diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index b9ce44e9..79647a17 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -16,9 +16,14 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
+      # runner runs as userid 1001 but userid 1000 is baked into docker image.
+      # we could adjust this if needed via env var but this should work
+      - name: Adjust permissions for versitygw directories
+        run: chmod 777 var/vgw var/metadata_vgw
+
       - name: Build docker image
         run: docker compose build
-
+      
       - name: Run tests
         run: docker compose run test-and-cover
         env:
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index a3d7c119..8fb2c6d0 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -71,6 +71,11 @@ ENV PERL5LIB="/extlib/lib/perl5:$FEED_HOME/lib"
 COPY ./src/validateCache.cpp /usr/src/validateCache.cpp
 RUN /usr/bin/g++ -o /usr/local/bin/validate-cache /usr/src/validateCache.cpp -lxerces-c
 
+ENV GNUPGHOME=/tmp/gnupg
+RUN mkdir $GNUPGHOME
+RUN chown $UID:$GID $GNUPGHOME
+RUN chmod 700 $GNUPGHOME
+
 USER $UID:$GID
 
 WORKDIR $FEED_HOME
@@ -87,8 +92,6 @@ RUN mkdir -p /tmp/stage/grin
 RUN mkdir -p /tmp/prep/toingest /tmp/prep/failed /tmp/prep/ingested /tmp/prep/logs /tmp/prep/toingest/emma
 
 RUN mkdir $FEED_HOME/bin $FEED_HOME/src $FEED_HOME/.gnupg
-RUN chown $UID:$GID $FEED_HOME/.gnupg
-RUN chmod 700 $FEED_HOME/.gnupg
 
 COPY . $FEED_HOME
 
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index ace5bb00..7b3ed668 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -25,9 +25,9 @@ services:
     command: prove
     depends_on:
       mariadb: *healthy
-      minio: *healthy
       pushgateway: *healthy
       rabbitmq: *healthy
+      versitygw: *healthy
 
   # Note: for permissions purposes this does NOT bind in the local development
   # environment, so local changes after running docker compose build will NOT
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ services:
     build: .
     volumes:
       - ./clamav:/var/lib/clamav
+      - ./var/vgw:/usr/local/feed/var/vgw
     environment:
       - HTFEED_CONFIG=/usr/local/feed/etc/config_test.yml
       - FEED_HOME=/usr/local/feed
@@ -53,9 +54,9 @@ services:
     command: cover -test -report Coveralls -make 'prove; exit $?'
     depends_on:
       mariadb: *healthy
-      minio: *healthy
       pushgateway: *healthy
       rabbitmq: *healthy
+      versitygw: *healthy
 
   ingest:
     build: .
@@ -119,17 +120,21 @@ services:
       <<: *healthcheck-defaults
       test: ["CMD", "healthcheck.sh", "--su-mysql", "--connect", "--innodb_initialized"]
 
-  # S3 compatible object storage
-  minio:
-    image: minio/minio
+  # S3 -> filesystem gateway
+  versitygw:
+    user: "1000:1000"
+    image: versity/versitygw
     restart: always
     environment:
-      MINIO_ACCESS_KEY: TESTINGACCESSKEY
-      MINIO_SECRET_KEY: testingsecretkey
-    command: server /data
+      ROOT_ACCESS_KEY: TESTINGACCESSKEY
+      ROOT_SECRET_KEY: testingsecretkey
+    volumes:
+      - ./var/vgw:/usr/local/feed/var/vgw
+      - ./var/metadata_vgw:/usr/local/feed/var/metadata_vgw
+    command: --health /health posix --sidecar /usr/local/feed/var/metadata_vgw /usr/local/feed/var/vgw
     healthcheck:
       <<: *healthcheck-defaults
-      test: timeout 5s mc ready local
+      test: [ "CMD", "wget", "--quiet", "--tries=1", "-O", "/dev/null", "http://127.0.0.1:7070/health" ]
 
   pushgateway:
     image: prom/pushgateway
@@ -152,4 +157,4 @@ volumes:
   repository_link:
   repository_obj:
   backups:
-  rclone:
+  vgw_sidecar:
diff --git a/etc/config_test.yml b/etc/config_test.yml
index ac060ff5..56faa46d 100644
--- a/etc/config_test.yml
+++ b/etc/config_test.yml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ emma:
   namespace: test
   packagetype: emma
   bucket: emma-test-bucket
-  awscli: ['aws', '--endpoint-url', 'http://minio:9000']
+  awscli: ['aws', '--endpoint-url', 'http://versitygw:7070']
 
 rabbitmq:
   host: rabbitmq
@@ -34,11 +34,10 @@ rabbitmq:
   queue: testqueue
   priority_levels: 3
 
-test_awscli: ['aws', '--endpoint-url', 'http://minio:9000']
+awscli: ['aws', '--endpoint-url', 'http://versitygw:7070']
 
 pushgateway: http://pushgateway:9091
 
-
 # To configure in production
 
 handle:
diff --git a/etc/ingest.sql b/etc/ingest.sql
index 43825c9c..17e95127 100644
--- a/etc/ingest.sql
+++ b/etc/ingest.sql
@@ -127,6 +127,20 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `feed_backups` (
   KEY `feed_backups_version` (`version`)
 );
 
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `feed_storage` (
+  `namespace` varchar(10) NOT NULL,
+  `id` varchar(32) NOT NULL,
+  `storage_name` varchar(32) NOT NULL,
+  `zip_size` bigint(20) DEFAULT NULL,
+  `mets_size` bigint(20) DEFAULT NULL,
+  `saved_md5sum` char(32) DEFAULT NULL,
+  `deposit_time` timestamp NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
+  `lastchecked` timestamp NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
+  `lastmd5check` timestamp NULL DEFAULT NULL,
+  `md5check_ok` tinyint(1) DEFAULT NULL,
+  PRIMARY KEY (`namespace`, `id`, `storage_name`)
+);
+
 CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `feed_audit_detail` (
   `namespace` varchar(10) NOT NULL,
   `id` varchar(30) NOT NULL,
diff --git a/lib/HTFeed/Stage/Collate.pm b/lib/HTFeed/Stage/Collate.pm
index 81b5a587..0e5a5930 100644
--- a/lib/HTFeed/Stage/Collate.pm
+++ b/lib/HTFeed/Stage/Collate.pm
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ use Carp qw(croak);
 use HTFeed::Config qw(get_config);
 use HTFeed::Storage::LinkedPairtree;
 use HTFeed::Storage::LocalPairtree;
+use HTFeed::Storage::PairtreeObjectStore;
 use HTFeed::Storage::ObjectStore;
 use HTFeed::Storage::PrefixedVersions;
 use Log::Log4perl qw(get_logger);
diff --git a/lib/HTFeed/Storage/ObjectStore.pm b/lib/HTFeed/Storage/ObjectStore.pm
index 683f383c..d0d9e121 100644
--- a/lib/HTFeed/Storage/ObjectStore.pm
+++ b/lib/HTFeed/Storage/ObjectStore.pm
@@ -96,6 +96,16 @@ sub mets_key {
     return $self->object_path . ".mets.xml";
 }
 
+sub zip_size {
+    my $self = shift;
+    return $self->{filesize}{$self->zip_key},
+}
+
+sub mets_size {
+    my $self = shift;
+    return $self->{filesize}{$self->mets_key},
+}
+
 sub zip_filename {
     my $self = shift;
 
@@ -208,15 +218,19 @@ sub record_audit {
     $self->record_backup;
 }
 
+sub saved_md5sum {
+    my $self = shift;
+
+    my $b64_checksum = $self->{checksums}{$self->zip_key};
+    my $hex_checksum = unpack("H*", decode_base64($b64_checksum));
+}
+
 sub record_backup {
     my $self = shift;
 
     get_logger->trace("  starting record_backup");
     my $dbh = HTFeed::DBTools::get_dbh();
 
-    my $b64_checksum = $self->{checksums}{$self->zip_key};
-    my $hex_checksum = unpack("H*", decode_base64($b64_checksum));
-
     my $stmt = join(
         " ",
         "INSERT INTO feed_backups",
@@ -232,9 +246,9 @@ sub record_backup {
         $self->audit_path,
         $self->{timestamp},
         $self->{name},
-        $self->{filesize}{$self->zip_key},
-        $self->{filesize}{$self->object_path . '.mets.xml'},
-        $hex_checksum
+        $self->zip_size,
+        $self->mets_size,
+        $self->saved_md5sum
     );
 
     get_logger->trace("  finished record_backup");
diff --git a/lib/HTFeed/Storage/PairtreeObjectStore.pm b/lib/HTFeed/Storage/PairtreeObjectStore.pm
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2ca42426
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/HTFeed/Storage/PairtreeObjectStore.pm
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+package HTFeed::Storage::PairtreeObjectStore;
+
+# Stores using the S3 protocol but with pairtree paths
+
+use HTFeed::Storage::ObjectStore;
+use base qw(HTFeed::Storage::ObjectStore);
+
+use HTFeed::DBTools qw(get_dbh);
+use File::Pairtree qw(id2ppath s2ppchars);
+
+sub object_path {
+  my $self = shift;
+
+  return sprintf(
+      '%s/%s%s/',
+      $self->{namespace},
+      id2ppath($self->{objid}),
+      s2ppchars($self->{objid})
+  );
+}
+
+sub zip_key {
+    my $self = shift;
+
+    return $self->object_path . $self->{volume}->get_pt_objid() . $self->zip_suffix;
+
+}
+
+sub mets_key {
+    my $self = shift;
+
+    return $self->object_path . $self->{volume}->get_mets_filename;
+}
+
+sub record_audit {
+    my $self = shift;
+
+    my $stmt =
+    "insert into feed_storage (namespace, id, storage_name, zip_size, mets_size, saved_md5sum, deposit_time, lastchecked, lastmd5check, md5check_ok) \
+    values(?,?,?,?,?,?,CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,1) \
+    ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE zip_size=?, mets_size=?, saved_md5sum=?, deposit_time=CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, lastchecked = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,lastmd5check = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, md5check_ok = 1";
+
+    my $storage_name = $self->{name};
+    my $saved_md5sum = $self->saved_md5sum;
+
+    my $zip_size = $self->zip_size;
+    my $mets_size = $self->mets_size;
+
+    my $sth      = get_dbh()->prepare($stmt);
+    my $res      = $sth->execute(
+        $self->{namespace}, $self->{objid}, $storage_name,
+        $zipsize, $metssize, $saved_md5sum,
+        # duplicate parameters for duplicate key update
+        $zipsize, $metssize, $saved_md5sum
+    );
+
+    return $res;
+}
+
+1;
diff --git a/t/collate.t b/t/collate.t
index 3b36ed09..a9c94e13 100644
--- a/t/collate.t
+++ b/t/collate.t
@@ -177,27 +177,60 @@ describe "HTFeed::Collate" => sub {
 
       local our ($bucket, $s3);
       my $old_storage_classes;
+      my %s3s;
+
+      before all => sub {
+        foreach my $suffix (qw(ptobj1 ptobj2 backup)) {
+          $s3s{$suffix} = HTFeed::Storage::S3->new(
+            bucket => "$bucket-$suffix",
+            awscli => get_config('awscli')
+          );
+          $s3s{$suffix}->mb;
+        }
+      };
+
+      after all => sub {
+        foreach my $s3 (values(%s3s)) {
+          $s3->rm('/',"--recursive");
+          $s3->rb;
+        }
+      };
 
       before each => sub {
         $old_storage_classes = get_config('storage_classes');
         my $new_storage_classes = {
+          # simulating isilon
           'linkedpairtree-test' =>
           {
             class => 'HTFeed::Storage::LinkedPairtree',
             obj_dir => $tmpdirs->{obj_dir},
             link_dir => $tmpdirs->{link_dir}
           },
+          # simulating truenas (site 1)
+          'pairtreeobjectstore-ptobj1' => {
+            class => 'HTFeed::Storage::PairtreeObjectStore',
+            bucket => $s3s{ptobj1}->{bucket},
+            awscli => $s3s{ptobj1}->{awscli},
+          },
+          # simulating truenas (site 2)
+          'pairtreeobjectstore-ptobj2' => {
+            class => 'HTFeed::Storage::PairtreeObjectStore',
+            bucket => $s3s{ptobj2}->{bucket},
+            awscli => $s3s{ptobj2}->{awscli},
+          },
+          # simulating data den
           'prefixedversions-test' =>
           {
             class => 'HTFeed::Storage::PrefixedVersions',
             obj_dir => $tmpdirs->{backup_obj_dir},
             encryption_key => $tmpdirs->test_home . "/fixtures/encryption_key"
           },
+          # simulating glacier deep archive
           'objectstore-test' =>
           {
             class => 'HTFeed::Storage::ObjectStore',
-            bucket => $s3->{bucket},
-            awscli => $s3->{awscli},
+            bucket => $s3s{backup}->{bucket},
+            awscli => $s3s{backup}->{awscli},
             encryption_key => $tmpdirs->test_home . "/fixtures/encryption_key"
           }
         };
@@ -223,16 +256,22 @@ describe "HTFeed::Collate" => sub {
         is(scalar(@{$s3_backup}),1,'records a backup for object store');
 
         my $timestamp = $versioned_backup->[0][0];
-        ok(-e "$tmpdirs->{obj_dir}/test/pairtree_root/te/st/test/test.mets.xml",'copies mets to local storage');
-        ok(-e "$tmpdirs->{obj_dir}/test/pairtree_root/te/st/test/test.zip",'copies zip to local storage');
+
+        my $pt_path = "test/pairtree_root/te/st/test";
+        ok(-e "$tmpdirs->{obj_dir}/$pt_path/test.mets.xml",'copies mets to local storage');
+        ok(-e "$tmpdirs->{obj_dir}/$pt_path/test.zip",'copies zip to local storage');
 
         ok(-e "$tmpdirs->{backup_obj_dir}/test/tes/test.$timestamp.zip.gpg","copies the encrypted zip to backup storage");
         ok(-e "$tmpdirs->{backup_obj_dir}/test/tes/test.$timestamp.mets.xml","copies the mets backup storage");
 
         my $s3_timestamp = $s3_backup->[0][0];
 
-        ok($s3->s3_has("test.test.$s3_timestamp.zip.gpg"));
-        ok($s3->s3_has("test.test.$s3_timestamp.mets.xml"));
+        ok($s3s{ptobj1}->s3_has("$pt_path/test.mets.xml"));
+        ok($s3s{ptobj1}->s3_has("$pt_path/test.zip"));
+        ok($s3s{ptobj2}->s3_has("$pt_path/test.mets.xml"));
+        ok($s3s{ptobj2}->s3_has("$pt_path/test.zip"));
+        ok($s3s{backup}->s3_has("test.test.$s3_timestamp.zip.gpg"));
+        ok($s3s{backup}->s3_has("test.test.$s3_timestamp.mets.xml"));
 
         ok(! -e "$tmpdirs->{zip}/test/00000001.jp2","cleans up the extracted zip files");
         ok(! -e "$tmpdirs->{zip}/test","cleans up the zip file tmpdir");
diff --git a/t/lib/HTFeed/Namespace/Test.pm b/t/lib/HTFeed/Namespace/ClassTest.pm
similarity index 77%
rename from t/lib/HTFeed/Namespace/Test.pm
rename to t/lib/HTFeed/Namespace/ClassTest.pm
index 20c5c3f8..a06b876e 100644
--- a/t/lib/HTFeed/Namespace/Test.pm
+++ b/t/lib/HTFeed/Namespace/ClassTest.pm
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-package HTFeed::Namespace::Test;
+package HTFeed::Namespace::ClassTest;
 
 use warnings;
 use strict;
diff --git a/t/lib/HTFeed/Test/Class.pm b/t/lib/HTFeed/Test/Class.pm
index d7318bb9..24aefb5c 100644
--- a/t/lib/HTFeed/Test/Class.pm
+++ b/t/lib/HTFeed/Test/Class.pm
@@ -7,10 +7,12 @@ use HTFeed::Config qw(get_config);
 use File::Path qw(remove_tree);
 
 # return testing class, with assumption that $class eq "$testing_class::Test"
+# or for example "$testing_class::SomethingTest"
+
 sub testing_class{
     my $self = shift;
     my $class = ref $self;
-    $class =~ s/::Test$//;
+    $class =~ s/::\w*Test$//;
     return $class;
 }
 
diff --git a/t/lib/HTFeed/Test/Support.pm b/t/lib/HTFeed/Test/Support.pm
index b38beba0..e3c7f34b 100644
--- a/t/lib/HTFeed/Test/Support.pm
+++ b/t/lib/HTFeed/Test/Support.pm
@@ -56,9 +56,10 @@ my @test_classes;
     my $libDir = "$FindBin::Bin/lib/";
     # get the path to each test classes
     find(sub{
-            if (-f and $_ =~ /^Test\.pm$/ ){
+            if (-f and $_ =~ /Test\.pm$/ ){
                 my $name = $File::Find::name;
                 $name =~ s/$libDir//;
+                return if $name =~ /AbstractTest\.pm$/;
                 push @test_classes, $name;
             }
         }, $libDir
diff --git a/t/s3_helper.pl b/t/s3_helper.pl
index b6420358..63edef93 100644
--- a/t/s3_helper.pl
+++ b/t/s3_helper.pl
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
   $bucket = "bucket" . sprintf("%08d",rand(1000000));
   $s3 = HTFeed::Storage::S3->new(
     bucket => $bucket,
-    awscli => get_config('test_awscli')
+    awscli => get_config('awscli')
   );
   $ENV{AWS_MAX_ATTEMPTS} = 1;
 
diff --git a/t/storage_pairtree_object_store.t b/t/storage_pairtree_object_store.t
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..da344c28
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/storage_pairtree_object_store.t
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+use HTFeed::Config qw(get_config);
+use Test::Spec;
+use Test::Exception;
+use File::Temp qw(tempdir);
+use File::Basename qw(basename);
+use File::Path qw(make_path remove_tree);
+use HTFeed::Storage::PairtreeObjectStore;
+
+use strict;
+
+describe "HTFeed::Storage::PairtreeObjectStore" => sub {
+  spec_helper 'storage_helper.pl';
+  spec_helper 's3_helper.pl';
+
+  my $vgw_home = "$ENV{FEED_HOME}/var/vgw";
+  local our ($tmpdirs, $testlog, $bucket, $s3, $objdir, $bucket_dir);
+
+  before each => sub {
+    $s3->rm("/","--recursive");
+  };
+
+  before all => sub {
+    $bucket_dir = "$vgw_home/$bucket";
+    $objdir = "$vgw_home/$bucket-obj";
+    make_path($objdir);
+  };
+
+  after all => sub {
+    remove_tree($objdir,$bucket_dir);
+  };
+
+  sub object_storage {
+    my $volume = stage_volume($tmpdirs,@_);
+
+    my $storage = HTFeed::Storage::PairtreeObjectStore->new(
+      name => 'pairtreeobjectstore-test',
+      volume => $volume,
+      config => {
+        bucket => $s3->{bucket},
+        awscli => $s3->{awscli}
+      },
+    );
+
+    return $storage;
+  }
+
+  describe "#object_path" => sub {
+    it "includes the namespace, pairtree path, and pairtreeized object id" => sub {
+      my $storage = object_storage('test','ark:/123456/abcde');
+
+      is($storage->object_path, "test/pairtree_root/ar/k+/=1/23/45/6=/ab/cd/e/ark+=123456=abcde/");
+    };
+  };
+
+  describe "#move" => sub {
+    it "uploads zip and mets" => sub {
+      my $storage = object_storage('test','test');
+      my $pt_path = "test/pairtree_root/te/st/test";
+      $storage->move;
+
+      # should be in the bucket and also visible in the filesystem
+      ok($s3->s3_has("$pt_path/test.zip"));
+      ok($s3->s3_has("$pt_path/test.mets.xml"));
+      ok(-s "$bucket_dir/$pt_path/test.zip");
+      ok(-s "$bucket_dir/$pt_path/test.mets.xml");
+    };
+
+  };
+
+  describe "#record_audit" => sub {
+    it "records the item info in the feed_storage table" => sub {
+      my $dbh = get_dbh();
+
+      my $storage = object_storage('test','test');
+      $storage->stage;
+      $storage->make_object_path;
+      $storage->move;
+      $storage->record_audit;
+
+      my $r = $dbh->selectall_arrayref("SELECT * from feed_storage WHERE namespace = 'test' and id = 'test' and storage_name='pairtreeobjectstore-test'");
+
+      ok($r->[0][0]);
+
+    };
+  };
+
+  it "writes through existing symlinks" => sub {
+
+    my $pt_prefix = "test/pairtree_root/te/st";
+
+    # set things up using filesystem access rather than via s3
+    make_path("$objdir/$pt_prefix/test","$bucket_dir/$pt_prefix");
+    system("touch $objdir/$pt_prefix/test/test.zip");
+    system("touch $objdir/$pt_prefix/test/test.mets.xml");
+    system("ln -sv $objdir/$pt_prefix/test $bucket_dir/$pt_prefix/test");
+
+    # writes via the symlink in $bucket_dir
+    my $storage = object_storage('test','test');
+    $storage->move;
+
+    # started as zero size (via touch), should be nonzero size now
+    ok(-s "$objdir/$pt_prefix/test/test.zip");
+    ok(-s "$objdir/$pt_prefix/test/test.mets.xml");
+
+    # should still be a link in the bucket dir
+    ok(-l "$bucket_dir/$pt_prefix/test");
+  };
+
+};
+
+runtests unless caller;
diff --git a/var/metadata_vgw/.keep b/var/metadata_vgw/.keep
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/var/vgw/.keep b/var/vgw/.keep
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b