# Remote Archiving Overview

Remote archiving copies your system's call recordings and backup files off the phone system and onto external storage that you control. Because the files no longer have to live on the PBX (Private Branch Exchange, the phone system that routes your calls), you reclaim on-system space, reduce the chance of losing data if the PBX fails, and can organize and retrieve everything from a single place.

You would set this up when recordings and backups are filling the phone system's local storage, or when your organization wants a second copy of that data kept somewhere separate from the PBX.

Cloud Voice can archive to a range of destinations:

- FTP (File Transfer Protocol) server
- SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol, the encrypted version of FTP) server
- S3-compatible object storage (S3 stands for Simple Storage Service, the bucket-based storage model popularized by Amazon Web Services)
- Google Cloud Storage
- Microsoft SharePoint

:::tip
Where you have a choice, prefer an encrypted destination such as SFTP or S3-compatible storage over plain FTP. Plain FTP sends the login credentials and the files themselves across the network unencrypted, so anyone able to watch the traffic could read them.
:::

## Requirements

Before you set up remote archiving, confirm the following.

| Item | Requirement |
| --- | --- |
| PBX firmware | Version 84.22.0.17 or later |
| PBX plan | Enterprise plan (self-managed phone system) or Ultimate plan (Cloud Voice-hosted phone system) |

:::caution
Both requirements are hard prerequisites. If the phone system is on older firmware or on a plan below the ones listed, remote archiving will not be available. Check and update the firmware version, and confirm the plan, before you start.
:::

## Limitations

Keep these ceilings in mind when planning your archiving strategy.

- Archive servers: up to 10
- Archive tasks: up to 200

:::caution
These are hard limits. Once you reach 10 archive servers or 200 archive tasks, the phone system will not let you add more. If you are near either limit, remove servers or tasks you no longer need before creating new ones.
:::

## How archiving works

Setting up remote archiving takes three steps.

1. **Prepare an account and a storage location on the external server.** On the destination service, make sure you have:
   - An account with both read and write permission.
   - A container (a bucket or folder) where the phone system's files will be stored.

   :::caution
   The account needs write permission, not just read. The phone system uploads (writes) files to the destination during archiving, so a read-only account will cause every archive task to fail.
   :::

2. **Add the external server as an archive server on the PBX.** Register the destination in Cloud Voice as one of the supported server types: FTP, SFTP, S3-compatible object storage, Google Cloud Storage, or Microsoft SharePoint.

   :::note
   The server details you enter (address, credentials, and container) must match exactly what you set up in step 1. A mismatch is the most common reason a connection fails at this stage.
   :::

3. **Create archive tasks on the PBX.** A task defines what gets archived (call recordings, backup files, or both) and when it runs. Once a task has run, you can work with the files directly on the external server:
   - Retrieve backup files.
   - Retrieve and play back recording files.

   :::tip
   After you create the first task, confirm it actually worked by opening the container on the external server and checking that the expected files appear. Verifying one task early catches credential, permission, or path problems before you rely on archiving for real data.
   :::

## Related topics

For step-by-step setup instructions for each destination, see:

- [Archive Files to FTP Server](/pbx/administrator-guide/archive-files-to-ftp-server/)
- [Archive Files to SFTP Server](/pbx/administrator-guide/archive-files-to-sftp-server/)
- [Archive Files to S3-compatible Object Storage](/pbx/administrator-guide/archive-files-to-s3-compatible-object-storage/)
- [Archive Files to Google Cloud Storage](/pbx/administrator-guide/archive-files-to-google-cloud-storage/)
- [Archive Files to Microsoft SharePoint](/pbx/administrator-guide/archive-files-to-microsoft-sharepoint/)