Test Storm Buckets first.
Alpha testers get a 70 GB grant on the alpha node, take new node code before paid nodes do, and talk to the founder directly. Alpha is never billed.
What alpha is
Storm Buckets is S3-compatible object storage, hosted and operated entirely in Canada. Alpha testing is an opt-in on top of a Storm account: you run on the alpha node, use the product for real work, and tell us where it breaks. An account can be an alpha tester whether or not it pays for blocks.
The grant
An approved alpha tester gets a 70 GB capacity grant on the alpha node. The grant steps down in 10 GB steps toward a 10 GB floor as the cohort grows. Each account keeps the grant in effect when it joined.
How to join
Tick "Also join alpha testing" when you create your Storm account, or use the Request alpha button in the Buckets dashboard if you skipped the box. Either way files a request, and the founder approves every one by hand.
Use it or hand it back
An approved slot holds real capacity whether or not it is used. If you have not made a bucket within 30 days of approval, we may withdraw alpha access and return the grant to the pool so someone else can test. Your account stays, and nothing you stored is deleted. Making one bucket ends this for good: from then on the grant is permanent.
Alpha and paid capacity
They are separate. The founding grant lives on the alpha node. Paid blocks live on montreal-1 and are billed per block. Alpha is never billed, and buying blocks does not touch your grant.
Updates land here first
Node software (the Pulse agent, the guard and Garage) rolls out to the alpha node 1 to 14 days before paid nodes, security fixes excepted. Security fixes go everywhere at once. The website is one deploy for every account and is outside this rule.
The flip side: alpha takes new code first, and new code can break. Read Terms section 2 before you put data here that you have no other copy of.
The feedback bounty
Engineering feedback earns more capacity. Do something real in the product, report what happened, and an accepted report adds +10 GB, then +20 GB, then +30 GB for each one after. The list and the rules are on the feedback bounty page.
A direct line
Every feedback thread is read and answered by the founder. Alpha feedback shapes the roadmap.
Create an account and tick the box.
The founder approves each request by hand.