a static site directly from a public container.