Complete BYOS Cloud Storage Guide (All Providers)

A complete, step-by-step setup manual for connecting Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, Wasabi, Cloudflare R2, Google Cloud Storage, SFTP servers, and local NAS drives to Sabes Pro.

What is Bring Your Own Storage (BYOS)?

Instead of charging you inflated monthly storage fees, Sabes Pro lets you connect your own private cloud account directly. You pay pennies per gigabyte straight to your preferred provider, and your music is 100% owned and controlled by you.

Zero-Knowledge Client-Side Encryption

Before any audio stem, project file, or backup block is uploaded to the cloud, Sabes Pro encrypts it locally on your computer using AES-256-GCM encryption. Your cloud provider only sees scrambled data blocks. They cannot read your song names, listen to your audio stems, or see your session structure.

Where to Find Cloud Storage Settings in the App

Open the Sabes Pro desktop application.
Click the Settings (gear icon) in the top right corner of the window.
Select the Cloud Storage (BYOS) tab from the left sidebar.
Click the blue button: Add Storage Provider.

Step-by-Step Walkthroughs for Every Provider

1. Amazon Web Services (AWS S3)

Amazon S3 is the industry gold standard for durability and reliability:

Create a Bucket: Log in to your AWS Console, open the S3 service, and click Create bucket. Give it a name (like my-studio-music-backups), select your nearest region, and leave "Block all public access" turned ON.
Create an IAM User: Open the IAM service in AWS, click Users → Create user (e.g. sabes-app-user). Attach the policy AmazonS3FullAccess (or create a custom policy restricted to your bucket).
Generate Keys: Open the user, go to the Security credentials tab, click Create access key, and choose "Application running outside AWS". Copy both the Access Key ID and Secret Access Key.
Connect in Sabes Pro: In Sabes Pro, select Amazon S3, pick your AWS Region (e.g. us-east-1), type in your Bucket Name, paste your Access Key ID and Secret Access Key, and click Test Connection & Save.

2. Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage

Backblaze B2 is one of the most affordable cloud backup destinations (around $0.006/GB per month):

Create a Bucket: Log in to Backblaze, go to B2 Cloud Storage → Buckets, and click Create a Bucket. Set it to Private and leave Default Encryption enabled.
Generate an Application Key: In the left menu, click Application Keys → Add a New Application Key. Name it sabes-b2-key, restrict access to your new bucket, and give it Read and Write permissions.
Copy Key Credentials: Copy the keyID and the applicationKey (the secret key is only shown once).
Connect in Sabes Pro: In Sabes Pro, choose Backblaze B2, enter your Bucket Name, paste the keyID into the Key ID field, paste the applicationKey into the Secret Key field, and click Test Connection & Save.

3. Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage

Wasabi offers fast performance with zero egress fees and no API request charges:

Create a Bucket: Log in to the Wasabi Management Console, click Buckets → Create Bucket, enter your bucket name, and choose a region (e.g. us-east-1 or eu-central-1).
Generate Access Keys: In the left navigation, click Access Keys → Create New Access Key. Download or copy the Access Key and Secret Key.
Connect in Sabes Pro: In Sabes Pro, select Wasabi, enter the Endpoint URL (e.g. s3.wasabisys.com for US East or s3.eu-central-1.wasabisys.com for Europe), enter your Bucket Name, paste your keys, and click Test Connection & Save.

4. Cloudflare R2 (100% Free Egress Bandwidth)

Cloudflare R2 provides S3-compatible cloud storage with zero egress download fees:

Create an R2 Bucket: Log in to your Cloudflare dashboard, click R2 Storage in the sidebar, and click Create bucket.
Create an API Token: Click Manage R2 API Tokens on the right side. Click Create API token, name it Sabes Backup Token, set permissions to Object Read & Write, and click Create API Token.
Copy Endpoint & Keys: Copy the Access Key ID, Secret Access Key, and the Jurisdiction-specific Endpoint URL (it looks like https://<account_id>.r2.cloudflarestorage.com).
Connect in Sabes Pro: In Sabes Pro, select Cloudflare R2, paste the Endpoint URL, enter the Bucket Name, paste your Access Key and Secret Key, and click Test Connection & Save.

5. Google Cloud Storage (GCS via S3 Interoperability)

You can connect Google Cloud Storage directly using Google native S3 interoperability protocol:

Create a Bucket: In the Google Cloud Console, open Cloud Storage → Buckets, click Create, name your bucket, and choose Standard storage class with Uniform access control.
Generate HMAC Keys: In Cloud Storage, click Settings in the left menu, then open the Interoperability tab. Click Create a key under "User account HMAC keys". Copy the Access Key and Secret.
Connect in Sabes Pro: In Sabes Pro, select S3 Compatible Storage. Set the Endpoint URL to storage.googleapis.com, enter your GCS Bucket Name, paste your HMAC Access Key and Secret, and click Test Connection & Save.

6. Custom SFTP / Private SSH Server

If you run your own home lab server, studio TrueNAS, or offsite Linux server:

Ensure SSH / SFTP is running on your server with an accessible IP or hostname (e.g. sftp.mystudio.com or local IP 192.168.1.50).
In Sabes Pro, select SFTP Server.
Enter the Host Address, Port (default is 22), Username, and choose either Password or SSH Private Key (.pem / .id_rsa).
Specify the Remote Folder Path (such as /home/audio/sabes_backups).
Click Test Connection & Save.

7. Google Drive (1-Click OAuth)

Connect your personal or Google Workspace account with 1-click authorization:

In Sabes Pro, click Settings → Cloud Storage → Add Storage Provider.
Select Google Drive and click Connect with Google Drive.
Your default browser will open to Google OAuth sign-in. Confirm access to allow Sabes Pro to store backup blocks in your Drive.
Sabes Pro will create a dedicated Sabes Pro folder in your Google Drive root.

8. Dropbox (1-Click OAuth)

Connect your personal or Dropbox Business account with direct native authorization:

In Sabes Pro, click Settings → Cloud Storage → Add Storage Provider.
Select Dropbox and click Connect with Dropbox.
Approve the connection in your browser. Sabes Pro will automatically manage tokens and create the Sabes Pro folder.

9. Local Secondary Drive, USB-C SSD or Network Share (NAS / SMB)

If you prefer keeping your physical backup copy on a dedicated external drive or studio network share:

Connect your external SSD or ensure your network folder (e.g. Z:\Studio_Backups or \\NAS\Music_Backups) is mounted in Windows Explorer.
In Sabes Pro, select Local Drive / Network Share.
Click Browse Folder, select your target folder, and click Save.
Sabes Pro will mirror encrypted backup blocks to this location on every save.

Cloud Folder Hierarchy & File Organization

Across all cloud storage providers, Sabes Pro keeps your storage cleanly organized under a single root folder named Sabes Pro, with dedicated subfolders for each project:

[ Cloud Storage Account ]
└── Sabes Pro/
    ├── <Project 1 Name>/
    │   ├── metadata.db            (Project take history & encrypted timeline state)
    │   ├── lock.json              (Distributed write lease for multi-machine safety)
    │   └── blocks/
    │       ├── <block_hash_1>     (Content-addressed DAW session state block)
    │       └── <block_hash_2>     (Full-resolution 24-bit PCM audio blocks)
    └── <Project 2 Name>/
        ├── metadata.db
        └── blocks/

Why metadata.db Appears First

When you save a project, Sabes Pro immediately uploads metadata.db (a lightweight database under 50 KB) within milliseconds. This guarantees your take descriptions, bookmarks, and version lineage are protected in the cloud right away.

Full-resolution audio blocks (often 50 MB to 200 MB+) stream continuously in the background. Because audio blocks are deduplicated and content-addressed, once an audio block is uploaded to blocks/, it is never re-uploaded on subsequent takes, saving bandwidth and cloud storage space.

Restoring and Importing Projects on Another Machine

If you switch to a laptop, upgrade your studio PC, or recover from hardware failure:

Install Sabes Pro on your new computer.
Open Settings → Cloud Storage and connect your cloud account.
Sabes Pro automatically detects your existing Sabes Pro folder, imports all project metadata, and lists your projects in the Projects Hub.
Click Restore Take on any version to reassemble the session file and audio tracks directly onto your new drive ready for playback in your DAW.

Next Steps

Want to generate client review links from your cloud storage? Read our guide on Secure Take Sharing & Client Review Notes.

Connecting BYOS Cloud Storage (All Providers)