Local Storage

Local storage keeps files on the same server as your Yetishare website, usually in the files/ folder (symlinks are supported).

Benefits:

• Simplest setup - works out of the box on a fresh install
• No extra servers, FTP accounts, or cloud credentials to manage
• Fast for smaller sites with moderate traffic
• Easy to back up alongside the rest of your install

Best for: Personal sites, low-medium traffic, or when disk space on the web server is not a concern.

Limitations: Large files and heavy download traffic compete with your website for CPU, bandwidth, and disk. Scaling means upgrading that one server.

External Server (Direct)

A Direct file server is a separate machine that also runs Yetishare's file-server software. Uploads and downloads go directly between the user's browser and that remote server, instead of passing through your main site.

Benefits:

• Designed for large files and busy sites
• Offloads bandwidth and disk I/O from your main website
• You can add more Direct servers as traffic grows
• Supports availability checking so unhealthy servers can be skipped
• Works well with resource monitoring on Local and Direct servers

Best for: Production file hosts, premium download sites, and any setup where storage and delivery should scale independently of the main site.

Note: Direct servers typically need Database Sessions enabled so logins work correctly across servers. Docker includes an optional companion file-server service for development and testing.

FTP Storage

FTP storage uses a remote FTP account. Your main site talks to the FTP server over PHP to store and retrieve files.

Benefits:

• Works with almost any shared host or VPS that offers FTP
• Useful when you already have spare disk space on another account
• No need to install Yetishare on the remote machine

Best for: Smaller filesizes, personal projects, or simple "extra disk elsewhere" setups.

Limitations: Uploads and downloads are proxied via your site, so this is slower and less suitable for large files or high traffic. Prefer Direct servers or cloud object storage for busy sites.

SFTP / Flysystem Adapters

Yetishare also supports Flysystem-based adapters, including SFTP (and related Flysystem FTP options). These connect over secure protocols and store files on a remote filesystem without running a full Direct file-server install.

Benefits:

• Encrypted transfer with SFTP
• Flexible - point at existing Linux storage or network shares
• Good middle ground when you want remote disk without cloud object storage

Best for: Secure remote disk on a VPS or dedicated box you control, when Direct file servers are more than you need.

Cloud Object Storage (Plugins)

Dedicated storage plugins let you keep files in object storage (S3-compatible APIs). Enable the plugin, add credentials, then create a matching file server in Admin.

Supported providers include:

• Amazon S3 - industry standard, global regions, mature ecosystem
• Wasabi - S3-compatible, often lower storage/egress pricing
• Backblaze B2 - cost-effective object storage with S3-compatible access
• DigitalOcean Spaces - simple S3-compatible storage tied to DO regions
• Contabo - object storage for Contabo customers
• Filebase - S3-compatible gateway options
• MinIO - self-hosted S3-compatible storage on your own infrastructure

Benefits:

• Nearly unlimited capacity without managing local disks
• High durability and provider-managed redundancy
• Optional direct downloads via signed URLs so users download from the cloud instead of your web server
• Easy to combine with Local or Direct servers (e.g. hot files local, archive in the cloud)
• MinIO is ideal if you want cloud-style APIs but keep data on your own hardware

Best for: Growing sites, multi-region delivery, reducing load on your VPS, and long-term retention without buying more local disks.

Tip: Do not disable a storage plugin while active files still live on that provider, or those files may become unreachable.

Using Multiple Storage Servers

You can run several file servers at once. Yetishare can choose where new uploads go using methods such as:

• Least Used Space - prefer the server with the most free capacity
• Until Full - fill servers in priority order, then move to the next
• Specific Server - send uploads to a chosen server

This lets you mix types - for example Local for speed, Direct for heavy download traffic, and S3/Wasabi for overflow or backups.

Quick Comparison

Local (lowest complexity) - best when you want the simplest setup and modest traffic.

Direct (external) (medium) - best when you need large files and high download volume.

FTP (low) - best when you only need extra remote disk for smaller files.

SFTP / Flysystem (medium) - best when you want secure remote filesystem storage.

Cloud plugins (S3, Wasabi, etc.) (medium) - best when you want scalable, durable object storage.

Recommended Starting Points

• Just getting started: Local storage
• Traffic is growing / large downloads: Add one or more Direct file servers
• Want managed capacity without extra VPS hardware: Enable an S3-compatible storage plugin
• Self-hosted "cloud" on your own machines: MinIO
• Only need cheap extra disk for light use: FTP or SFTP

If you're unsure which path to take, start with Local, measure disk and bandwidth usage, then add Direct servers or cloud storage when either becomes the bottleneck.