How do I store application files so multiple servers can access them?

If multiple servers need to access the same application files, the usual approach is to put those files on shared storage rather than on a local disk attached to just one server.

Common options

1) Network File System (NFS)

• A central file server exports a directory.
• Other servers mount it over the network.
• Good for:
  • shared uploads
  • config files
  • assets
  • legacy apps that expect a normal filesystem
• Watch out for:
  • performance under heavy load
  • single point of failure unless you make the storage highly available
  • file locking/consistency behavior depending on the app

2) Distributed/cluster file systems

Examples:

• GlusterFS
• CephFS
• Lustre

These are better when you need:

• high availability
• redundancy
• scaling across many servers

They are more complex to operate than NFS.

3) Object storage

Examples:

• Amazon S3
• Azure Blob Storage
• Google Cloud Storage

Best for:

• images
• videos
• backups
• user uploads
• static assets

Notes:

• not mounted like a normal filesystem in the same way as NFS
• applications usually access it via API
• often the best choice for cloud-native apps

4) SAN / block storage

Examples:

• iSCSI
• Fibre Channel
• cloud block volumes

Usually attached to one server at a time, so it’s less useful for multiple servers simultaneously unless paired with a clustered filesystem.

Typical architecture choices

• Web app servers: keep code deployed on each server separately, not shared live.
• Shared uploads / media: use NFS or object storage.
• Static files: ideally use object storage + CDN.
• Database files: use the database’s own replication/cluster features, not shared filesystem storage.

Important best practice

Don’t rely on having application code live on a shared filesystem for all servers if you can avoid it. It’s usually better to:

• build/deploy the same code to each server
• keep only truly shared data on shared storage

That avoids performance and consistency issues.

Quick recommendation

• For a simple on-prem setup: NFS
• For cloud apps and file uploads: object storage
• For large-scale HA shared filesystem needs: CephFS/GlusterFS

If you want, I can suggest the best option based on your environment:

• on-prem or cloud
• Linux or Windows
• app files vs user uploads vs static assets
• number of servers and expected traffic