DECENTRALIZED, PERMANENT AND CHEAPER DATA STORAGE
The demand for data has grown exponentially. The need to create information and knowledge has led to a mad dash for data collection as organizations, corporations, researchers, governments and individuals fight to gain a distinct advantage over others. As a consequence, we have been inundated by a sea of data. And with the unprecedented accumulation of data has come an altogether different but inescapable problem—data storage. Experts estimate that there will be over 20 billion connected devices by 2020, all of which will generate and then require the storage and retrieval of vast amounts of data.
The Failings of Traditional Database Systems and Current Blockchains
It is true that blockchain technology has greatly improved data storage, and has rendered the traditional centralized database system obsolete. The recent spates of breaches in the centralized databases of large corporations is testament to the need for a more robust data storage concept. Unfortunately, current blockchains themselves—in their quest to transform the data storage world—are hampered by a number of constraints namely, compatibility and scalability issues.
Some blockchains such as Ethereum are not designed for data storage and using them to do so is typically time and space consuming. Also, they often have to connect to third party entities, leading to high fees and impermanence in stored data. As regards scalability, typical blockchains require that each node keeps a copy of the blockchain and changes must be synchronized among all the nodes. In the case of data, every new included data element needs to be synched with each node in the blockchain. Therefore the larger the volume of new data, the greater the time required for verification, and the higher the incurred fees. Although this requirement ensures data protection, it is a hindrance when it comes to data storage.
Arweave’s Innovative Solution
Arweave has been created specifically to solve these two problems of compatibility and scalability, and by so doing positioned itself to be the next-big-thing in data storage. They have achieved this by combining the best features of blockchain technology to meet the practical demands of storing large amounts of data, permanently and cheaply.
Arweave’s Uniqueness
Arweave is a new blockchain platform called the blockweave created to provide scalable on-chain storage in a cost effective manner for the first time. Its scalability is a stark improvement on previous blockchains, with speeds reaching up to 5000 transactions per seconds (TPS), compared to 7 – 15 TPS for Ethereum. All these make Arweave unique and strategically positioned to deliver decentralized, permanent and cheap data storage. Competitors such as Filecoin and Siacoin continue to be plagued by the failings of current blockchain networks.
Arweave innovative low-cost, quick and permanent data storage network is built on four core, intertwined technologies:
- Blockweave: Traditional blockchains require the participation of every stored block in each node in order to validate a transaction. Arweave has created two new concepts which allow nodes to effectively validate transactions without possessing the whole chain. These are blockhash and wallet list. Blockhash and wallet list allow the effective verification of old blocks and evaluation of new blocks respectively. With wallet list, transactions can be verified without possessing the block in which the last transaction was used. Additionally, a system of ongoing verification is employed by Arweave so that new miners can simply join the network without having to verify the entire block structure, from genesis block to current block.
- Proof of Access (POA): POA consensus mechanism is an improvement over Proof of Work (POW) in facilitating secure decentralized data storage. POA algorithm—rather than depend on previous block to generate successive block—incorporates data from a randomly chosen previous block.
- Wildfire: In a decentralized system, it is important that miners are incentivized to share data freely. Through Wildfire, Arweave solves the problem of data sharing by making the rapid fulfilment of data requests a necessary part of participation on the network. Therefore peers who respond quickly to requests and accept data from others are financially incentivised to remain friendly while unfriendly peers are blacklisted from the network. This self-optimising network typology ensures high speed distribution of new blocks.
- Blockshadows: Traditional blockchains slow down the rate at which a network can verify a new block by requiring that an entire block is distributed to every node each time a new block is mined. Arweave’s blockshadows circumvent this problem by distributing only hash lists—a shadow—instead of the full block itself. For transactions, a shadow would consist merely of a list of transaction hashes instead of the list of transactions inside the block. From this minimal information, a full block can be reproduced by recipient nodes. Blockshadows thus ensure faster block consensus and high network speeds.
Use cases of Arweave
The provision of decentralized, permanent and cheap data storage lends itself almost readily to a number of obvious use cases, not least of which is data storage. The credibility of information is dependent on the quality of data from which it is processed, and Arweave provides the platform which assures a breach-proof data archiving. Data sharing is another important use case because Arweave has created a decentralized system free of third-party manipulations, since every node is privy to alterations. Lastly, Arweave can provide document authentication through continuous and veritable storage of digital contents. These immutable records can serve as truthful evidences during litigation. And this is especially important in a litigious country like the United States.
The Arweave Team
The Arweave team includes Co-founders Sam Williams and William jones, academics, with extensive experience in decentralized system design and neural networks respectively. Other members include, Damon Sweeney and Kyle Beckles, Developers; Matt Lockyer, Developer Evangelist; Joanna Zhang, Web Developer; and Adam Kennedy, Digital Artist.
PARTNERS AND ADVISORS
Conclusion
Blockchain technology is truly a disruptor in the field of data storage. However, Arweave has championed the next frontier in blockchain-enabled data storage by creating innovative solutions to the problems that have befallen existing blockchains, including its rivals. Arweave has elevated itself above typical blockchains by uniting a quartet of technologies to create a unique blockchain network which provides excellent value for money. And for the first time, we can look forward to low-cost, permanent data storage.
ICO OVERVIEW
TOKEN SALE: 3RD JUNE – 6TH JUNE
TICKER: AR
TOKEN TYPE: OWN WALLET
TOKEN PRICE: 1 AR = 0.73 USD
FUNDRAISING GOAL : 8,700,000 USD
TOTAL TOKENS: 66,000,000
AVAILABLE FOR TOKEN SALE: 20.6%
To learn more about specific details of the project, visit the following links below;
SOCIAL LINKS
TELEGRAM
ADDITIONAL LINKS
Finally arweave would create a lasting solution to the issue of data storage, so sad I got to know about this project after going through this write up, would have loved to participate in the ICO, to get AR at a more cheaper price, anyways I would be waiting for the launch of the mainnet
You might still get it cheaper when it gets to exchanges, you can join any of their socials to stay updated, since you’ve got an interest in the project.
It seems like a good project for investment... Thanks for your review
you welcome @irisworld , I also believe it would be successful because it has reliable and enthusiastic professionals behind it
I believe arweave has potential to positively affect the community and would personally like to see it succeed for that reason.
Yes, decentralization has really brought in new ideas to the table. With Arweave in place we don’t have to fear our data getting manipulated or permanently deleted ever again
Yes for sure, no more manipulations, with the blockchain more transparency 😅