FILE STORAGE / LESSON 02

Cloudflare R2 Basics.

Why files need object storage and how Cloudflare R2 works

Written by Andrew Lee JenkinsPublished Oct 5, 20265 min readFree lesson

Your app is probably gonna need to store files. Profile pictures. Document uploads. Video content. So where do those files actually LIVE? That's the job of a file storage service.

Why You Can't Just Store Files on Your Server

When you deploy an app to a service like Railway or Vercel, it's super tempting to think "I'll just save uploaded files to the server." Here's why that falls flat.

There's more wrong with keeping files on your server, too.

Limited space. Servers have small hard drives
Slow to serve. Sending big files from your server is slow
Expensive. Server storage costs more than dedicated file storage
No backups. If something goes wrong, the files are lost

So instead we use dedicated file storage services. They're built specifically to hold files reliably and serve them fast.

What Is Object Storage?

File storage services use something called "object storage." Sounds fancy, but it's a pretty simple idea.

Each file is an "object"
Objects live in "buckets" (like folders)
Each object has a unique name, called a key, and public objects get a URL
You can make objects public or private

Picture a giant online filing cabinet. You put files in and you get URLs back. Then your app uses those URLs to show images, download documents, or stream videos.

Enter Cloudflare R2

Cloudflare R2 is a file storage service, and here's what it brings to the table.

Affordable. Much cheaper than Amazon S3
Fast. Uses Cloudflare's global network
Simple. Easy to set up and use
S3-compatible. Works with existing tools

How R2 Works

Let's walk through what happens when a user uploads a profile picture.

Step 1. User Selects a File

The user clicks "upload" and picks an image from their computer.

Step 2. Your App Uploads to R2

Your app sends the file over to Cloudflare R2 with a name (the key). R2 stores it safely, and the file's URL is built from that key.

Step 3. Save the URL

You save the file's URL to your database, tied to the user's profile.

Step 4. Display the Image

When someone views the profile, your app uses that URL to show the image. The object lives in its bucket's storage location. If you serve public files through a custom domain with caching configured, repeat requests can come from a nearby Cloudflare edge location.

Why R2 Over Other Options?

There are a bunch of file storage options out there. Here's how R2 stacks up.

Feature	Amazon S3	Cloudflare R2	Supabase Storage
Price	Higher	Very low	Free tier
Speed	Fast	Very fast	Fast
Egress fees	Yes	No	Yes, past a free quota
Setup	Complex	Simple	Easiest

When to Use Each:

R2. Best for most apps, especially ones with lots of downloads
S3. If you're already living in the Amazon ecosystem
Supabase Storage. If you're using Supabase for your database anyway

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