diff --git a/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/storage/bitstore/BitstreamStorageServiceImpl.java b/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/storage/bitstore/BitstreamStorageServiceImpl.java
index b8a1a2e96ad4..f86296383dba 100644
--- a/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/storage/bitstore/BitstreamStorageServiceImpl.java
+++ b/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/storage/bitstore/BitstreamStorageServiceImpl.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 import org.dspace.content.service.BitstreamService;
 import org.dspace.core.Context;
 import org.dspace.core.Utils;
+import org.dspace.services.ConfigurationService;
 import org.dspace.storage.bitstore.service.BitstreamStorageService;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.InitializingBean;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
@@ -64,11 +65,14 @@ public class BitstreamStorageServiceImpl implements BitstreamStorageService, Ini
      * log4j log
      */
     private static final Logger log = LogManager.getLogger();
+    private static final int SYNCHRONIZED_STORES_NUMBER = 77;
 
     @Autowired(required = true)
     protected BitstreamService bitstreamService;
     @Autowired(required = true)
     protected ChecksumHistoryService checksumHistoryService;
+    @Autowired(required = true)
+    protected ConfigurationService configurationService;
 
     /**
      * asset stores
@@ -107,10 +111,17 @@ public UUID store(Context context, Bitstream bitstream, InputStream is) throws S
          * other method of working out where to put a new bitstream, here's
          * where it should go
          */
+        boolean isEnabled = configurationService.getBooleanProperty("sync.storage.service.enabled", false);
+        if (isEnabled) {
+            bitstream.setStoreNumber(SYNCHRONIZED_STORES_NUMBER);
+        } else {
+            bitstream.setStoreNumber(incoming);
+        }
         bitstream.setStoreNumber(incoming);
         bitstream.setDeleted(true);
         bitstream.setInternalId(id);
 
+
         BitStoreService store = this.getStore(incoming);
         //For efficiencies sake, PUT is responsible for setting bitstream size_bytes, checksum, and checksum_algorithm
         store.put(bitstream, is);
diff --git a/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/storage/bitstore/ClarinS3BitStoreService.java b/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/storage/bitstore/ClarinS3BitStoreService.java
index 8aeef77ae6fd..85bbc72a1ea5 100644
--- a/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/storage/bitstore/ClarinS3BitStoreService.java
+++ b/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/storage/bitstore/ClarinS3BitStoreService.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
 import org.dspace.content.Bitstream;
+import org.dspace.services.ConfigurationService;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
 
 /**
@@ -30,14 +31,23 @@ public class ClarinS3BitStoreService extends S3BitStoreService {
      * log4j log
      */
     private static final Logger log = LogManager.getLogger(ClarinS3BitStoreService.class);
+    private boolean syncEnabled = false;
 
     @Autowired(required = true)
     DSBitStoreService dsBitStoreService;
 
+    @Autowired(required = true)
+    ConfigurationService configurationService;
+
     public ClarinS3BitStoreService() {
         super();
     }
 
+    public void init() throws IOException {
+        super.init();
+        syncEnabled = configurationService.getBooleanProperty("sync.storage.service.enabled", false);
+    }
+
     @Override
     public void put(Bitstream bitstream, InputStream in) throws IOException {
         String key = getFullKey(bitstream.getInternalId());
@@ -58,10 +68,11 @@ public void put(Bitstream bitstream, InputStream in) throws IOException {
             bitstream.setChecksum(localChecksum);
             bitstream.setChecksumAlgorithm(CSA);
 
-            // Upload file into local assetstore
-            File localFile = dsBitStoreService.getFile(bitstream);
-            FileUtils.copyFile(scratchFile, localFile);
-
+            if (syncEnabled) {
+                // Upload file into local assetstore
+                File localFile = dsBitStoreService.getFile(bitstream);
+                FileUtils.copyFile(scratchFile, localFile);
+            }
         } catch (AmazonClientException | IOException | InterruptedException e) {
             log.error("put(" + bitstream.getInternalId() + ", is)", e);
             throw new IOException(e);
@@ -78,8 +89,10 @@ public void remove(Bitstream bitstream) throws IOException {
         try {
             // Remove file from S3
             s3Service.deleteObject(getBucketName(), key);
-            // Remove file from local assetstore
-            dsBitStoreService.remove(bitstream);
+            if (syncEnabled) {
+                // Remove file from local assetstore
+                dsBitStoreService.remove(bitstream);
+            }
         } catch (AmazonClientException e) {
             log.error("remove(" + key + ")", e);
             throw new IOException(e);
diff --git a/dspace/config/clarin-dspace.cfg b/dspace/config/clarin-dspace.cfg
index 0064162af6ad..86cd4ea11448 100644
--- a/dspace/config/clarin-dspace.cfg
+++ b/dspace/config/clarin-dspace.cfg
@@ -238,3 +238,7 @@ shibboleth.name.conversion.outputEncoding = UTF-8
 ### File preview ###
 # File preview is enabled by default
 file.preview.enabled = false
+
+### Storage service ###
+# Synchronization is NOT enabled by default
+sync.storage.service.enabled = true