Service Specification Object Storage

This English version is provided for convenience only. The German version is legally binding; in the event of any discrepancy between the two versions, the German version shall prevail.

1. Brief description

centron Object Storage provides customers with scalable, object-based data storage via an S3-compatible protocol.

The service is optimised for the storage and management of large volumes of unstructured data, in particular for:

• web applications and mobile applications,
• backup, disaster recovery and restoration scenarios,
• long-term archiving and IoT applications (Internet of Things).

The service is provided in the form of storage units (“Buckets”) that can be created, used, scaled and deleted independently of one another. Data is stored redundantly.

2. Key features

centron Object Storage enables simple and secure access to stored data via standardised interfaces.

Access to the stored data takes place via the S3-compatible protocol and is permitted exclusively via encrypted connections (e.g. HTTPS/TLS). Unencrypted access attempts are rejected by the platform.

Within its Buckets, the Customer can store, modify or delete data (objects) at any time within the scope of the technical specifications. The system-side redundancy ensures high availability and resilience of the data in normal operation.

Optionally, the Customer can activate a function for the immutability of data (“Object Lock”). This function protects objects against any modification or deletion for a retention period defined by the Customer (WORM principle: *Write Once, Read Many*).

The maximum configurable period for the Object Lock may be limited by centron on the platform side. The Customer is responsible for ensuring that the selected lock periods comply with its statutory or internal compliance requirements. Premature lifting of an active Object Lock by centron is technically and legally excluded.

3. Service plans

centron Object Storage is provided as a uniform service without tiered service plans.

The range of functions comprises the provision and use of Buckets and the storage and management of objects within these Buckets. Differentiation is not made via separate tariff models, but via the actual use of the resources.

4. Metrics

centron Object Storage is billed on a usage basis per hour or part thereof and per gigabyte or part thereof of stored data.

Billing covers exclusively the storage capacity actually used. Further costs may arise from additional functions or from the use of adjacent services, provided that these have been agreed separately.

5. SLA specifics

Availability is defined as the percentage of time during which the system is operational and access to stored data is possible. Restrictions caused by customer-side configurations or by states caused by the Customer are not taken into account.

The monthly availability of centron Object Storage guaranteed by centron is 99.9 %.

Data durability (“Durability”) describes the ability of the system to retain stored data permanently and without loss. It is calculated on the basis of the probability of data loss.

Data durability describes the system-side ability of the Object Storage to protect objects, once successfully written, permanently against physical loss or damage (e.g. due to hardware defects in the data centre). By means of a highly redundant storage architecture, centron ensures maximum data durability in line with the current state of the art. Data durability describes the physical integrity of the storage platform; it does not constitute a backup guarantee against logical data loss (e.g. accidental deletion or overwriting of data by the Customer).

6. Backup

Backup and recovery of data are not part of the centron Object Storage service and lie entirely within the Customer’s area of responsibility.

The Customer is obliged to independently implement suitable measures for backing up its data and to review them regularly.

7. Additional terms

The Customer is fully responsible for the configuration of its Buckets and, in particular, for the granting and management of access rights. Misconfigurations, in particular unintended public access, lie within the Customer’s area of responsibility.

Backups are created and restored exclusively by the Customer.

If the “Object Lock” function is activated, the data concerned cannot be modified or deleted for the defined period. During this period, it is not possible to deactivate or remove the Object Lock.

The use of Object Lock may have an effect on the contract term, as the data concerned can only be deleted after the defined period has expired. Even in the event of premature termination of the contract, the data remains stored until the Object Lock period has expired.

The Provider is technically unable to delete data before the set Object Lock period has expired. The Customer expressly acknowledges this.

After the Object Lock period has expired, the data may be deleted, provided that no deviating agreements exist.

The Object Storage is used via standardised S3 interfaces. As a rule, an S3-compatible client is required to access and export the data.