Questions and Answers

For how long will my files be stored?

Files will be removed if they have not been viewed for 60 days. A view is counted when someone visits the file’s download page (pixeldrain.com/u/somefile) or views the file through a list the file is included in (pixeldrain.com/l/somelist).

If you upload a file while logged into your pixeldrain account you will be able to delete the file yourself from the download page of the file. If you are not logged in and you accidentally upload something you shouldn’t have, just don’t share the link. The file will expire eventually. File links are not indexed or published anywhere. As long as you don’t share it nobody will see it.

Can I donate to pixeldrain?

We provide extra features for users who support us on Patreon, but if you just want to give some money and don’t care about the perks these options are also available:

How does pixeldrain store files?

Pixeldrain uses a few different techniques to store files cheaply, efficiently and performantly. The servers which accept files from users have a hard disk drive cache of typically a few terabytes (4 to 16). This is where most of the files are kept. When a file is requested from another server it will look up where the file is stored using a lookup table in the shared database. It will then try to contact that server to request the file and proxy the data directly to the requesting user.

Each server keeps track of which files are popular with its own userbase. This includes files which it is not storing locally. It does this using a popularity score. Every time a request to read a file comes in it will add 1 to the score of that file. This score will slowly degrade over time. Periodically the server will request all files with a high popularity score so it can store them locally to save bandwidth. If there is not enough space available to store these popular files it will move some less popular files to the next storage medium to make space available for the more popular files.

The next storage medium is Sia. This is where all the files live which are not requested frequently, but are still occasionally needed. Sia is a storage marketplace where anyone can sell their storage space for financial compensation in Siacoins. If you have storage space available and would like to provide it to pixeldrain and other services you should read our Sia hosting guidelines. There we explain which requirements we are setting for hosts and some handy tips for getting started with hosting.

Do I need to register an account?

Not if you don’t want to. You’re free to use pixeldrain completely anonymously. Without a pixeldrain account you can upload files, download files and create lists of files. And view your uploaded files on the history page. This page only shows files which were uploaded anonymously in this web browser.

By registering an account on pixeldrain you will be able to access your files from any device with a web browser. Files you upload and lists you create will be linked to your pixeldrain account and will show up on your personal home page.

What cookies does pixeldrain use?

When logging in to a pixeldrain account a cookie named ‘pd_auth_key’ will be installed. This cookie keeps your login session active. When you delete it you will be logged out of your account.

When you use the style selector on the Appearance page a cookie called ‘style’ will be set. This cookie controls the appearance of the website for you.

When uploading a file pixeldrain will save a list of file links on your browser’s local storage. This data is only used for viewing your upload history on the history page.

Is there a clean pixeldrain logo I can use?

Yes, here’s a high resolution pixeldrain logo with text. The font is called Orbitron, it was designed by Matt McInerney and uses the Open Font License.


And here’s a vector version of just the icon:


Support

For other questions you can reach me at support@pixeldrain.com. I get a lot more e-mail than I can reply to, so I will only reply to urgent problems or things which I deem important. Abuse reports sent to this address will not be reviewed, use the abuse address.