What is Hetzner’s Storage Box?
Hetzner’s Storage Box is a self managed, RAID backed online storage solution that just became available in the new Hetzner Cloud Console, making provisioning fast and streamlined.
It’s built for:
- Flexible data access via SMB, WebDAV and SSH protocols, as well as all transfer protocols based on those 3
- Reliable storage: RAID arrays with checksums for disk‑failure resilience and data integrity
- Unlimited traffic, up/down, and upscale/downscale flexibility with no longterm contract
- Snapshots support: manual and scheduled automated snapshots (10–40 slots depending on plan)
- Multiple users: up to 100 sub accounts, each restricted to a subdirectory with main user oversight
Real World Benchmarks: Upload & I/O Performance
Here are the results from our tests against a Storage Box in Germany, Falkenstein.
The benchmarks were executed on a CPX11 Hetzner cloud instance on the same region:
| Test | Throughput | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| SFTP: Upload 100 MB | 74.2 MB/s | 1.41 s |
| SFTP: Upload 1 GB | 72.6 MB/s | 14.17 s |
| SFTP: Upload 10 GB | 71.7 MB/s | 2 m 22.8 s |
| Local dd dsync write (with options bs=1M count=1024, total of 1GB) | 12.7 MB/s | 84.8 s |
| Local dd read (1GB) | 75.8 MB/s | 14.17 s |
| lftp mirror (100 × 10 MB) | 71.8 MB/s | 14 s |
Notes:
- sshfs was used to mount the Hetzner’s Storage Box using SFTP
lftpwas used to test parallel file uploads, again using the SFTP protocol
Key takeaways:
- SFTP upload consistently achieves ~70–75 MB/s, even for large transfers
- Excellent Protocol Flexibility, SFTP, FTPS, SMB, WebDAV, Rsync, Rclone, making it easy to integrate into various backup tools
- Snapshot & Multi User Support
- Cost effective, starting from 3.20 € per month for 1TB of storage
- Now Available in the Cloud Console. Hetzner’s Storage Boxes can now be provisioned directly via the Hetzner Cloud Console, making setup easier and faster than before. A Github issue is also created to adopt this new resource on Hetzner’s terraform provider!
Who Are Hetzner Storage Boxes For?
Hetzner Storage Boxes are a great fit for developers, sysadmins, and teams who need reliable, protocol flexible, and cost effective storage.
Here’s who will benefit most:
- Backup and archival users: Ideal for automated offsite backups using tools like Rsync, Veeam, Restic, Borg, or Rclone
- Media professionals and researchers: Handle large datasets (e.g. media archives, research dumps) with predictable upload/download performance
- Small teams or agencies: With up to 100 sub accounts, each team or client can have isolated access to their own storage space
- Anyone in need for remote storage without vendor lock in: Use open protocols like SFTP, SMB, WebDAV, and avoid proprietary APIs
If you don’t need a web UI but do need fast, stable, scriptable storage—then Hetzner Storage Boxes are a smart and scalable choice.
To explore more cloud storage options and their trade offs, read our comparison on S3 Standard vs S3 Express One Zone.
