Storage Tiers
GolemDrive doesn’t treat all your files the same way. Files you use every day need fast access, while files you haven’t opened in months don’t need to sit on expensive high-speed storage. That’s where storage tiers come in.
The three tiers
Section titled “The three tiers”GolemDrive organizes your files into three storage tiers based on how often you access them:
Hot storage is for files you use frequently. These are stored on high-speed backends, so opening, downloading, and sharing them is as fast as possible. Any file you’ve recently uploaded or accessed lives here.
Warm storage is the middle ground. Files that you access occasionally — maybe a few times a month — get moved here. Access is still fast, but the storage cost is lower than Hot. You probably won’t notice any difference in speed for most file types.
Cold storage is for files you rarely touch. Think old backups, archived projects, or media you uploaded a year ago and haven’t looked at since. Cold storage is the cheapest option, though retrieval can be slightly slower — usually just a few extra seconds.
How files move between tiers
Section titled “How files move between tiers”GolemDrive monitors your access patterns and moves files between tiers automatically. Here’s how it works:
- A new upload starts in Hot storage
- If a file hasn’t been accessed for a while, it gets moved to Warm
- Files that remain untouched even longer are moved to Cold
- If you open or download a Cold or Warm file, it gets promoted back toward Hot
You don’t need to think about this — it happens in the background based on your actual usage.
Manual tier changes
Section titled “Manual tier changes”If you know a file is going to be accessed soon (or you know you’re done with it), you can manually move files between tiers:
- Select the file in your dashboard
- Open the file’s Details panel
- Choose the target tier from the Storage Tier dropdown
- Confirm the move
Manual moves take effect within a few minutes, depending on file size and the backends involved.
Viewing your tier breakdown
Section titled “Viewing your tier breakdown”Want to see how your storage is distributed across tiers? Head to the Storage page in your dashboard. You’ll find:
- A breakdown of how much data is in each tier
- A list of recent tier migrations
- Your current storage usage per tier
Why tiering matters
Section titled “Why tiering matters”Tiering helps keep your costs under control. If you’re on a paid plan, files sitting in Cold storage cost less toward your quota than files in Hot storage. More importantly, it means GolemDrive can offer faster performance for the files you actually use, without charging you a premium to keep everything on the fastest hardware.
The bottom line: files you use stay fast, files you don’t use stay cheap, and you don’t have to manage any of it yourself.