IONOS Object Storage authenticates users by using a pair of keys — Access Key and Secret Key.

An Object Storage key must be generated manually using Generate a Key or Object Storage Management API. Only upon generating the first key, the Canonical User ID is displayed in the Object Storage Credentials and Users & Groups > Users > Object Storage Keys > IDs section.

You will need the keys to work with Object Storage through supported applications or develop your own using API. Using the Key management, you can view and share your Object Storage Credentials and manage Access keys.

Object Storage Credentials

There are two forms of user identification: Contract User ID and Canonical User ID. Depending on the Bucket Types to get access to, use the appropriate user ID as follows:

• Share your Contract User ID with other users to get access to the contract-owned buckets and objects.

• Share your Canonical User ID with other users to get access to the user-owned buckets and objects. This is the ID assigned to a user by the IONOS Object Storage.

For more information, see Retrieve User ID.

Access keys

Logging on to IONOS Object Storage requires an access key as part of the authentication process. Your Object Storage credentials consist of an Access Key and a Secret Key. The DCD automatically uses these credentials to set up Object Storage. Hence, deactivating an access key restricts your access through the web interface. These credentials are also required to set up access to IONOS Object Storage using S3 Tools.

In the Access keys list,

• Each key shows whether it is valid for all buckets (contract-owned buckets and user-owned buckets) or valid only for user-owned buckets.

• The ADMIN KEY refers to the key valid for all the buckets and provides the same access permissions as the contract owner or administrator.

Access Key and Secret Key Length: To prepare new functionalities of IONOS Object Storage, effective April 25, 2024, the key character length is modified as follows:

• Access Key: The key length is increased from 20 to 92 characters.

  • Previous format example: 23cbca2790edd9f62100

  • New format example: EAAAAAFaSZEvg5hC2IoZ0EuXHRB4UNMpLkvzWdKvecNpEUF-YgAAAAEB41A3AAAAAAHnUDl-h_Lwot1NVP6F_MARJv_o

• Secret Key: The key length is increased from 40 to 64 characters.

  • Previous format example: 0Q1YOGKz3z6Nwv8KkkWiButqx4sVmSJW4bTGwbzO

  • New format example: Opdxr7mG09tK4wX4s6J3nrl1Z4EJgYRui/rldkgiPmrI5bavWHuThswRqPwgbeLP

Generate object storage keys: A user can have multiple Object Storage keys, which can be given to other users or automated scripts. Users using such an additional Object Storage key to access the IONOS Object Storage automatically inherit the credentials and access rights of the user.

This can be useful for allowing users automated (scripted) or temporary access to object storage. For more information, see Generate a Key.

Activate or deactivate keys: A key when generated is in an active state by default. You can change the key status between active and inactive. Deactivating an Object Storage key will block its access to the IONOS Object Storage. You can reactivate the key and restore access to manage buckets and objects. For more information, see Manage Keys.

Delete: If a key is no longer needed or if it should no longer be possible to gain access to the IONOS Object Storage with this key, it can be deleted. This cannot be undone.

The S3 (Simple Storage Service) API has been the global standard for object storage for many years. It provides interoperability and compatibility of various object storage systems that adhere to this standard. IONOS Object Storage has one of the highest levels of S3 API support.

IONOS Object Storage lets users create the following two types of buckets:

1. Contract-owned buckets

2. User-owned buckets

Each of these bucket types offers a different feature set. For more information, see Bucket Types.

Starting May 30, 2024, all the newly launched Endpoints have a contract owner as a bucket owner, and the administrator also holds the same set of permissions as a contract owner. You can continue creating user-owned buckets using specific endpoints, but the shift towards a contract-owned bucket model will be our primary focus for future features.

For more information, see IONOS Object Storage API documentation.

Objects

IONOS Object Storage organizes data as objects. The data could range from documents, pictures, videos, backups, and other types of content. You can store these objects within the buckets and each object can be a maximum of 5 TB in size. An object consists of a key that represents the name given to the object. This key acts like a unique identifier, which you can use to retrieve the object.

Properties and metadata

Every object uploaded to a bucket includes Object properties and Object metadata.

The properties refer to object details and the metadata are key-value pairs that store additional information about the object. The maximum size of metadata is 2 KB (keys+values). For instance, an object of type 'image' can include metadata such as its photographer, capture date, or camera used. Properly defined metadata aids in filtering and pinpointing objects using specific criteria.

In the Object Settings, you can retrieve the object's properties and metadata alongside the object.

From the Object Properties page, you can also perform the following actions:

• Download an object.

• Copy the object URL to the clipboard.

• Generate a Pre-Signed URL.

• Delete an object.

Object Functions

Folders

Folders, also known as Prefixes are containers that help to organize the objects within a bucket. You can create folders within a bucket and upload objects to folders. Object Storage offers a flat data structure instead of a hierarchy such as a file system. Hence, to support the organization of data in a well-structured way, the creation of Folders is allowed within a bucket. You can also create subfolders within a folder and upload objects to subfolders.

Emulating folders with prefixes

Unlike traditional file systems with nested folders, IONOS Object Storage maintains a flat environment without a hierarchy of folders or directories; hence you can emulate folders using key naming conventions with slashes (/).

You can use prefix names that contain alphanumeric characters, slashes, and hyphens only.

Example: Instead of saving a report as Annual_Report_2023.pdf, using a key such as reports/2023/Annual_Report.pdf gives the semblance of a folder structure. These virtual folders through prefixes aid in logically grouping related objects.

Following are a few examples of using prefixes for objects to emulate folder structure:

• user_profiles/john_doe/avatar.jpg

• data/backups/June/backup.zip

Learn about the key components of IONOS Object Storage, its functions, and capabilities to manage your Object Storage.

In IONOS Object Storage, a bucket is the primary container for data. Think of it like a directory in a file system where you can store files known as objects. Each object is stored in a bucket and is identified by a unique key, allowing easy retrieval. You can store any number of objects in a bucket and can create up to 500 buckets in a user account.

Bucket region

A region corresponds to a geographical location where the data inside the buckets will be stored. Different regions have different Endpoints, which are URLs to access the Object Storage.

IONOS Object Storage is currently available in four regions:

• Berlin, Germany in eu-central-2 and eu-central-3

• Frankfurt, Germany in de

• Logroño, Spain in eu-south-2

Choosing the right bucket region is crucial for optimizing your Cloud storage. Consider the following:

• Proximity: Select a region that is close to your application or user base to reduce latency and costs.

• Redundancy: For backups, consider a region geographically separate from your primary location to ensure data safety during local outages or disasters.

For information on supported regions based on the Bucket Types, see Service availability.

Naming conventions

When naming buckets and folders, the name must adhere to the following rules:

• Be unique throughout the entire IONOS Object Storage.

• Consists of 3 to 63 characters.

• Starts with a letter or a number.

• Consists of lowercase letters (a-z) and numbers (0-9).

• The use of hyphens (-), periods (.), and underscores (_) is conditional.

Following are a few examples of correct bucket naming:

• data-storage-2023

• userphotos123

• backup-archive

• 1234

Following are a few examples of incorrect bucket naming:

IONOS Object Storage allows users to create the following two types of buckets:

1. Contract-owned buckets

2. User-owned buckets

Each bucket type has a different feature set to cater to your business needs. For more information, see Feature comparison.

Contract-owned buckets

This bucket type is recommended for users within a single organization. Contract-owned buckets are the new bucket types supported in the Object Storage starting May 30, 2024.

Following are the key highlights of this bucket type:

• The contract owner is the bucket owner of all the contract buckets. The contract owner or an administrator can create and manage buckets by default and define permissions in the Bucket Policy settings for other users to manage the buckets.

• Every user in the contract can view the list of all buckets within their contract, even if they do not have permission to access the content.

• Only the contract owner or an administrator can grant users access to view the bucket objects or manage these buckets.

You can create contract-owned buckets only in the following region:

Limitations

• Currently, cross-regional bucket replication is not possible for contract-owned buckets since this bucket type is supported only in the eu-central-3 region. However, you can replicate user-owned buckets to contract-owned buckets in the eu-central-3 and this function is supported both via the DCD and the API.

• Logging bucket setting is not supported at the moment.

User-owned buckets

This bucket type is recommended if the users of the contract are separate entities and does not require viewing or accessing buckets of other users in the contract. The bucket type supported before the launch of contract-owned buckets is now termed user-owned buckets.

Every contract user independently owns their buckets and has the autonomy to create and manage them without seeking approval from the contract owner. A combined list of all user-owned buckets under the contract is not available, and the contract owner must individually check the bucket list of the users to view the buckets a user owns.

Users under the contract can only have visibility to their buckets, with no access to other user's bucket lists in the contract.

You can create user-owned buckets only in the following regions:

Feature comparison

The user-owned bucket and contract-owned bucket offer a wide range of operations with the following differences in their feature set:

For information on supported API functions for these bucket types, see S3 API Compatibility.

IONOS Object Storage provides multiple features to manage access to your buckets and objects effectively. This allows you to define precisely who may access what.

By default, newly created user-owned buckets and objects are private, and only the bucket owner can access them. In the case of the newly created contract-owned buckets, the buckets and objects are private, and both the contract owner and administrators can access and manage them.

Share access

Use the following options to share access to a bucket and to all or specific objects in a bucket:

• : This policy is applied at the bucket level and it offers a robust framework for setting fine-grained access controls to your Object Storage buckets and objects. It is useful for restricting access based on certain conditions like IP addresses or time of access. With Bucket Policy, you can manage access to specific objects or prefixes within a bucket. However, the size of the policy is limited, which could be a consideration if you have extensive access control requirements. You can use Bucket Policy to make a bucket or object public, or to share access with specific authorized users by defining the necessary permissions within the policy.

• : Provides a simpler mechanism for controlling access and can be specified for every object if needed, making them more flexible on a per-object basis. You can use ACLs to make a bucket or object public or to share access with certain authorized users by setting the right permissions. ACLs do not offer the ability to restrict access based on conditions like IP address.

Grant access

There are two roles involved in granting access: Owner and Grantee. Their definitions depend on the .

Additional access management functions