The rise of eCommerce,

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A Detailed Overview of Decentralized Cloud Storage
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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, certai
n 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 dont 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, its 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 cant 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. Lets
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 librarys 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 H arvard-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 doesnt 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. Lets 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 indistinguishabl
e 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 dont need to trust
your DCS provider because they cant 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 doesnt 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 cant 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 others 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. A sk for a free
demo.