StorJ: Decentralized Cloud Storage Network
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This project aims to discuss and understand the main concepts of how StorJ technology works. In these terms, the purpose is to provide a clear and detailed documentation about its architecture and about its way to operating as a decentralized cloud storage network system.
Decentralized cloud storage represents an important evolution in the efficiency and economics of large-scale storage. Deleting central control allows users to store, share and manage data without relying on external storage providers. Decentralization of the cloud storage limits the risk of data failures or interruptions while simultaneously increasing the security and privacy of storing objects in the cloud.
Obviously there are many different ways to build and implement such a similar system, but surely it is necessary to respect well-defined characteristics and certain responsibilities in order to works correctly and ensure a good service. StorJ introduces a modular framework for considering these responsibilities and for building an efficient distributed storage network.
StorJ is an uncensored cloud storage platform that cannot have downtime. It’s a decentralized, end-to-end encrypted cloud storage platform that uses cryptography to ensure files security. Therefore, this platform allows users to store data in a secure and decentralized manner, in facts, the files are encrypted and shredded into chunks, called ’pieces’, and stored in a decentralized network of computers, named ’hosts’, and servers around the world.
No one except the user can access his own files, even in an encrypted form.
Because of this, StorJ is famous for having the following main characteristics, which distinguish it from the others cloud storage:
• Faster: More than one machine can serving requested files’ pieces simultaneously.
• Cheaper: Users can rent other people hard-drive space instead of paying for a purpose-built data center to store files.
• Safer: Files are both encrypted and shredded, in order to guarantee great security.
StorJ uses key encryption and cryptographic hash function for security. Files are encrypted client-side on the device before they are uploaded, to best protect data. Each file is split up into chucks which are first encrypted and then distributed through the network. The StorJ network assumes a fundamental role in data sharing through the cloud storage, because every file is distributed across StorJ nodes run by users around the world, who rent out their unused hard-drive space in return for StorJ Tokens, as cryptocurrency.