Files & Storage

section-index · Reviewed 2026-07-31

Every job and workstation needs data. Rescale offers five storage options. They differ in performance, cost model, and what happens when you delete something.

Pick one

Use	When
Rescale Files	Default. Job inputs and outputs, long-term retention
Cloud Filesystem (CFS)	Many jobs need the same large dataset, mounted
High-Performance Storage (HPS)	You need SSH/SFTP access, several devices, or Windows
Data Connectors	The data lives in S3, Azure Blob, SharePoint, or Databricks and should stay there. Part of Advanced Modeling & Simulation rather than this section
Transfer Manager	Moving bulk data to or from a Windows desktop

If you're unsure: use Rescale Files. It's the default for a reason, and everything else is an optimization on top of it.

How they differ

	Rescale Files	CFS	HPS	Connectors
Holds a copy of your data	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Mounts into a job	No	Yes	Yes	No
Performance	Scalable, not fast	High	Moderate	Source-dependent
Billed by	GiB stored	Provisioned capacity	Hourly, like compute	Nothing extra
Constrains where jobs run	No	Yes, one region	Same region	No
Has a trash / undo	Yes	No	No	n/a

Two rows deserve attention before you commit a workflow. CFS locks your jobs to one cloud region. And only Rescale Files has a recovery window, deleting from CFS or HPS is immediate and permanent.

The thing that costs people money

Archiving does not stop storage charges

Files in the trash and archived files are still billed. Only permanent deletion stops the charge.

If you cleaned up months ago and the bill didn't move, this page explains why. See the file lifecycle.

And the reverse trap, on CFS:

Archiving a job permanently deletes its CFS files

On CFS there's no trash and no recovery, and this is on by default. Download what you need first. See delete CFS data.

In this section

Rescale Files

The object storage behind everything. Browse · Upload · Download · Reuse across jobs · Lifecycle

Transfer Manager

Bulk transfer on Windows. Download with RTM · Troubleshooting

Cloud Filesystem (CFS)

Mounted Lustre storage. Mount · Organize & share · Monitor · Delete

High-Performance Storage (HPS)

Provisioned NFS devices with SSH and SFTP access. Create · Attach · Manage

Limits & Policies

Caps and retention. Storage limits · Transfer limits · Retention · Monitor usage

Related

• Data Connectors — reach storage that stays where it is, rather than holding a copy here. An Advanced Modeling & Simulation capability, so it is no longer part of this section
• Download your results — the per-job workflow
• Archive and delete jobs — cleaning up at the job level
• Metadata — tags and custom fields on files
• Billing reports — how storage is charged