1. What is a decentralized file system?
Decentralized file storage refers to a system that stores data in a peer-to-peer network. Dapp's front-end, pictures, audio and video files can be stored in a decentralized storage system, reducing the risk of single point failure of Web3 projects, achieving Serverless, removing trusted third parties, having better security, and being cheaper.
In terms of demand, decentralized file storage is an alternative to centralized storage, which helps Dapp to implement Serverless and will be an important part of the Web3 technology stack.
Decentralized file systems are suitable for storage
Hot data (high access frequency): storage of Dapp front-end, NFT metadata and images, Dapp file data, such as data on the lens, blogs, images, audio, video, etc. Cold data (low access frequency): archived historical data and backup. 2. Current status of decentralized file systems
According to Messari statistics, the market value of the top four decentralized file storage protocols is nearly $1.6 billion, down 83% from $9.4 billion. The total storage capacity is 17 million TB, up 2% year-on-year, and the used storage is 532,500 TB, up 1280% year-on-year.
Let’s take a look at the current status of several popular decentralized storage projects. Using all of these decentralized storage protocols to store data is much cheaper than AWS. While AWS charges about $23 per TB/month, these decentralized storage protocols charge anywhere from $0.0002 to $20 per TB/month.
IPFS: IPFS is currently the most widely used protocol for storing NFT images and Metadata. It is well suited for storing "hot" data with high access frequency. However, IPFS does not have any built-in way to incentivize storage, prove that data is stored correctly, or establish agreements between participants like blockchain. This means that if data is only stored on IPFS, there is a risk of losing data. For example, Infura's IPFS service deletes data that has not been accessed within six months. Therefore, if you want to keep your data available for a long time, it is best to run your own IPFS node. Filecoin: Filecoin provides low storage costs and is mainly used to store "cold" data, such as archival data. Filecoin does not have a built-in data retrieval charging mechanism, and currently some miners accept low-quality data to get rewards and refuse to assist in data retrieval. The Filecoin community is actively addressing this issue and implementing measures to improve the overall quality of stored data. Arweave: Arweave's permanent storage concept is suitable for storing DApp data. The ecosystem has developed well, with decentralized database systems that use Arweave to store database files, and second-layer scalability solutions based on Arweave. In Arweave's payment model, there is no bandwidth fee. Therefore, some nodes only provide storage services and do not provide retrieval services. Swarm: Swarm charges bandwidth fees for both storage and retrieval. The system is highly decentralized and has high bandwidth requirements for nodes. StorJ: StorJ is different from other protocols in that it is partially decentralized and has good retrieval speeds. It has proven to be very effective for large video file sharing. Sia: Skynet Labs closed due to lack of new funding, which also led to a decline in Sia usage.
We evaluate the usability of decentralized file storage protocols based on the following three factors:
Data retrieval speed. This is crucial because it determines the efficiency of the storage system in responding to DApps requests and directly affects the user experience of DApps. Factors that may affect data retrieval speed include: whether there is a fee for data query, the degree of decentralization of the node, the quality of the node, the data forwarding logic, and facilities to accelerate the query (such as CDN). Incentive model and token economics. The incentive model and token economics affect the participation of storage nodes and thus their behavior. At present, the mainstream pricing model consists of storage fees and bandwidth fees, which means that users need to pay storage fees when storing data and bandwidth fees when accessing it. If data query is free, nodes usually lack the motivation to provide this service. In addition, the incentive model and token economics have an impact on the income of miners, which in turn affects the number of nodes and storage capacity of the service. Data availability guarantee algorithm. This is an algorithm used in a decentralized network to ensure that nodes continue to provide data services and guarantee the continuous availability of data. At present, the most widely used method is the Proof of Random Access algorithm. Summary Products and services that utilize decentralized storage protocols are still in their early stages. The main focus of improving storage protocols will be on reducing retrieval time. Data retrieval speed, incentive model and token economics, and data availability guarantee algorithm are key factors in determining whether a protocol will be widely used.
