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Tell me your opinion - aStor Object Storage (S3) and SCP Multi-Cluster – Licensing and External Access Questions
  

George Fady Lv2  Posted 2026-Oct-15 23:48

Hello Sangfor Community,
I am George Fady, Technical Support Engineer, and I would like to share a practical case about licensing and capabilities of aStor Object Storage and multi-cluster management under SCP in Sangfor HCI.
Problem Description
A customer planning an expansion asked the following:

  • Can S3-compatible object storage be built on aSAN using 3 separate servers, and what is the minimum license?

  • Can external S3 clients such as Veeam access the endpoint outside the SCP-managed environment?

  • Does the S3 API support multipart upload, versioning and Object Lock?

  • Can Standard and Enterprise subscription clusters be managed under one SCP?

  • Can one cluster’s object storage serve as a centralized S3 target for independent infrastructure?

Root Cause
This was a pre-deployment question, not a fault. Object storage depends on the aSAN license, which depends on aSV, and the SCP integration has its own edition and version requirements. SCP object storage is also integrated with Sangfor’s proprietary EDS product rather than a standard open-source S3 stack.
Findings

  • License: aSV + aSAN is required. Object storage cannot run on an aSV-only license, and there is no separate object-storage SKU.

  • SCP integration: it needs aStor 3.0.6 + patch, or 3.0.8 and later. SCP needs both the Enterprise Plus Edition and Enterprise Edition licenses. Only aStor object storage is supported, not third-party object storage.

  • External S3 clients: standard S3 clients such as S3 Browser and s3cmd can connect over the network. They use the object storage virtual IP pool address and ports 12000/12001. Veeam-specific validation is not documented.

  • S3 features: multipart upload is supported. Versioning is supported from aStor 3.0.9R1 with small-object merging disabled. Object Lock/WORM is not documented.

  • Multi-cluster SCP: one SCP instance can manage two HCI clusters. Independently licensed clusters are not subject to SCP licensing restrictions.

  • Centralized S3 for external infrastructure: this depends on where the storage is deployed, either independent of SCP or SCP-managed. It also depends on how it is integrated, so we asked the customer for these details before confirming.

Resolution Steps

  • Confirm licensing: aSV + aSAN on all nodes, plus the SCP Enterprise Plus and Enterprise Editions if using the SCP integration.

  • Check the aStor version, using 3.0.9R1 or later if you need versioning.

  • Connect S3 clients to the virtual IP pool address on ports 12000/12001.

  • Clarify the deployment scope, SCP-managed or independent, before designing any cross-cluster S3 usage.

Key Takeaway
Check these in order before designing an S3 deployment: license (aSV → aSAN) → aStor version → SCP edition → deployment scope → client compatibility. Don’t assume third-party backup tools such as Veeam, or Object Lock/WORM, are validated until the product team confirms.
I hope this case helps other engineers working with Sangfor HCI. Feel free to share your experience with aStor object storage and S3 integrations in the comments.
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