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S3 Terminology User Guide

This guide explains the S3-specific terms used in the backup configuration.

URL

  • Description: The URL of your S3-compatible storage provider. This is the endpoint where your S3 service can be accessed. For example, AWS S3 uses https://s3.amazonaws.com.

Region

  • Description: The geographical location of your S3 storage service. Each region corresponds to a physical data center or group of data centers. Example: us-west-2.

Tip

If you're pointing the target at an whitesky.cloud NV objectspace rather than an external S3 provider, use region us-east-1.

Bucket

  • Description: An S3 bucket is a container used to store data in S3. Think of it like a directory or folder, but it exists in the cloud. Each bucket has a unique name in your chosen region.

Locking Modes in S3 Backup

When creating a backup target, you choose a Locking mode. This is the only locking-related setting exposed by the portal — there's no separate retention-date or legal-hold control; the mode itself is what governs protection.

NO_LOCKING

Disables any locking mechanism — backups can be freely overwritten or deleted. There is no protection against modifications to the backup data once it's uploaded. Suitable for non-critical backups where flexibility matters more than protection.

GOVERNANCE

Protects against accidental deletion, while still allowing users with special permissions (s3:BypassGovernanceRetention) to modify or delete objects. A middle ground between flexibility and protection.

COMPLIANCE

The strictest mode — objects cannot be modified or deleted by anyone, including the root account, until the underlying S3 provider's retention period expires. Use this for regulatory or strict compliance requirements.

These three modes mirror the underlying S3 provider's object-lock modes (see the AWS S3 Object Lock documentation for how the S3 side of this works), but the portal itself only exposes the mode selector — not per-object retention dates or legal holds.

access_key

  • Description: A unique identifier used to authenticate and access your S3 storage account. This key is part of the security credentials that allow your backup tool to interact with your S3 service.

secret_key

  • Description: The secret counterpart to the access_key. It is used in combination with the access_key to authenticate and securely communicate with your S3 provider. It should always be kept confidential.