Storage options

Understanding storage & content delivery options

When you configure a builder application, you have four options for image & file storage:

  • Beefree SDK storage: unless you select another option, images will be hosted in Beefree SDK’s own AWS S3 bucket. See below for details about potential fees associated with this option.
  • An existing builder application: to connect the selected application’s storage to an already existing application. After selecting this option the two applications will share their storage.
  • Your own AWS S3 bucket: instead of using Beefree SDK’s AWS S3 bucket to store & deliver files, you can use your own. See Configuring your own S3 bucket.
  • Your own file system: if your application already has a place where images and other assets are stored, you can leverage it. This option is only available on Beefree SDK paid plans. See using your file system.

 

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Images vs. other files

End users of the builder can upload not just images, but also PDF files and other documents via File Manager. For example, they could link a button to downloading a PDF report.

End-user documentation on the File Manager can be found here.

If you need more control on what files users should be able to upload, you may activate file manager limitations in the Privacy & Security section of your app’s configuration. In alternative, you may consider connecting the builder to your file system.

About Beefree SDK storage

How images are stored & delivered

By default, images used in emails and pages created with the builder are stored in Beefree SDK’s file storage system. Beefree SDK uses Amazon Web Service’s S3 service for storage, and leverages Amazon’s Content Delivery Network (CloudFront) for fast content delivery.

Storage and delivery fees

  • There are no charges for storing images & other documents.
  • There are no charges for delivering images & other documents up to a total of 5TB of delivery traffic per 30-day period.
  • Above 5TB of data traffic recorded in a 30-day period, you will be billed $0.01 per GB of data transferred.
  • Beefree SDK customers that exceed 50 GB of image data traffic on the Free plan in a given month will be moved to our Essentials plan.

FAQs on Beefree SDK Storage fees

 

Why do you charge for traffic when using BEE storage?

When you use the Beefree SDK S3 storage, your images are delivered via a Content Delivery Network (AWS Cloudfront), and AWS bills us based on the traffic generated by those assets when you send emails or publish web pages created with Beefree SDK. A large amount of monthly traffic (5TB) is included in your Beefree SDK paid subscription at no charge.

If you exceed the 5TB monthly traffic allotment, we ask you to cover the cost of the service (for a few of our customers that generate a lot of image data traffic, that cost has grown to exceed their Beefree SDK subscription fee). Also, note that this scenario is quite rare: it applies to less than 3% of our customers.

 

When does the traffic counter reset?
  • If you’re on a paid plan, billed monthly, the counter will reset on the same days as your UIDs and CSAPI calls, i.e., on the day your subscription to Beefree SDK is renewed.
  • If you’re on a paid plan, billed yearly, the counter will reset on the 1st day of each month.
  • If you’re on a free plan, the counter will reset on the 1st day of each month.

You can always see when the current period starts and ends in your application details, in the Statistics widget:

Bandwidth usage

 

I’m on an annual plan. If I exceed the traffic quota in a month, when will I be billed?

You’ll be billed annually by summing up any paid traffic you may have accumulated during the past 12 months, unless such total were to exceed $1,000. In that case, we will send you an invoice. The same is true for additional user fees (UIDs) and additional API calls.

 

Do I get notified when I’m about to exceed the quota?

For the moment, only subscriptions on paid plans will be notified by our Customer Success team. If you’re on a free plan, you may check your usage by logging into the Beefree SDK Console, and going into the application details, in the Statistics widget.

 

I’m using Beefree SDK storage. What can I do to avoid getting charged?

You can switch to using your S3 storage or connect your file storage.

 

I connected my application’s storage to an already existing one. How will the billing work?

All traffic generated is charged to the shared storage.
E.g.: an Email Builder application shares its storage with a Popup and a Page applications. In this case, the Email Builder application will be charged for the traffic generated by Email + Popup + Page.

 

Are there any restrictions when connecting an application’s storage to an already existing one?
  • It’s not possible to link a development app to a production app.
  • An app can be linked to another just once.
  • The same shared storage can be shared across different applications within the same subscription

 

Can I connect my dev app storage to a production app?

No, this is not possible. You can either connect production apps included in the same subscription or dev apps included in the same subscription.

 

Can I get a history of my monthly traffic usage?

Please contact your account manager for this. If you are not sure how to do this, please log into the Beefree SDK Console and submit a support ticket asking for your usage history.