Decentralized storage that lays the foundation of Web3

On the Internet , Storage has always been a very core content , Massive data needs to be “ Deposit ”, The importance of storage also naturally emerges . This importance lies in Web3 The same is true of China . Analysis by insiders ,Web3 There are three pillars in ： Consensus 、 Storage and Computing , When these three have achieved decentralization ,Web3 It will also realize the replacement of the Internet .

The traditional Internet storage method relying on a storage center has gradually been unable to meet the growing mass of data , So , Many storage service providers have embarked on the road of exploring decentralized storage . Cloud storage is a good exploration achievement , By storing data on various cloud service nodes , To a large extent, it eases the storage pressure caused by the surge of data . However, the current cloud storage is still not free from the limitations of centralization , Storage nodes have changed from one to a limited number .

Maturity of blockchain technology , It provides a new idea for highly decentralized storage . But in practice , But I found it was a difficult process . Blockchain itself is not designed to store large amounts of data , Although in the blockchain “ block ” It has the function of recording data , In theory , Yes, data can be stored in blocks , But when we store a lot of data into blocks , It will not only cost a very high cost , It will also cause the data in the block to be too messy 、 complex , The network will cause serious congestion during processing .

When people use blockchain to explore decentralized storage , It is found that it is not feasible to store directly on the chain , therefore , Explored a compromise plan , That is to store some offline data in a centralized network , such as NFT Middle and low-level metadata and image data , Then use the smart contract in the blockchain to correlate these data 、 transfer .

Of course , This compromise also faces many problems , In essence , It has much in common with traditional centralized storage , Strictly speaking , It cannot be called decentralized storage .

Some developers are also exploring a decentralized storage environment . For example, when Ethereum involves decentralized network storage , It adopts the way of value transfer in exchange for storage services , That is, use the native blockchain to record and track the stored orders . It is difficult to store data at all nodes in the decentralized network of blockchain , In terms of existing technology , High network operating costs will increase storage costs . therefore , The real realization of decentralized storage , Many difficulties still need to be overcome .

These difficulties mainly include but are not limited to ： Data storage format 、 Retrieval and tracking of stored files 、 Proof of storage 、 Continuous data availability 、 Storage cost pricing 、 Data transmission, etc .

Decentralized storage is a potential data storage mode , But its implementation still has a long time to go , What will happen in the future , Let's look forward to .