Understanding Cloud Storage: What Every User Needs to Know

How Cloud Storage Works

When you upload a file to Web Material, it travels through several layers before safely arriving in the cloud:

1. Your browser encrypts the upload using HTTPS (TLS 1.3)
2. Our servers receive the file and scan it for safety
3. Backblaze B2 stores the file across multiple redundant data centers
4. Our database records the file metadata and generates your share link

Data Centers and Redundancy

Web Material uses Backblaze B2 infrastructure, which stores each file with 3x redundancy across multiple physical locations. This means even if one data center experiences an outage, your files remain accessible.

Encryption

All files are encrypted in transit and at rest:

• In Transit: TLS 1.3 (the same standard used by banks)
• At Rest: AES-256 encryption on Backblaze B2 servers

The encryption formula for AES-256 means:

2^{256} \approx 1.15 \times 10^{77} \text{ possible keys}

This is more than the estimated number of atoms in the observable universe — effectively unbreakable with current technology.

Storage Costs and Efficiency

Cloud storage pricing has dropped dramatically:

What Happens When You Delete a File?

When you delete a file from Web Material:

1. The file metadata is removed from our database immediately
2. The file is queued for deletion from Backblaze B2
3. Within 24 hours, the file is permanently removed from storage
4. Share links for that file return a 404 error

Important: Deletion is permanent. We do not maintain a recycle bin.