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+# Shared files
+
+Historically, GitLab has been storing shared files in many different
+directories: `public/uploads`, `builds`, `tmp/repositories`, `tmp/rebase` (EE),
+etc. Having so many shared directories makes it difficult to deploy GitLab on
+shared storage (e.g. NFS). Working towards GitLab 9.0 we are consolidating
+these different directories under the `shared` directory.
+
+This means that if GitLab will start storing puppies in some future version
+then we should put them in `shared/puppies`. Temporary puppy files should be
+stored in `shared/tmp`.
+
+In the GitLab application code you can get the full path to the `shared`
+directory with `Gitlab.config.shared.path`.
+
+## What is not a 'shared file'
+
+Files that belong to only one process, or on only one server, should not go in
+`shared`. Examples include PID files and sockets.
+
+## Temporary files and shared storage
+
+Sometimes you create a temporary file on disk with the intention of it becoming
+'official'. For example you might be first streaming an upload from a user to
+disk in a temporary file so you can perform some checks on it. When the checks
+pass, you make the file official. In scenarios like this please follow these
+rules:
+
+- Store the temporary file under `shared/tmp`, i.e. on the same filesystem you
+  want the official file to be on.
+- Use move/rename operations when operating on the file instead of copy
+  operations where possible, because renaming a file is much faster than
+  copying it.