--- title: "Setting Up Fusion Direct" slug: "setting-up-fusion-direct" tags: ["Portal"] updated: 2026-11-03T08:23:35Z published: 2026-11-03T08:23:35Z canonical: "kb.ctera.com/setting-up-fusion-direct" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kb.ctera.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Setting Up Fusion Direct You can add a folder in the cloud drive that unifies file and object storage: *Fusion Direct*. Data can be accessed as files through SMB or NFS and as objects through S3, allowing users, applications, and modern data processing environments to work with the same datasets. Fusion Direct simplifies infrastructure while enabling flexible access to data for collaboration, analytics, and data-driven workloads. **Notes** Fusion Direct requires CTERA Messaging. Fusion Direct data is not encrypted when [key management](/v1/docs/managing-the-key-management-service-4-1-1) is implemented for the portal. **To add or edit a cloud folder:** 1. Select **Global File System > Cloud Drive Folders** in the navigation pane. The **Cloud Drive Folders** page is displayed. ![Image](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-OS03AGR9.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T03%3A53%3A45Z&se=2026-11-11T04%3A53%3A45Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=lL7Iu%2FUa00ScmEt%2FWJI3DwqSS%2FbgiGAhgR2CvRVP5H0%3D) The **New Cloud Drive Folders** page is displayed. ![Image](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-RFPY7R1C.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T03%3A53%3A45Z&se=2026-11-11T04%3A53%3A45Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=lL7Iu%2FUa00ScmEt%2FWJI3DwqSS%2FbgiGAhgR2CvRVP5H0%3D) 2. Complete the fields as described in [Adding or Editing Cloud Folders](/v1/docs/adding-or-editing-cloud-folders-1-1-1) without saving the new cloud drive folder. 3. Select the **Fusion Direct** option for the **Storage Type**. The **Fusion Direct** option can only be defined when initially setting up the cloud drive folder. 4. Select the **Fusion Direct** tab. ![Image](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-RDUJSOOE.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T03%3A53%3A45Z&se=2026-11-11T04%3A53%3A45Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=lL7Iu%2FUa00ScmEt%2FWJI3DwqSS%2FbgiGAhgR2CvRVP5H0%3D) 5. Select the storage node in the **Type** field. Additional fields are displayed to define the storage type, dependent on the type selected. ![Image](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-PBDB16RE.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T03%3A53%3A45Z&se=2026-11-11T04%3A53%3A45Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=lL7Iu%2FUa00ScmEt%2FWJI3DwqSS%2FbgiGAhgR2CvRVP5H0%3D) The following storage nodes are supported: - Amazon Web Services (S3) - Cloudian (S3) - Cohesity Data Platform (S3) - DataCore Swarm (S3) - Dell ObjectScale (S3) - Dell PowerScale (S3) - Everpure Flashblade (S3) - Hitachi Vantara HCP (S3) - IBM Cloud Object Storage (S3) - IBM Storage Ceph (S3) - Microsoft Azure Blob Storage - MinIO Object Storage (S3) - NetApp StorageGRID (S3) - Nutanix (S3) - Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (S3) - Quantum ActiveScale (S3) - Qumulo (S3) - S3-Compatible - Scality ARTESCA (S3) - VAST Data (S3) - VSP One Object (S3) - Wasabi Cloud Storage (S3) 6. Complete the storage bucket details: **Bucket Name** – A unique name for the bucket. **Access Key ID** – The bucket access key ID. **Secret Access Key** – The bucket secret access key. **Note** IAM role-based authentication to an **Amazon Web Services (S3)** bucket is not permitted, to prevent security risks. **Use Path Style Addressing** – The s3 endpoint requires path-style URLs. For example, `http://endpoint/bucket/object` **Endpoint** – The private endpoint of the service. The port for the endpoint can be customized by adding the port after the URL, using a colon (:) separator. The default port is 80. **Region (Optional)** – The cloud data bucket location. **Use HTTPS** – Use HTTPS to connect with the bucket. For Amazon Web Services (S3): **Add Metadata Tags** – Use metadata to support information lifecycle management rules (ILM) on the storage node to differentiate between backup and cloud drive blocks. Checking **Add Metadata Tags** implements the ILM, enabling storage tiering so that data can be routed across different object storages based on whether the data is backup or cloud drive related. - **Trust all certificates** – Do not validate the certificate of the object storage. Normally this is unchecked. 7. For Amazon Web Services (S3), Cloudian (S3), and Microsoft Azure Blob Storage, specify the storage mode: **Filesystem only** – For workflows that only involves reading/analyzing data from the bucket. For example, training a model on a static dataset. Uploads and changes are synced to the bucket but changes are not pulled back. **Bucket only** – For workflows that require data‑lake driven updates in the bucket with safe, read‑only enterprise file access.accessing the bucket need to write data or metadata back, and have those changes reflect on the edge filers. For example, an AI process analyzes images and writes back metadata tags. **Bidirectional** – For workflows where writes are permitted from both the filesystem and the bucket. **Notes** Global File Locking and **Archive** and **Compliance Vault** options are only supported with the **Filesystem only** storage mode. For all storage nodes except for the Amazon Web Services (S3) and Cloudian (S3) storage nodes, only the **Filesystem only** option is available. 8. Click **Save**. The cloud drive folder is created and The value in the **Fusion Direct** column in the **Cloud Drive Folders** page is **Yes**. ![Image](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-Z74IIRYG.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T03%3A53%3A45Z&se=2026-11-11T04%3A53%3A45Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=lL7Iu%2FUa00ScmEt%2FWJI3DwqSS%2FbgiGAhgR2CvRVP5H0%3D) Viewing the cloud drive folder also includes **Yes** for the **Fusion Direct** field. ![Image](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-PZFA35V0.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T03%3A53%3A45Z&se=2026-11-11T04%3A53%3A45Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=lL7Iu%2FUa00ScmEt%2FWJI3DwqSS%2FbgiGAhgR2CvRVP5H0%3D) In addition to the Fusion Direct cloud drive folder being created a folder group is created and a storage class is created. Both the folder group and storage class start with the name of the team portal. The folder group and storage class are created so that they are unique for the Fusion Direct cloud drive folder and must not be used by any other cloud drive folder. ## Handling Deleted Files Deleted files, set in the portal with Fusion Direct, can only be removed from the storage using the storage life-cycle management.