Introduction

Authentic8 Cloud Secure Storage extends the feature set of Silo by allowing users to store data either temporarily or permanently in Authentic8 Cloud Secure Storage.  This data can either be for personal use or the data store can be set up as a collaboration space where many users can share the same files in a variety of ways.  In addition, with Authentic8 Cloud Storage, users can interact with a common storage layer from either Silo or Toolbox.


Technical Details

There are three types of storage available to customers.  Access to the different types of storage available to users depends on the policy and org configuration defined by your Authentic8 subscription or your Silo administrator. See details below.
 
Here is a screenshot of a user trying to download a PDF file to the temporary drive.  Notice the various download options available:

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Per User Storage

Per User storage is available to a single user only and cannot be shared within the Silo homogeny with other users.  An admin sets the amount of storage available per user at the org level and that storage amount is then available to all users in that org.   Users can interact with a common storage layer from either Silo or Toolbox. 


See the Configuration section below for details.


Pooled Storage (Shared Cloud Drive)

Pooled storage is designed for shared access across a group.  With pooled storage a storage space is defined and can be assigned to different sets of users.  Pooled Storage can be created with different read/write permissions as well as data retention periods.


See the Configuration section below for details.


Temporary Storage

Temporary storage is a temporary drive that lives for the duration of a session. Data written into Temp Storage is accessible from any browser session, Silo or Toolbox, and is deleted at session end.


Temporary Storage is enabled by default but can be disabled by admins, as required.


Configuration

Primary configuration of the Cloud Storage Policies is done in the Admin Console on the Policies page. There is a new section labeled Cloud Storage.  When you expand the section you should see the following:

Note: Per User Storage and Pooled Storage are not available to enterprise customers by default.  Please contact your account manager to enable the feature and discuss pricing.  Temporary Storage is enabled by default for all users.  Administrators have the ability to disable Temporary Storage by policy, if desired.


Per User Storage

To configure options for Per User Storage, click the Edit button in the Per User Storage section.  The following dialog will open:


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Set the policy to Enable and set the number of GB per user in this org.  For example, in the screenshot above, all users of this org will receive a personal storage limit of 10GB.  This storage is permanent and will persist across sessions. You may also choose to allow sub-orgs to override these settings.  If sub-orgs admins are allowed to override these settings, then sub-org admins may increase the per user storage amount for users in sub-orgs. 


Pooled Storage

Pooled Storage configuration is a multistep process. 

 
1.Define the size of the storage pool for your organization
2.Create storage space(s) from the pool
3.Provision storage spaces to orgs
4.Provision storage spaces to users

5. Click the Edit button in the Pooled Storage section.  The following dialog will open:


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Note: Assigning a pool can only be done at your customer root org.  If you try and change the pool size at a sub-org, you will get an error.  


    6.  Click Save, to proceed to the next step.


In the screenshot above, Pooled Storage has been enabled and the size of the pool has been defined as 100GB.  If you have already allocated pooled storage to storage spaces, then the blue bar will identify how much has been allocated to give you a visual cue as to how much additional storage can be allocated.  Please be aware that once a size is set, it cannot be decreased, only increased.


Create storage space(s) from the pool 

To allocate storage spaces and to assign those spaces to users, you should navigate to the Web Apps section of the admin console.  You may create the storage spaces at any level in your hierarchy and sub-admins who have permissions over sub-orgs can create storage spaces at their level as well.  When you get to the desired page, expand the storage spaces menu.  You may press “add” at the bottom of the left hand section to add a new storage space. The following dialog will appear:


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Fill out the name of the storage space, the capacity (this must be less than the amount of your total pool minus what has already been allocated), and the data retention period.  If the data retention period is set to anything other than “Forever” then data will expire and be deleted on the time interval set.  Press Save to continue.  The screen should look like this:



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Provision storage spaces to orgs (multiple users)

Next find an org where you would like to assign a storage space and navigate to that org using the org picker in the upper-right hand corner of Silo.  When you arrive at the new org, you should be able to drag the storage space you just configured to that org (middle column). and configure options:


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Note: You may configure Access rights here.  Also, you can see the storage space utilization from this window.  Once complete, press Save in the lower right and your pooled storage configuration is complete. When users who belong to this org log in, they will have this storage space available to them and it will be listed in their Shared Cloud Drives.



Provision storage spaces to a single user

Identify a user you would like to add storage to in the Users panel and double-click that user


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1.  Press the “+” sign in the lower right to open the Add App dialog box.


2.  Select the desired storage space in the left hand panel, define the access rights and click Save.  

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Now, this user will see this storage space listed under their Shared Cloud Drives. Note that provisioning a space to a user doesn’t mean it is restricted to them. The same space can be provisioned to other individual users or at the org level to a group of users.


Temporary Storage

Temporary Storage is the only storage container available to individual consumer users.  Data in this storage container is purged after your Silo session ends.  Enterprise customers have the option of disabling temporary storage for their users, as desired.  To disable Temporary Storage, click the edit button in the Temporary Storage section.  The following dialogue will open:


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From here, you can elect to disable temporary storage and press Save


Additional Notes  

Please contact Support if you have any additional questions and/or require further information.