Object Storage — Product Documentation

Product: Object Storage
Category: Storage
URL: contabo.com/en/object-storage/
Source: contabo.com | Last updated: June 2026

Overview#

Contabo Object Storage is an S3-compatible cloud storage service built on a Ceph cluster following Red Hat production guidance. It is designed as a direct, cost-effective alternative to AWS S3 and similar services — with simple month-to-month flat-rate billing per 250 GB slice, free egress, and no hidden transfer fees.

Unlike Storage VPS (which gives you a full virtual machine with a block disk), Object Storage is accessed entirely via the S3 API or a web UI — there is no server to manage. Every object is triple-replicated across servers by default, and storage runs in high availability mode at all times.

Ideal Use Cases#

• Automated server and database backups
• Disaster recovery archives
• Media file storage (photos, videos, audio)
• Large object storage (up to 5 TB per file)
• Application log retention and cold archiving
• Static website asset hosting (images, JS, CSS)
• NAS alternative (API or mounted filesystem via s3fs/goofys)
• AI/ML dataset storage and model checkpoint archiving
• Integration with existing S3-compatible workflows (drop-in replacement)

Key Features#

Storage Regions#

Contabo will never move your data to another region/country without your explicit, written consent.

Compatible Tools & Integrations#

Note: FileZilla Pro forces virtual-hosted-style bucket names and is not compatible. Use Cyberduck as an alternative.
cPanel/WHM can use Object Storage as a backup destination via folder mounting.

Migrating from AWS S3#

Migration from AWS S3 or any other S3-compatible provider requires only two changes:

1. Update the endpoint URL to the Contabo Object Storage endpoint
2. Update the access credentials (Access Key ID and Secret Access Key)

No code changes are required for applications built on the standard S3 SDK. Tools like Rclone and AWS CLI support bulk data migration directly.

Management#

• Web UI: Bucket creation, file uploads (drag-and-drop), ACL management, link sharing — no API knowledge required
• S3 API: Full programmatic access — versioning, locking, ACL, bucket policies
• ACL Management: Set per-file or per-bucket permissions (read/write/public/private) via Web UI or API
• Auto-Scaling Limit: Cap maximum monthly storage growth to control spend

Availability & Locations#

Object Storage is available in three regions:

Europe · United States · Asia

Data center locations within each region follow Contabo’s global infrastructure. Choose the region closest to your primary data consumers for lowest latency.

Billing Terms#

Support#

Contabo provides infrastructure-level support — network, hardware, and the Object Storage platform itself. Configuration of specific S3 client tools and application-level integration are the customer’s responsibility.

Limitations & Notes#

• Default bandwidth is 10 MB/s (80 Mbit/s); this is sufficient for most backup and archival workloads but may be a bottleneck for high-throughput streaming applications.
• Default object count (3 million) and bucket count (100) can be increased upon request.
• Public objects changed to private may remain cached and accessible for up to one hour after the permission change takes effect.
• Object Storage is accessed via HTTPS only (TLS required) — plain HTTP is not supported. Custom domain setup requires a TLS-terminating proxy (e.g. Cloudflare).
• FileZilla Pro is not compatible due to virtual-hosted-style hostname requirements.

Specifications subject to change — verify current details at contabo.com.