# Using external storage as a link

**URL:** <https://forum.collaboraonline.com/t/using-external-storage-as-a-link/157>\
**Category:** Installation & Configuration\
**Created:** [January 22, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://forum.collaboraonline.com/t/using-external-storage-as-a-link/157 "2021-01-22T17:02:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Slava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b487fb/32.png) [@Slava](https://forum.collaboraonline.com/u/Slava)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://forum.collaboraonline.com/t/using-external-storage-as-a-link/157/1 "2021-01-22T17:02:41Z")

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Hi!  
I am interested in an approach how to use the external link for collabora without Nextcloud. As I can see in the loolwsd.xml, there are three types of storage, namely file, wopi, webdav. Instead of them, for example, I want to use [http://my.external.storage/test.doc](http://my.external.storage/test.doc) to the link [http://localhost:9980/loleaflet/dist/loleaflet.html](http://localhost:9980/loleaflet/dist/loleaflet.html).  
Is it possible to use a direct link to my file, or just an extra layer approach like Nextcloud might be a suitable solution?

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**Author:** ![bearon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de053/32.png) [@bearon](https://forum.collaboraonline.com/u/bearon)\
**Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 10:47am UTC](https://forum.collaboraonline.com/t/using-external-storage-as-a-link/157/2 "2022-03-07T10:47:38Z")

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Direct file access is only for testing purposes, and WebDAV access was an idea a long time ago that never got implemented, so yes, a WOPI host like Nextcloud is the only advised option for any real-world use.