How you store your data has become more important than ever.
As the IT sector becomes bigger and more important than ever, in order to scale and grow, more storage is needed. Just where businesses put this data is the question. With big tech set to become even stronger, we should really be questioning if the typical, centralized companies that store our data (Google, Amazon, Apple, IBM) are really who we should be relying on.
Government control is another thing that spurs on the question, too. Social media platforms have been closed down—or threatened with closure as of late—and people are asking whether they can trust certain companies when their security is questionable.
The decentralization of things—in particular data storage—and the use of blockchain technology is something that could really help stop things from being compromised.
There are a number of companies wanting to change the way we look at data storage. Let’s look at a couple that do different things but have the right tools to work with each other and really revolutionize the way data is stored and accessed.
First, let’s look at database service, Bluzelle. Known as the “AirBnB of database storage,” it gives dApp developers a place to store their goods. The idea is that storage space is sourced from the public, (unused spaces, to be precise) who in turn act as validators for the network. Developers pay for storage space and for reads and writes to the database.
Then there is Filecoin, a file storage service. It utilizes the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), a peer-to-peer protocol for file-sharing and website hosting that runs across thousands of computers. It aims to be a foundation for holding “scientific data, creative commons media, historical archives, preservation and more” and its popularity is soaring.
The Similarities Between Bluzelle and Filecoin
Bluzelle and Filecoin have a lot in common and can actually work hand-in-hand to compliment each other.
Firstly, they are both decentralized storage solutions. So, unlike something like Apple’s iCloud, there is no single entity controlling the network. Both Bluzelle and Filecoin function by running across a number of nodes—no one is in charge.
Both Bluzelle and Filecoin are using blockchain technology, too, which improves security and reduces the chances of a hack.
The Differences Between Bluzelle and Filecoin
But the main difference between the two decentralized platforms is what they store. Filecoin is used for storing files. Bluzelle is used for storing your data. Filecoin works by utilizing the IPFS, a system that is more about addressing and transporting data. It also doesn’t provide a guarantee on how long the data will be available.
Bluzelle does not use IPFS and has said that the system is useful—but when it depends on the idea that at least most of its nodes voluntarily want to support the IPFS as a cause. IPFS is a shared public filesystem, while Bluzelle is a secure database.
Bluzelle works to provide a scalable and decentralized database service ready for the world’s dApps. With Bluzelle’s unique swarm-of-swarms architecture, it is able to scale-up to handle arbitrarily large amounts of data, because each shard of data is replicated only within a single swarm.
How Bluzelle and Filecoin Can Work Hand-In-Hand
Despite their differences and similarities, it’s perhaps best to look at how the two can complement each other.
Files systems can be difficult to manage as files can be large. It can also be difficult to search the contents of a file. With a decentralized file storage service, like Filecoin, files are broken up and spread around the network—making it even more difficult to manage.
When developers create apps, they need to store and manage data in different ways depending on size and usage. So storing them on Filecoin would not be enough. dApp creators would need something else so they could be searched and retrieved easily.
This is how Bluzelle can come to the rescue.
Large files—a video or IMG, for example—could be stored on Filecoin for quick uploads. And then the links to the particular file, as well as the metadata, could be stored on Bluzelle, making it easier to find and retrieve.
Bluzelle’s platform is always available and its database adds a level of security to the files that can’t be provided with Filecoin alone.
The decentralized web couldn’t come quick enough. With centralized platforms becoming the target of frequent criticism—be it about privacy, security or censorship—platforms like Filecoin and Bluzelle can help. And when working together, can provide the ultimate storage solutions for the decentralized web.
