# Store

## How a file is stored on Züs <a href="#t1er9" id="t1er9"></a>

The process of storing and retrieving a file on Züs involves four key steps from start to finish:&#x20;

### **Upload**&#x20;

To get started, you can customize your storage plan and select your own [storage providers (Blobbers)](/concepts/architecture/storage.md), or can ask the network to select randomly based on your preferred cost, redundancy, size, and number of data and parity blobbers.

Once your offer is matched with a batch of Blobbers, you can select a file to upload to the Züs Cloud Network.

Note: Once your storage plan is “matched, a proof of this storage agreement is issued to the Züs blockchain in the form of an Allocation ID.

### **Split**&#x20;

As the file is uploaded, it is split up into fragments.

This is an erasure coding process that enables the stored files to be distributed and resilient (reliable). For additional privacy, you can opt to encrypt your file prior to uploading.<br>

### **Distribute**

Your file fragments are then distributed out to various servers [(Blobbers)](/concepts/architecture/storage.md).

The fragments are both distributed to and stored by your allocated batch of Blobbers, as per the storage agreement terms (specified in Allocation ID).<br>

### Access&#x20;

When you want your file, the fragments are brought back together again, reshaping the file to its original form.

Only a specified number of fragments, as per the Allocation ID, are required to reshape the file. This means the file can be reshaped even if only a portion of Blobbers is online.

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