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Filecoin: A Decentralized Storage Network [pdf]

filecoin.io

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Re: Filecoin: A Decentralized Storage Network [pdf]

#41

Post by theschwa »

_ar7 wrote: post #34
leshow wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you think Apple or Google does with your files after they are uploaded? Do you think they aren't encrypted and spread out over several machines?

All those machines are owned by Google or Apple though. They're not completely random machines.

What's the problem with them being on random machines? I believe the purpose of Filecoin and other projects like Swarm is to incentives people to store the files long term and in some cases verify that those files are still being held.

Re: Filecoin: A Decentralized Storage Network [pdf]

#42

Post by tyrust »

colejohnson66 wrote: post #36
leshow wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you think Apple or Google does with your files after they are uploaded? Do you think they aren't encrypted and spread out over several machines?

But with Apple and Google, I know my data won’t go missing because the p2p network decided to stop seeding my file. Torrents die all the time due to lack of seeding.

Torrent hosts do not have a monetary incentive to host files.

Filecoin (and other decentralized storage systems) provide monetary rewards and penalties for storing or failing to store files. This is introduced in Section 4.1.1 of this paper.

Re: Filecoin: A Decentralized Storage Network [pdf]

#44

Post by wmf »

calafrax wrote: post #28
sharemywin wrote: post #13

I still go back to this paper for questions about decentralized storage: http://blog.dshr.org/2017/07/is-decentralized-storage-sustai...

There is another macro-economic issue here: With a decentralized trustless system you have to assume a higher failure rate for nodes than with a central trust based system. If you assume a higher failure rate you have to replicate data more extensively to achieve reliability. If you have to replicate data more extensively then decentralized will always be more expensive than centralized.

Not necessarily if the inputs are free (e.g. unused disk space). However Spotify, Skype, and Joost all found that CDNs are cheaper than borrowing free bandwidth from people so the same may apply to storage.

Re: Filecoin: A Decentralized Storage Network [pdf]

#45

Post by Ajedi32 »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #20

I'm still confused why I would want my storage to be decentralized. No I don't want my files spread on thousands or millions of computers no matter how encrypted etc.

Trustless, distributed, scalable, redundant, anonymous cloud storage with a market-driven pricing scheme? Why _wouldn't_ you want that? For me that's pretty much the ideal cloud storage system.

Re: Filecoin: A Decentralized Storage Network [pdf]

#46

Post by wmf »

sktrdie wrote: post #2

Coming from academia, these sort of papers would not pass any sort of double-bind peer review process. Where's the actual science? Where are the experiments? It seems to be just a document describing the protocol of Filecoin, which is fine. The problem is that all these "whitepapers" coming from these cryptocurrency communities seem to be promoted as scientific papers, but in reality do not stand a chance in any scie…

It's a math paper so I would expect proofs, not experiments. But interesting conjectures are still valuable even if they haven't been proven yet.

Re: Filecoin: A Decentralized Storage Network [pdf]

#47

Post by zzzcpan »

darawk wrote: post #23
sharemywin wrote: post #13

I still go back to this paper for questions about decentralized storage: http://blog.dshr.org/2017/07/is-decentralized-storage-sustai...

I think this argument fails even by its own standards. It applies equally well to Bitcoin mining, and while there is clearly some centralization there, it is still quite decentralized. At least, decentralized 'enough'. Secondly, storage is fundamentally different than other commodities. The decentralized storage market is more like AirBnB, where you're consuming the excess capacity of capital. Most people have tons o…

Why do you think decentralized storage could ever work on excess capacity? I cannot imagine any incentive for it. It's either profitable enough to do it on a dedicated capacity, kind of like a hosting company, but without all the hassle and marketing. Or it's a burden.

Re: Filecoin: A Decentralized Storage Network [pdf]

#48

Post by hollander »

theschwa wrote: post #41
_ar7 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All those machines are owned by Google or Apple though. They're not completely random machines.

What's the problem with them being on random machines? I believe the purpose of Filecoin and other projects like Swarm is to incentives people to store the files long term and in some cases verify that those files are still being held.

What I don't understand is how this will guarantee the existence of these files. How do I know my files are secure? If my files are spread over several machines, and one or several go offline, are reinstalled, whatever. How do I know my files are secure?
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