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Cold Storage - Overview


You will need to reach out to your account manager before utilizing the feature. 


What is Cold Storage 

Cold Storage is a special storage for assets whose processing has been completed, or which are no longer or rarely needed. Assets that are in Cold Storage are still visible in the library (for administrators and contributors), but their use is restricted. For example, a direct download is no longer possible; instead, such assets must be requested for download.

Note: Assets that are moved to the Cold Storage permanently lose their older versions! This means that the old versions are lost even after the assets has been restored from your Cold Storage.
As long as an asset is in the Cold Storage, no new versions can be added.


Who can move assets into Cold Storage

Admin-level users have default access to move assets into Cold Storage. Contributor-level users are required to have the corresponding Privilege - Manage Cold Storage Content.


Navigation: User menu > Settings > Users & Groups > Privileges > Contributor > Advanced Privileges


How to move assets from you library into Cold Storage

  1. Select the assets by clicking on the upper right-hand corner of the asset's thumbnail. A checkmark will designate the selected assets.
  2. Click the Move to Cold Storage icon in the toolbar above.
  3. The following pop-up will appear.
    Note: Some functionality and data will be removed once an asset is moved into Cold Storage. The status will remain the same when an asset is moved to and from Cold Storage. 
  4. Go ahead and select Proceed, to move the selected assets into the Cold Storage.

How to see your storage capacity 

  1. Navigate to User menu > Account > Overview.
  2. Scroll down to Cold Storage Used.

Alternately, you can view your storage capacities while uploading (see below).


How to upload assets directly into Cold Storage

To make sure the option appears in the Metadata Editor go to Settings > Configuration Options > Custom Configuration > Metadata Editor and add the Store In section.

  1. Upload your asset(s) as usual.
  2. During the asset upload process a dialog box will appear. 
  3. Scroll down to the Store In section where you can select the asset's storage location.
  4. Select Cold Storage.
    Note: Here you can also see how much storage is currently used and how much storage you have available in total.
  5. Click Apply.


Thumbnails of assets that have been moved to the Cold Storage or uploaded directly to the Cold Storage are marked with a snowflake icon in the upper left corner.


How to find assets stored in Cold Storage

  1. Go to the top right-hand corner and select the filter icon.
  2. Open the Storage drop-down menu.
  3. Select Cold Storage and Canto will bring up all your assets which are currently in your Cold Storage.

Who can restore assets from Cold Storage

  • Admin-level users have default access to move assets out of Cold Storage. 
  • Contributor-level users are able to use the Cold Storage features if the corresponding Privilege- Manage Cold Storage Content - is enabled under Settings > Users & Groups > Privileges > Contributor > Advanced Privileges.
  • Consumer-level users can request assets to be restored.


How to restore assets from Cold Storage as a consumer

Consumers can request an asset to be restored by following the steps below:

  1. Hover over an asset's thumbnail.
  2. Select the snowflake icon on the bottom of the asset's thumbnail.
    Note: You can do this in bulk as well. Select multiple assets and click the icon in the toolbar.
  3. A pop-up will appear asking if you want to restore the asset.
    You will receive a link when the restore process is complete.
  4. Click Continue.

Note: It does take time for assets to be restored from the Cold Storage.

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