About

A3.Drive is sold as a separate product, but architecturally it is the foundation of the platform. The storage works without the other A3 products, and they do not work without it.

Why a separate storage layer

In a typical system every module builds its own file storage. A year later a company has five incompatible ways to upload, five ways to issue a link and no single place showing what fills the space and why. Deleting a record either leaves the file untouched or erases it while it is still needed in three other places.

A3.Drive removes that fork. Files, versions, permissions and links to product records live in one layer, and products get a narrow contract of four methods. There are no back doors: A3 products work with the storage exactly as an external customer integration does.

Everything else follows from that. A file is an object with a permanent identifier, not a reference to a place. An object exists while it has a holder. Used space is counted once per physical object. The data model is right from day one, and features on top of it are added gradually.

The principles it is built from

An identifier is not an address

Products store file_id, not a URL. A read address is issued on request and is valid for a few minutes.

One object, many contexts

A file is used in several products at once. These are not copies but one object with several holders.

Deletion is a consequence

An object lives while it has a holder. Once the last holder is removed and no retention period keeps the file, the object is deleted automatically.

Space is counted once

A quota counts the physical object once, however many bindings it has.

Our products on a par with external ones

One open contract for everybody. That discipline gives an external integration the same capabilities as A3 products.

Core now, features gradually

Object, holders, permissions and the contract are right from day one. Versions, search, trash and deduplication are added on top.

Current stage

A3.Drive is preparing for release. The product is not yet in production use, and no data has to be moved from old systems. That is why the data model is built without compromises.

Product roadmap

Core contract: Defined and fixed
Organizational structure: Domain, companies, departments, users
Regional clusters: Part of the data model from day one
Features on top of the core: Added in stages according to the roadmap

Place in the ecosystem

A3.Solutions brings the products a company runs on onto one platform: document exchange, tickets, sales, telephony, mail, HR. None of them has its own storage, and that is a deliberate decision: each product works with files through the A3.Drive contract.

Guides and resources

Shall we meet?

We will show how A3.Drive fits into the way you work with files and walk through the contract on real scenarios.

Discuss implementation