guide: remote storage

content/docs/command-reference/config.md

@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ within:
 
 ### core
 
-- `core.remote` - name of the remote storage to use by default.
+- `core.remote` - name of the [remote storage](#remote) to use by default.
 
 - `core.interactive` - whether to always ask for confirmation before reproducing
   each [stage](/doc/command-reference/run) in `dvc repro`. (Normally, this
@@ -160,9 +160,30 @@ within:
 
 ### remote
 
-All `remote` sections contain a `url` value and can also specify `user`, `port`,
-`keyfile`, `timeout`, `ask_password`, and other cloud-specific key/value pairs.
-See `dvc remote add` and `dvc remote modify` for more information.
+Unlike most other sections, configuration files may have more than one
+`'remote'`. All of them require a unique `"name"` and a `url` value. They can
+also specify `jobs`, `verify`, and many platform-specific key/value pairs like
+`port` and `password`.
+
+<admon icon="book">
+
+See [Remote Storage Configuration] for more details.
+
+[remote storage configuration]:
+  /doc/user-guide/data-management/remote-storage#configuration
+
+</admon>
+
+For example, the following config file defines a `temp` remote in the local file
+system (located in `/tmp/dvcstore`), and marked as default (via [`core`](#core)
+section):
+
+```ini
+['remote "temp"']
+    url = /tmp/dvcstore
+[core]
+    remote = temp
+```
 
 ### cache
 

content/docs/command-reference/remote/add.md

@@ -1,9 +1,13 @@
 # remote add
 
-Add a new [data remote](/doc/command-reference/remote).
+Register a new [DVC remote](/doc/user-guide/data-management/remote-storage).
 
-> Depending on your storage type, you may also need `dvc remote modify` to
-> provide credentials and/or configure other remote parameters.
+<admon type="tip">
+
+Depending on your storage type, you may also need `dvc remote modify` to provide
+credentials and/or configure other remote parameters.
+
+</admon>
 
 ## Synopsis
 
@@ -26,9 +30,9 @@ for the first remote):
 
 ```ini
 ['remote "myremote"']
-url = /tmp/dvcstore
+    url = /tmp/dvcstore
 [core]
-remote = myremote
+    remote = myremote
 ```
 
 > 💡 Default remotes are expected by commands that accept a `-r`/`--remote`
@@ -379,10 +383,10 @@ Using an absolute path (recommended):
 ```cli
 $ dvc remote add -d myremote /tmp/dvcstore
 $ cat .dvc/config
-  ...
-  ['remote "myremote"']
-        url = /tmp/dvcstore
-  ...
+...
+['remote "myremote"']
+    url = /tmp/dvcstore
+...
 ```
 
 > Note that the absolute path `/tmp/dvcstore` is saved as is.
@@ -393,10 +397,10 @@ directory, but saved **relative to the config file location**:
 ```cli
 $ dvc remote add -d myremote ../dvcstore
 $ cat .dvc/config
-  ...
-  ['remote "myremote"']
-      url = ../../dvcstore
-  ...
+...
+['remote "myremote"']
+    url = ../../dvcstore
+...
 ```
 
 > Note that `../dvcstore` has been resolved relative to the `.dvc/` dir,
@@ -423,10 +427,10 @@ The <abbr>project</abbr>'s config file (`.dvc/config`) now looks like this:
 
 ```ini
 ['remote "myremote"']
-url = s3://mybucket/path
-region = us-east-2
+    url = s3://mybucket/path
+    region = us-east-2
 [core]
-remote = myremote
+    remote = myremote
 ```
 
 The list of remotes should now be:

content/docs/command-reference/remote/default.md

@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
 # remote default
 
-Set/unset the default [data remote](/doc/command-reference/remote).
-
-> Depending on your remote storage type, you may also need `dvc remote modify`
-> to provide credentials and/or configure other remote parameters.
+Set/unset the default
+[remote storage](/doc/user-guide/data-management/remote-storage).
 
 ## Synopsis
 

content/docs/command-reference/remote/index.md

@@ -1,13 +1,15 @@
 # remote
 
-A set of commands to set up and manage data remotes:
+A set of commands to set up and manage [remote storage]:
 [add](/doc/command-reference/remote/add),
 [default](/doc/command-reference/remote/default),
 [list](/doc/command-reference/remote/list),
 [modify](/doc/command-reference/remote/modify),
 [remove](/doc/command-reference/remote/remove), and
 [rename](/doc/command-reference/remote/rename).
 
+[remote storage]: /doc/user-guide/data-management/remote-storage
+
 ## Synopsis
 
 ```usage
@@ -101,9 +103,9 @@ The <abbr>project</abbr>'s config file should now look like this:
 
 ```ini
 ['remote "myremote"']
-url = /path/to/remote
+    url = /path/to/remote
 [core]
-remote = myremote
+    remote = myremote
 ```
 
 ## Example: List all remotes in the project
@@ -128,12 +130,12 @@ The project's config file should now look something like this:
 
 ```ini
 ['remote "myremote"']
-url = /path/to/remote
+    url = /path/to/remote
 [core]
-remote = myremote
+    remote = myremote
 ['remote "newremote"']
-url = s3://mybucket/path
-endpointurl = https://object-storage.example.com
+    url = s3://mybucket/path
+    endpointurl = https://object-storage.example.com
 ```
 
 ## Example: Change the name of a remote

content/docs/command-reference/remote/list.md

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # remote list
 
-List all available [data remotes](/doc/command-reference/remote).
+List all available
+[DVC remotes](/doc/user-guide/data-management/remote-storage).
 
 ## Synopsis
 

content/docs/command-reference/remote/modify.md

@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
 # remote modify
 
-Modify the configuration of a [data remote](/doc/command-reference/remote).
+Configure a [DVC remote](/doc/user-guide/data-management/remote-storage).
 
-> This command is commonly needed after `dvc remote add` or
-> [default](/doc/command-reference/remote/default) to set up credentials or
-> other customizations to each remote storage type.
+<admon type="tip">
+
+This command is commonly needed after `dvc remote add` or `dvc remote default`
+to set up credentials or for other customizations specific to the
+[storage type](#available-parameters-per-storage-type).
+
+</admon>
 
 ## Synopsis
 
@@ -1272,10 +1276,10 @@ Now the project config file should look like this:
 
 ```ini
 ['remote "myremote"']
-url = s3://mybucket/path
-profile = myuser
+    url = s3://mybucket/path
+    profile = myuser
 [core]
-remote = myremote
+    remote = myremote
 ```
 
 ## Example: Some Azure authentication methods

content/docs/command-reference/remote/remove.md

@@ -1,8 +1,13 @@
 # remote remove
 
-Remove a [data remote](/doc/command-reference/remote). This command affects DVC
-configuration files only, it does not physically remove data files stored
-remotely.
+Remove a [DVC remote](/doc/user-guide/data-management/remote-storage).
+
+<admon type="info">
+
+This command affects DVC configuration files only. It does not physically remove
+data files stored remotely. See `dvc gc --cloud` for that.
+
+</admon>
 
 ## Synopsis
 

content/docs/command-reference/remote/rename.md

@@ -1,7 +1,12 @@
 # remote rename
 
-Rename a [data remote](/doc/command-reference/remote). The remote's URL is not
-changed by this command.
+Rename a [DVC remote](/doc/user-guide/data-management/remote-storage).
+
+<admon type="info">
+
+The remote storage URL is not changed by this command.
+
+</admon>
 
 ## Synopsis
 

content/docs/sidebar.json

@@ -125,9 +125,10 @@
         "source": false,
         "children": [
           "large-dataset-optimization",
+          "remote-storage",
+          "cloud-versioning",
           "importing-external-data",
-          "managing-external-data",
-          "cloud-versioning"
+          "managing-external-data"
         ]
       },
       {

content/docs/user-guide/data-management/remote-storage.md

@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+# Remote Storage
+
+_DVC remotes_ provide optional/additional storage to backup and share your data
+and ML model. For example, you can download data artifacts created by colleagues
+without spending time and resources to regenerate them locally. See `dvc push`
+and `dvc pull`.
+
+<admon type="info">
+
+DVC remotes are similar to [Git remotes], but for <abbr>cached</abbr> data.
+
+[git remotes]: https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Basics-Working-with-Remotes
+
+</admon>
+
+This is somehow like GitHub or GitLab providing hosting for source code
+repositories. However, DVC does not provide or recommend a specific storage
+service. Instead, it adopts a bring-your-own-platform approach, supporting a
+wide variety of [storage types](#supported-storage-types).
+
+The main uses of remote storage are:
+
+- Synchronize DVC-tracked data (previously <abbr>cached</abbr>).
+- Centralize or distribute large file storage for sharing and collaboration.
+- Back up different versions of your data and models.
+- Save space in your working environment (by deleting pushed files/directories).
+
+## Configuration
+
+You can set up one or more remote storage locations, mainly with the
+`dvc remote add` and `dvc remote modify` commands. These read and write to the
+[`remote`] section of the project's configuration file (`.dvc/config`), which
+you could edit manually as well.
+
+Typically, you'll first register a DVC remote by adding its name and URL (or
+file path), e.g.:
+
+```cli
+$ dvc remote add mybucket s3://my-bucket
+```
+
+Then, you'll usually need or want to configure the remote's authentication
+credentials or other properties, etc. For example:
+
+```cli
+$ dvc remote modify --local \
+                    mybucket credentialpath ~/.aws/alt
+
+$ dvc remote modify mybucket connect_timeout 300
+```
+
+<admon type="warn">
+
+Make sure to use the `--local` flag when writing secrets to configuration. This
+creates a second config file in `.dvc/config.local` that is ignored by Git. This
+way your secrets do not get to the repository. See `dvc config` for more info.
+
+This also means each copy of the <abbr>DVC repository</abbr> may have to
+re-configure remote storage authentication.
+
+</admon>
+
+<details>
+
+### Click to see the resulting config files.
+
+```ini
+# .dvc/config
+['remote "mybucket"']
+    url = s3://my-bucket
+    connect_timeout = 300
+```
+
+```ini
+# .dvc/config.local
+['remote "mybucket"']
+    credentialpath = ~/.aws/alt
+```
+
+```ini
+# .gitignore
+.dvc/config.local
+```
+
+</details>
+
+Finally, you can `git commit` the changes to share the general configuration of
+your remote (`.dvc/config`) via the Git repo.
+
+[`remote`]: /doc/command-reference/config#remote
+
+## Supported storage types
+
+> See more [details](/doc/command-reference/remote/add#supported-storage-types).
+
+### Cloud providers
+
+- Amazon S3 (AWS)
+- S3-compatible e.g. MinIO
+- Microsoft Azure Blob Storage
+- Google Drive
+- Google Cloud Storage (GCP)
+- Aliyun OSS
+
+### Self-hosted / On-premises
+
+- SSH servers; Like `scp`
+- HDFS & WebHDFS
+- HTTP
+- WebDAV
+- Local directories, mounted drives; Like `rsync`
+  > Includes network resources e.g. network-attached storage (NAS) or other
+  > external devices

content/docs/user-guide/project-structure/internal-files.md

@@ -74,10 +74,8 @@ operation.
 
 ## Structure of the cache directory
 
-The DVC cache is a
-[content-addressable storage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content-addressable_storage)
-(by default in `.dvc/cache`), which adds a layer of indirection between code and
-data.
+The DVC cache is a [content-addressable storage] (by default in `.dvc/cache`),
+which adds a layer of indirection between code and data.
 
 There are two ways in which the data is <abbr>cached</abbr>, depending on
 whether it's a single file, or a directory (which may contain multiple files).
@@ -86,6 +84,9 @@ Note files are renamed, reorganized, and directory trees are flattened in the
 cache, which always has exactly one depth level with 2-character directories
 (based on hashes of the data contents, as explained next).
 
+[content-addressable storage]:
+  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content-addressable_storage
+
 ### Files
 
 DVC calculates the file hash, a 32 characters long string (usually MD5). The