No tricks. Every stream is cached, and peer-to-peer transfers go direct. Storage was never broken. Access was.
Big claims, narrow features
Creative storage marketing is full of bold promises: no cloud, your own cloud, instant editing with zero downloads. Most of them describe a single feature, such as remote access, media review or streaming. Some describe an ordinary technique in new words.
At the heart of the noise is a simple point: storage is not broken, access is.
Every stream is cached
However a platform describes it, streaming a file means caching part of it locally. The first chunks arrive, the app plays them, and more chunks follow. That is true on every platform, including Performm.
What differs is how much control you have: what is cached, what you pin ahead of time, what stays available offline, and where it is stored. Playback still depends on your connection.
- On a slow connection, pin or precache the files you need before you start
- With very large RAW files you may want the whole file on hand
- For offline work, the file has to be cached before you lose the connection
How streaming works, in plain language
Streaming sounds like magic, so here is the mechanism.
It is the same on every platform:
That is why a slow connection stalls a stream, why pinning fetches chunks ahead of time, and why working offline means the file has to be cached first. Streaming reduces how much you wait before you start. It does not remove the network.
- Your app asks for the part of the file it needs next
- That chunk of data is fetched over your connection
- It is stored in a cache on your machine so it can play and be reused
- Playback continues as long as new chunks arrive faster than you play them
Four steps, repeated as you work.
- 01RequestThe app asks for the next part.
- 02FetchData arrives over the connection.
- 03CacheThe machine stores it locally.
- 04PlayThe app uses the cached data.
Peer-to-peer transfers go direct
A peer-to-peer transfer does not need a storage layer in the middle. Performm's peer-to-peer transfers, such as desktop to desktop or from a NAS or local drive to the cloud, go directly between your own endpoints, using your resources wherever they are, with no intermediate storage holding a copy. The Performm agent runs at the endpoints.
Tools that stage a file in their own storage first make two trips and leave a copy you do not control. Unlimited Fastr transfers are included on Flow and Teams, with no per-gigabyte usage fees. Fair-use terms are at fair-use policy.
A shorter path between people.
What single-purpose tools tend to leave out
When a tool does one thing, the rest of the workflow falls to other tools, and the costs overlap.
For example, Suite Studios Managed is $75 per TB per month (suitestudios.io/pricing, crawled 2026-09-24), and LucidLink Business charges $8 per 100 GB, which is $80 per TB, above the storage included with each member (lucidlink.com/pricing, crawled 2026-09-24). Performm Global storage is $15 per TB per month, or $10 billed annually (Performm pricing, 2026-09-25), and you can use your own storage instead.
- Storage priced per terabyte, on top of seat fees
- No built-in backup or sync
- Limited control over access levels and locations
- A fragmented set of tools with overlapping costs
Start from your workflow
Is your challenge really how to stream a file from the cloud, or how to get the right file, at the right time, wherever it lives?
A hybrid approach bridges your on-prem and cloud storage so you can:
You do not need to reinvent your workflow. You need a platform that supports it.
- Share any file or folder securely from your own drive
- Reach it from a browser, the desktop or a shared virtual drive
- Pin or cache media locally for high-performance work
- Receive uploads from remote collaborators straight to a destination you choose
Where each tool fits
LucidLink streams files from its cloud filespace. Business includes AWS storage and does not support bring-your-own storage, and Connect for existing storage is an Enterprise add-on (lucidlink.com/pricing, crawled 2026-09-24). Suite Studios streams with managed storage, and bring-your-own storage is an Enterprise option (suitestudios.io/pricing, crawled 2026-09-24). Strada uses drives you already own, with plans from free to $24 per user per month (strada.tech/pricing, crawled 2026-09-24).
These are strong tools, built to do one thing well. The questions start when you also need to transfer large files, receive terabytes of rushes from a shoot, keep backup logic and audit trails, or share folders with permissions per user. Then you are adding tools, logins and cost.
Access, not hype
Performm was built around one problem: smart, unified access to storage you already have.
Not just streaming, not just syncing, not just sharing.
- Connects to cloud and local storage
- Shared virtual drives with per-user and per-team permissions
- Send, receive, sync and stream, with offline access through pinning and precaching
- Audit logging and governance on Teams
- Fewer tools, in one interface
Smart storage needs smart tiers
S3 storage is affordable, but it is rudimentary. It is the loft, the garage, the deep archive: great for capacity, rarely built for creative collaboration. Performm gives S3 a front end: a dashboard, desktop drives and sharing on top of the storage you already have.
If you want managed storage too, there are two optional tiers:
Egress fees are waived on Amove-managed storage only. Third-party providers may charge their own.
- Global: fast, streaming-ready storage in six regions, $15 per TB per month ($10 billed annually), with 1 TB included on every Flow and Teams seat
- Archive: S3-compatible, air-gapped by default, no egress fees, $4 per TB per month ($3 billed annually)
Every option, on your terms
The future is not one way of working. It is every way of working: hybrid access that fits your workflow, tools that bring your existing storage into one place, and a platform that lets you define access instead of your vendor. Storage was never the problem. Access was.
Questions and answers
Is cloud file streaming really instant?
No. Every stream caches part of the file locally, on every platform. Playback depends on your connection, and you can pin or precache files ahead of time.
Are Performm peer-to-peer transfers stored anywhere on the way?
No. Peer-to-peer transfers go directly between your own endpoints, using your resources wherever they are, with no intermediate storage.
What does managed storage cost?
Global is $15 per TB per month ($10 billed annually) and Archive is $4 ($3 annually).
Using your own storage costs nothing extra from Performm.
Do I need to move my files?
No. Performm connects to them where they are.
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