Storing Your Data

renterd is no longer the preferred way to store data on Sia. For most users, Sia Storage (50 GB free, nothing to run) or a self-hosted indexd is a better starting point. renterd still works, and these guides remain for existing users.

This guide walks you through uploading files with renterd. Your files are stored on Sia's decentralized storage network, where data is spread across a network of hosts for redundancy.

Before you begin...

• Install renterd: Make sure you have the latest version of renterd installed on your machine.

• Create a Wallet: If you haven't already, create a Sia wallet to store your Siacoins.

• Fund Your Wallet: Transfer Siacoins (SC) to your Sia wallet from an exchange or another source. You'll need these coins to pay for storage.

Uploading your files in renterd

Uploading files with renterd assumes you have completed all the steps of the renterd setup guide. Visit the renterd guides to ensure everything is set up correctly before proceeding.

1. Access the renterd UI from your local host address. Enter your API password you created to unlock renterd.

renterd Login UI

1. Drag-and-drop files, or click the Upload Files button in the top right corner to begin uploading files.

File upload UI

Once you've chosen the file(s) to upload, it will be classed as active upload; give it a few seconds.

You have uploaded your file(s) using renterd. Your data is now stored on the Sia network.

File processing

When you upload a file to Sia, it is processed on your local machine before being sent to the network. The file is divided into chunks. Each chunk is then split into 30 distinct pieces, each encrypted before being sent to a separate host. Only 10 of the 30 pieces are required to reconstruct a chunk, and no single host holds more than one piece.

This means up to 20 hosts can become disconnected from the network for each section of your original file, and your data remains recoverable.

For the more technical readers, here is what happens behind the scenes:

• Files are chunked into 40MB chunks (if a file is smaller, it is padded to 40MB so that data looks identical as it moves across networks)

• Each chunk is then erasure-coded using Reed-Solomon encoding. After processing, each chunk has 30 unique 4MB pieces.

• Each piece is then encrypted using ChaCha20 and uploaded to a distinct host.

• As Reed-Solomon encoding is done with 10 data and 20 parity shards, 10 pieces are sufficient for rebuilding the file.