What are the options for including external files in a Confluence Cloud page?

[Rich Hansen]

Confluence Cloud has a storage size limit of something like 25GB.  This is too small to embed every document we'd like to share within Confluence.  There are many external file storage options available, but how can you include such external content in a Confluence Cloud page?  What is the best stack with the current available options?

[James Dellow]

Exactly what kind of files are you sharing and are they for internal access only or with external users?

However, in general terms you have a few options:

1. Bump up to a tier with 500+ users, so you can access 50GB of storage
2. Combine Confluence with Google G Suite (aka Google Apps) - integrate with single sign-on and file linking to Google Drive - there are free add-ons: Confluence Google Drive and Google Drive Connector
3. Subscribe to the Filestack for Confluence add-on: "Connect & sync your Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, SkyDrive, GMail attachments & files from 15 other cloud storage sources" if you want more choice 
4. Create your own add-on to support a custom content type that stores files externally in a way that suits you

Of course, there will be some trade offs with each approach.

You might also want to subscribe to something like Cloudo Connect for Confluence to improve the search experience.