Cloud storage
Cloud storage moves media off local disks and onto a provider's infrastructure, where it is replicated across machines and often across data centres. For video, this means an editor anywhere can reach the same originals without a NAS, a VPN, or a stack of external drives, and capacity grows by changing a plan rather than buying hardware. Backups, drive failures, and power are the provider's responsibility.
The cost model matters. Storage is usually billed per gigabyte per month, while moving data out can carry separate egress fees that surprise teams who download often. Speed depends on the connection, so a smart video workflow streams only the blocks it needs and keeps light proxies local, rather than pulling full files every time.
Examples
- •A documentary team in three cities shares originals from cloud storage
- •A studio drops its external drive shuffle by moving rushes to the cloud
- •A freelancer scales from 2 TB to 10 TB by changing a plan, not buying disks
In Sanbila
Sanbila stores originals on Cloudflare R2 with an automatic backup to Backblaze B2, so your media is redundant and reachable from any machine, while proxies and block streaming keep day-to-day editing fast.
Frequently asked questions
How is Sanbila different from the proxy generator built into my NLE?+
Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro and Avid all generate proxies locally, but they keep the original full-resolution files on the same SSD — so the disk fills up twice. Sanbila stores the originals in the cloud (Cloudflare R2) and keeps only the lightweight proxies on your machine. At export, Smart Relink streams the originals back via a local WebDAV mount, so you finish at full quality without ever downloading the source files.
Does Sanbila work offline?+
Yes for editing — once a proxy is cached on your SSD, you can cut, trim, color and arrange your timeline without an internet connection. You only need network access for the initial import (uploading originals to the cloud) and for the final export (streaming originals back via WebDAV).
How much cloud storage does the free plan include?+
The free plan includes 5 GB of cloud storage and one project, with no credit card required. Paid plans start at $49 per month for 2 TB and 50 projects, going up to 25 TB on the Enterprise plan with overage billing for teams that need more.
What upload speed do I need to use Sanbila?+
Any broadband connection works for the initial upload — Sanbila chunks files into 50 MB parts and uploads in parallel, so a typical 100 Mbps fiber line uploads 1 hour of 4K H.264 footage in about 6 minutes. After upload, day-to-day editing happens on local proxies, so your connection speed only matters again at export time when originals are streamed.
Which video formats does Sanbila support?+
Sanbila handles 22+ formats out of the box: MP4, MOV, MXF, R3D (RED RAW), BRAW (Blackmagic RAW), ARRI proxies, ProRes, DNxHR, DNxHD, H.264, H.265, plus WAV and AAC for audio. Both 4K and 8K sources are supported up to 200 GB per single file (URL imports have no size limit).
Related terms
Sources
- Cloudflare R2 object storage · Cloudflare
- Backblaze B2 cloud storage · Backblaze