When you "share" a Peony data room, files are not sent to the recipient. They stay on Peony's servers. Viewers read documents in an in-browser viewer. Unless you explicitly allow downloads, nothing leaves Peony's infrastructure.

This is the opposite of email attachments, Dropbox share links, or Google Drive share links.

The Short Answer

Files are stored encrypted on AWS in the US (us-east-1).
"Sharing a data room" means sharing a link, not files.
Viewers render files in a secure in-browser viewer — they never receive the underlying file.
A newly created link has Allow downloads turned on. Turn it off per link to make the room truly view-only — this is the recommended default for anything sensitive. (Disabling downloads requires a Business plan or higher; on Free the Allow downloads row shows a Requires Business plan badge.) See Blocking downloads: two different controls.
Revoking a link stops access instantly. Anything not already downloaded is gone.

When You Upload a File

Three things happen:

Upload — encrypted in transit (TLS), written to Peony's encrypted storage on AWS in the US (us-east-1).
AI auto-indexing — text extracted, document classified, searchable index built. Runs in the background; most rooms are ready within a few minutes. Auto-indexing runs on the Data Room plan ($52/admin/mo) and above; on lower plans documents still upload and render, they just do not get the automatic searchable index.
Render-ready conversion — PDFs use a custom secure viewer. Excel renders via a hardened web viewer. PowerPoint converts to browsable pages. HTML and HTM render live in the viewer (JavaScript executes, so interactive AI-generated artifacts run as intended). Video and audio stream in-place. See Supported File Formats.

Uploading video or audio requires a Business plan or higher. On the Free plan the upload is blocked before the file is stored, with a message that these formats need Business. HTML uploads on every plan. Once a file of these types exists, previewing it is not restricted by tier.

Files are encrypted at rest and retrievable only through authenticated requests from your workspace.

When a Viewer Opens a Link

Access gates
File list loads
Pages stream under watermark
Action logged

Peony checks the access gates — email verification, NDA, password, domain whitelist, expiry.
Gates pass → viewer enters the room.
The browser loads the file list from Peony's API, not the files themselves.
When the viewer clicks a document, Peony streams the rendered view page by page, under the watermark and protection layers you configured.
Every action logs to analytics.

Visitors get a rendered view, not a copy of your file. A PDF is not sent as a PDF; it is sent as a stream of page images into the Peony viewer.

Why View-Only Is Real

"View-only" is a technical property, not a marketing claim. When downloads are disabled, the viewer has:

No file path to right-click and save
No "download original" button
No way to extract the source file from the viewer

Video and audio get the same treatment. The in-place media player disables the browser's download control (nodownload) and blocks the right-click context menu, so there is no one-click "save video." When a dynamic watermark is active, it also renders as an overlay across the playing video — unlike the HTML viewer, which does not carry the watermark overlay.

What they can still do:

Take a screenshot (unless screenshot protection is on and they are on desktop — see Access Control Layers)
Photograph the screen with a phone
Read and remember content

For hard protection: downloads off + screenshot protection + dynamic watermark + NDA gate. Even if a phone photo slips through, the watermark carries the viewer's email.

Why Storage Location Matters

Peony stores files on AWS in the US region (us-east-1):

Latency — viewers outside North America see marginally slower initial loads. Still fine for document viewing.
Data residency — If your governance requires EU hosting, standard Peony is not a fit. EU-region hosting is available on the Enterprise plan.
Compliance — SOC 2-ready. See Compliance and Certifications.

For most deal teams — VCs, PE firms, founders, M&A advisors, CRE brokers, consultants — US-region storage is a non-issue.

When You Revoke a Link

Link URL stops working instantly.
Viewers who try to open it after revoke see "link not found."
A file already open in their browser tab keeps displaying until they close it, but they cannot re-enter.
A file they already downloaded (if downloads were enabled) stays on their machine — Peony cannot reach across the internet to delete it.

The only way to guarantee a viewer never has the file is to keep downloads disabled from the start.

How to revoke a single file, a folder or a whole group: Revoking access.

Deleting Files

Deletion is permanent and can't be undone. How to delete, and what to check first: Delete a file or folder.

Common Mistakes

Assuming "sharing a link" means emailing a file. It does not.
Leaving downloads on. A new link ships with Allow downloads turned on, so if you do nothing, viewers can save the file. Turn downloads off for anything sensitive — any viewer who clicks download has the file permanently.
Treating revocation as a time machine. Revoking stops future access; it does not un-download anything.
Assuming EU-region storage on the standard plan. It is not — EU-region hosting is an Enterprise option. Contact sean@peony.ink.

Common Questions

Is there a storage limit, or a fee for large files or lots of viewers?

Storage depends on the plan: 500 MB on Free, 50 GB on Business, and unlimited from Data Room. There are no size fees: you are never charged by the file, by the gigabyte, or by how many external viewers open your rooms, because pricing is per admin seat only. Videos and web links count the same as any other file.

Do downloads default to on or off?

On. A newly created link has Allow downloads turned on. To make a room truly view-only, open the link's settings and turn Allow downloads off. Disabling downloads requires a Business plan or higher; on the Free plan the row shows a Requires Business plan badge.

Which file types need a paid plan to upload?

Video and audio require a Business plan or higher; the upload is blocked before the file is stored on Free. PDFs, Office files, images and HTML upload on any plan.

Does auto-indexing run on every plan?

No. AI auto-indexing (text extraction, classification, searchable index) runs on the Data Room plan ($52/admin/mo) and above. On lower plans documents still upload and render — they just are not automatically indexed for search.

My HTML file flashes or does not load after I download it.

HTML renders correctly inside Peony's in-browser viewer, where its JavaScript executes as intended. A standalone HTML file downloaded and opened locally can behave differently because it no longer has the viewer's runtime around it. If the file misbehaves inside the Peony viewer itself, that is usually a connection issue — see Upload Issues.

How File Storage Works