A DETAILED OVERVIEW

A Detailed Overview of Decentralized Cloud Storage

leewayhertz.com/decentralized-cloud-storage-solution

The rise of eCommerce, mobile/web apps, IoT, and AI systems has led us to a data-driven
era. Every industry and its consumers are creating astounding volumes of data on a
regular basis. Businesses adore this data as one of their biggest assets because, when
cultivated rightly, it creates various opportunities around customer retention, new
product or service creation, brand marketing, risk management, and supply chain
handling.
As businesses increasingly engage with data and information, they look for a powerful
storage solution to manage their data. Cloud storage solutions from players like Amazon,
Google, Dropbox are the popular choices for storing, managing and sharing data. Startups
or enterprises prefer choosing cloud storage solutions offered by different hosts because it
saves them the expense and effort required to maintain physical storage servers.
Organizations can easily store data on the cloud servers of the hosts and ‘pay as they use.’
Real-time sharing or collaboration upon data is another key advantage of cloud storage.
However, cloud also has one major limitation that it stores data at a centralized location,
which gives the cloud host immense power over your data. Your data stored in the cloud
can be snooped in, restricted to censorship, disclosed to third parties and can also be lost
due to cyber attacks or network failure.
It brings up an important question. Is centralized cloud storage an ideal fit for every
business? Though information security is the fundamental need of every organization,
certain businesses like finance, health care, supply, and logistics are more reliant on data

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security. Such businesses often get conflicted with the security and privacy limitations of
centralized cloud storage solutions. So, is there any better data storage solution available
for these security-focused businesses?

Blockchain has the power of decentralization, and when it is integrated with the strong
properties of the cloud, we get decentralized cloud storage. In this insight, we explore
more about it, understand its strengths, how it works and why it is the best available
storage solution in the current times.

What is Decentralized cloud storage (DCS)?

In centralized cloud storage, the location of the data matters. You can access data only by
identifying ‘where it is’ and not ‘what it is.’ It happens so because your data gets stored at
a centralized location on the web. The location of the data is pointed or identified by the
URLs or web links. To access the data stored in a centralized cloud, you need to describe
its location through a web link. Now, the clear pinning of location can subject data to
certain risks:

Hackers can also identify the location of users’ data and misuse it
If the data is shifted from a particular location, then that web link gets invalid for
data access.

Decentralized cloud storage is a shift from a location-centric approach to a content-
centric approach. Over decentralized cloud storage, you don’t access data by defining
‘where it is.’ Rather you define ‘what it is.’ The concept of location gets invalid in
decentralized cloud storage because data is actually not stored in a specific location; it is
distributed over a global network.

To understand the storage mechanism of DCS, just think of a simple question. Is your
private data, say your investment details, safer when stored on your computer or when
stored on Facebook? Of course, it’s more secure when it is on your computer because in
that scenario, only you have control over your data; no one else can snoop in on to break
your privacy. But, when data is stored in your own computer, it has limitations related to
storage space, portability, accessibility from distributed location and peer-to-peer
sharing.

Decentralized cloud storage solves all such problems because it renders your data the
privacy and security of a personal computer, and at the same time, it makes your data
accessible worldwide. It encrypts, fragments and then distributes the data across multiple
hosting nodes(computers) spread worldwide. In simple words, it uses blockchain
technology to let you own multiple computers across the globe, where you can store your
data and when needed access it from anywhere. Security of your data is assured through
encryption. Any centralized host does not control your data; it is not subject to censorship
and can’t be hacked because it is fully encrypted before being stored.

Why is decentralized storage critical for a better web?

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Location-centric approach

As mentioned above, centralized cloud storage stores data by its location and not by ‘what
it is.’ Let’s understand how it applies in the everyday human context. Imagine someone
wants to refer you to a book for reading. Telling you the name of the book is of no use.
Instead, it would be best if you were told the library’s name, section no., bookcase no.,
shelf no, and the placement position. If the book is removed from that location, you will
not be able to find it, or maybe when you find the book, you may realize that you already
have another copy of the book. A Harvard-led study has found that 49% of all web links
cited in US Supreme Court opinions are inactive. They are pointing to a location where
the content doesn’t exist any longer; maybe it did at some time in the past. The crux is a
location-centric approach for storing information or data is not efficient enough.

Content-centric approach

Decentralized cloud storage systems like IPFS, Sia and Storj, facilitate data storing in a
different manner. It creates a unique kind of web link that describes the content of the
data and not its location. These content-centric links are created using
blockchain cryptographic hash that serves as the unique identifier like a fingerprint. By
separating ‘location’ from ‘content,’ DCS enables data to free flow in a worldwide peer-to-
peer network managed by nodes(computers). You can exchange your files or retrieve your
data from anywhere using any of these nodes. You can choose to retrieve data from your
trusted nodes only. Let’s deep dive into understanding how decentralized cloud storage
works and how it maintains data privacy and security.

How decentralized cloud storage works?

In DCS terminology, data or file or information, all are referred as an object.

Encryption

When you want to store an object on a DCS, first, every bit of data is automatically
encrypted. Only you and those to whom you have granted access permission will be able
to decrypt and access the data. Also, you will have the flexibility to revoke the access
permission at any point in time. Without valid private keys and permissions, no one can
see the data. Different DCS systems can use different encryption algorithms.

Splitting

Once the objects are encrypted, they are split into smaller pieces, and each piece is
indistinguishable from other pieces. Each object splits into 80 pieces, and each piece is
stored in separate nodes of different operators located in different geographies. Splitting
of objects imparts strong security to your data. You don’t need to trust your DCS provider
because they can’t see your data even if they want. After all, it is all segregated into pieces.
One has to reconstitute a minimum of 29 pieces to read your data, which is impossible
without having the private keys and your access permissions.

Globally distributed

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Picking up on the previous point, the split pieces of the object is stored over a global
network of Storage Nodes. It simply means your data or object is never stored in one
place. Data breaches, outages, and network downtime can bother your data. These nodes
are chosen randomly based on their local latency and reputation.

Retrieval

For retrieving or reconstituting a file from the distributed Network. 29 out of 80 split
pieces must be put together. One node getting offline doesn’t impact the process of
retrieval.

How can LeewayHertz offer decentralized cloud storage solution?

To help businesses and developers overcome the privacy and security shortcomings of
centralized storage systems, LeewayHertz offers a decentralized storage solution that
facilitates data storage and pinning on the IPFS network. It is a solution built for the
convenience of every developer. They can add and migrate new data to LeewayHertz DCS
without making any extensive code changes. Our solution offers better ownership and
control over data by providing benefits like encryption by default, end-to-end privacy,
speed, consistent performance, and superior security. It offers easy APIs, supports file
infrastructure for NFTs and facilitates faster access and retrieval of content.

Benefits of our Decentralized Cloud Storage Platform

Security

With features like in-built automatic encryption, data splitting, and global distribution,
our DCS solution renders your data the maximum possible security and privacy against
any data breaches.

Private

You get complete ownership and control over your data. Only you can decide who will
access your data by granting them permission access. The data stored will be end-to-end
encrypted, so no one, including us, can snoop into your data.

Cloud compatible

Our decentralized cloud storage solution works with cloud tools you use and deploys
within minutes using cloud platform storage services including Azure, S3, and Google
Cloud.

Open-source

Our product is completely open-source. Expert software developers from different
domains contribute to our platform. Anyone enthusiastic about building on decentralized
cloud storage using blockchain can collaborate with us.

Endnote

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Centralized storage systems may seem functional, but their shortcomings are also
surfacing up eventually. Decentralized cloud storage embodies an alternative and new-age
storage solution that is more security & privacy oriented. DCS is an emerging technology
that holds potential but is also surrounded by various myths around it. Some say it can’t
be real; then, some think that data will be lost if a node goes offline. Many believe that
data distribution makes it slow, and some question how is data storing in other’s
computers can be safe? However, DCS is a completely viable solution. Blockchain powers
its fundamentals like decentralization and security to bring trust into the system by
making it trustless. In the real-world, DCS systems are already in use. None the less, more
research and development practices are needed in this area; it is the universal fact that
applies to DCS just as it applies to any booming technology.
If you are looking for a decentralized cloud storage solution for your business or want to
build on DCS, we are delighted to ask you to collaborate with us. Our DCS is developer-
friendly and enterprise-requirement-centric. Ask for a free demo.

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