Alibaba Cloud Storage Gateway
Alibaba Cloud Storage Gateway connects on-premises or cloud applications to Alibaba Cloud OSS buckets through standard file and block storage protocols, with…
What Alibaba Cloud Storage Gateway is
Alibaba Cloud Storage Gateway connects on-premises or cloud applications to Alibaba Cloud OSS buckets through standard file and block storage protocols, without requiring application changes. File gateways provide NFS or SMB access, while iSCSI gateways provide block access. File gateways cache frequently used data locally and rely on OSS for storage capacity. Deployments can run in a data center or on Alibaba Cloud, including cloud gateways on ECS instances. Listed virtualization options include VMware, Hyper-V, KVM, VHD, Qcow2 and Raw. Administrators manage gateways through a web console or API and can use Resource Access Management to assign resource permissions without sharing AccessKey pairs. Data moving from gateways to OSS is encrypted, and OSS server-side encryption can use a customer-managed key. The service checks data consistency with MD5, logs gateway-to-OSS activity and provides monitoring metrics. File gateways are compatible with POSIX and third-party backup software. There is no free plan. Charges depend on gateway setup and can include OSS storage, traffic, request and retrieval fees, as well as other applicable service charges.
Good
- Supports NFS, SMB and iSCSI access
- File gateways cache frequently used data locally
- Can be deployed on-premises or on Alibaba Cloud
- Resource Access Management assigns specific permissions
- Provides gateway activity logs and monitoring metrics
Watch out
- No free plan is offered
- Pricing depends on gateway specification, cache and bandwidth
- Additional OSS and other service charges may apply
Who it suits
Alibaba Cloud Storage Gateway is for organizations that need to connect on-premises or cloud applications to OSS using file or block protocols. It may also suit teams extending local storage, sharing or backing up files, accessing data across data centers, or planning disaster recovery.
Verdict
Alibaba Cloud Storage Gateway offers file and block access to OSS with both local and cloud deployment options. Budgeting requires accounting for gateway charges and potentially separate storage, traffic, request and related service fees.
Plans and prices
From Alibaba Cloud Storage Gateway's own pricing page, checked 5 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud Storage Gateway | Priced on request | OSS storage, traffic, requests, and retrieval may incur separate charges · Up to 5 Mbps bandwidth is free · Cloud gateways: pay-as-you-go by hour or subscription monthly/yearly; price depends on gateway specification, cache, and internet bandwidth. On-premises gateways are charged by software license; VM and cache resources are customer-provided. |
The facts
Each one read from Alibaba Cloud Storage Gateway's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Access control
- RAM users and least-privilege permissions control access without sharing account AccessKeys.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Active Directory
- File gateways support Active Directory integration for directory and DNS configuration.checked 15 Oct 2026
- API
- The CSG OpenAPI uses RPC style and supports SDKs for common programming languages plus custom request signing.checked 15 Oct 2026
- API scope
- Documented APIs cover gateway creation, cache disks, tags, logging, synchronization groups and diagnostics.checked 15 Oct 2026
- API transport
- API operations accept GET requests over HTTP or HTTPS.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Archiving
- Intelligent archiving can write cold data to OSS Infrequent Access or Archive storage classes.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Backend scale
- OSS backend storage has no stated total bucket-capacity or object-count limit.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Backup compatibility
- File gateways are compatible with POSIX and third-party backup software.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Backup integrations
- Alibaba Cloud documents Veeam and NetBackup backup workflows through CSG to OSS.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Cache limits
- File-gateway cache capacity ranges from 40GB to 4,096GB for Basic, 8,192GB for Standard and 32,768GB for Enhanced or Performance.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Caching
- Intelligent caching keeps hot data locally and uploads colder data to OSS.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Data consistency
- The product page says CSG automatically checks data consistency using the MD5 algorithm.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Deployment
- Gateways can be deployed in a data center or on Alibaba Cloud, and cloud gateways can run on ECS instances.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Deployment options
- On-premises images support VMware ESXi, Hyper-V, KVM and Xen virtual machines.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Documentation
- Official documentation includes product overview, getting started, user guides, security, API reference, Terraform and FAQ sections.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Encryption
- CSG encrypts gateway-to-OSS traffic and can use OSS server-side encryption with a customer master key.checked 15 Oct 2026
- File gateway
- File gateways expose OSS data through NFS and SMB shares while caching frequently used data locally.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Gateway types
- It provides file gateways using NFS or SMB and iSCSI gateways for block access.checked 5 Oct 2026
The company
- Company founded
- LinkedIn states Alibaba Cloud was founded in 2009.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Company headquarters
- LinkedIn lists headquarters in Hangzhou, China, with a primary address on West Wen Yi Road.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Company ownership
- Crunchbase identifies Alibaba Cloud as a sub-organization of Alibaba Group and lists Alibaba Group as its funder.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Company size
- LinkedIn lists Alibaba Cloud at more than 10,001 employees.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Founded
- 2009checked 28 Sep 2026
- Headquarters
- Hangzhou, Chinachecked 28 Sep 2026
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