Decentralized cloud is a kind of network architecture based on the application of blockchain technology, offering users a digital peer-to-peer marketplace for cloud computing, networking, and storage services.
Unlike centralized, permissioned cloud providers, decentralized cloud storage providers use an architecture designed to reduce excessive control, relying on a dispersed network of computers and hardware devices known as nodes. These nodes are linked together via a decentralized peer-to-peer (P2P) network and are operated by individuals or organizations that share excess disk space for a fee.
A decentralized storage vendor often serves as a middleman, connecting individuals who need to store data with suppliers looking to lease more storage space. These providers sometimes use a permissionless structure, which means that no matter where the data is stored, only the owner has access to it. Furthermore, data is frequently partitioned and shared across several places in the widely distributed network, which improves security and dependability by guaranteeing that data is disseminated and protected from hackers, attacks and outages.
A decentralized architecture, where there can be no single point of failure, has evolved as a viable alternative to centralized choices in an era where data efficiency is critical to business operations.
Through the relocation of storage and processing to the device at the network's edge, the decentralized cloud model may also be able to utilize the potential of edge computing. Edge devices offer their own cloud capabilities, including remote access, sharing, streaming, collaboration and file management. They can exchange resources freely, process data locally and have direct communication with end users.
Decentralized cloud and storage
Cloud storage, the current industry standard for digital data storage, allows users to store data remotely via a dedicated private network connection or the public internet. When it comes to cloud storage, people who want to host websites, apps and data online must rely on services like Dropbox, Sync and Google Drive, which store their data with centralized cloud providers like Amazon Web Services and Azure.
These titans of technology, including Dropbox, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Salesforce, all utilize the same fundamental architecture to synchronize and replicate data across the Internet to a centralized cloud server cluster.
The cloud has unintentionally evolved into the ultimate centralized processing network with millions of users and their devices connected to these central cloud clusters. This method of storage — for which user data is stored on the centralized server farms of cloud storage providers — is often cheaper, more scalable and more readily accessible than the previous standard of storage on physical hardware.
The cost factor
Despite their popularity and broad use, several centralized cloud storage providers have been chastised for forcing end users into rigid and costly cloud services and storage plans due to a lack of effective alternatives. Service providers of centralized cloud computing expect payment for their offerings.
While larger organizations may not be affected by these costs, smaller businesses may suffer; Amazon, one of the major cloud service providers, charges $23 a month for the AWS cloud data center storage they provide. While providers claim not to handle their users’ data unethically, they can analyze your data to improve their own services and products.
No more central authority
The most serious concern with centralized data storage models is that users must rely on the provider's central authority. Having data stored centrally grants one's host enormous power, such as disclosing data to third parties without consent and losing data due to hardware or network failure or cyberattack.
Centralized cloud computing is also vulnerable to a single point of failure, making it more susceptible to interruptions. On December 14, 2020, a widespread outage caused multiple Google Cloud services and websites, including YouTube, Gmail, Google Assistant, and Google Docs, to go down for about an hour. Because cloud computing is Internet-based, service outages can occur at any time and for any reason, with users having little control over these events.
Decentralization offers has evolved to address the challenges and limitations of centralized storage, with decentralized models gaining traction in recent years, numerous options are already on the market including: Arweave, BitTorrent, Filecoin, Maidsafe, Sia, Storj and Utopia.