Amazon S3 getting started guide
If you plan to store your attachments in Amazon S3, you first need to apply for an Amazon Web Services account. This guide walks you through the steps. If you plan to store your attachments on a Network Drive, you do not have to go through the following steps.
There are a couple of advantages to use Amazon S3 over a Network Drive. First, it is accessible from anywhere on the Internet. This is especially important if you choose to detach embedded images. You need to be able to access the image URL for the image to display properly. With Amazon S3, you do not have to make sure the network drive is always attached, e.g., through VPN. In addition, attachments are automatically replicated multiple times in S3, thus it is more reliable. In fact, Amazon S3 promises 99.9% SLA.
To create an Amazon Web Services account, first visit http://aws.amazon.com/. You will see the following page. Click "Sign Up Now".
You will then see the sign in page. If you are already an Amazon user (e.g., on their book selling site), simply login with your regular Amazon credential. Otherwise, click "I am a new user" and proceed to create a new account.
Once signed in, visit http://aws.amazon.com/s3, click "Sign up for Amazon S3" button. It will prompt you for a credit card number if one is not already on file. They will charge this credit card at the beginning of each month for the previous month's usage automatically. It costs $0.10 per GB per month, which you pay directly to Amazon.
Click on the top right corner "Your Account" -> "Access Identifiers" to see your credential. You will need two keys in the options configuration menu of AttachmentManager. The first is "Your Access Key ID", and the second is "Your Secret Access Key". Copy and paste those two strings into the AttachmentManager options page.
These two Keys are all you need to start using AttachmentManager, but if you want to manage S3 directly, e.g., see what is stored there, you need to download other tools, such as a dashboard. There are many dashboard out there already. If you use Firefox browser, we recommend the S3fox plugin. You can download it from https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3247.