The InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is a distributed, peer-to-peer file-sharing network that underpins the decentralized web.
A centralised service failure, such as a hosting server or domain name system (DNS) issue, or a distributed denial of service (DDOS) assault, is frequently to blame when a website goes down. Sometimes it involves internet censorship, especially in nations that block certain information to keep it away from their population.
How can you help? The InterPlanetary File System, or IPFS, tries to address this issue. It is a decentralised, peer-to-peer file-sharing network and open-source Web3 service created to circumvent censorship attempts and centralised points of failure and guarantee that everyone has unrestricted access to the internet.
In order to prevent abrupt internet disappearance of digital data like non-fungible token (NFT) crypto collectibles, it is also a technique to back them up. Here is an explanation of how IPFS functions and how to utilise it.
What is IPFS
IPFS, a service created by Protocol Labs, makes use of a distributed network of computers to house material, including mirrors of files, applications, and web pages that you may access by inputting links.
IPFS links direct you to the material rather than a specific place, which may be held on any number of nodes or computers throughout the world. However, the website or information will always remain available as long as it is hosted on at least one machine.
As of August 2021, IPFS claims to have 2 million unique weekly users, some 200,000 network nodes, and about 125TB worth of gateway traffic per week.
How Does IPFS Work
When a file is posted to IPFS, it is divided into smaller pieces, scattered among several computers, and given a hash so users can find it. IPFS links are based on the distinctive hash identifier of each item, as opposed to using a familiar location-based link like the conventional web. This assists in determining which node or nodes have the file or website available; it is then sent to the user through a peer-to-peer connection, similar to BitTorrent technology.
Although IPFS is not built on blockchain, it is also immutable since if the contents were modified, the hash would likewise change. To ensure that the complete history is kept, IPFS provides a versioning mechanism that enables you to upload a new version of a file and relate it to the previous one.
Who's using IPFS
IPFS is already being used by a wide range of Web3 services for a number of applications. The following are some of the featured services:
- 📂 Filecoin, Protocol Labs’ own distributed storage network, is based on IPFS. It incentivizes node operators to host files via cryptocurrency rewards.
- 🎵 Audius, a decentralized music service, uses IPFS to host its audio files.
- 🦄 Pinata is an NFT hosting service that uses IPFS to back up crypto collectibles for partners like Rarible and Sorare.
- 🚚 Morpheus.Network is a supply chain network service that also utilizes IPFS.
How to Use IPFS
While some require an add-on, several browsers inherently enable surfing IPFS. Brave and Opera both support IPFS links directly, allowing you to access the website or file by just pasting the URL into your browser. If you prefer to locally verify material, you may use Brave to view IPFS content through your own local node rather than a public gateway.
Alternatively, you may use a public gateway like ipfs.io or cloudfare-ipfs.com to access IPFS material from any browser. There is a lengthy number of other gateways accessible, and clicking the link will automatically direct you to IPFS information through a gateway.
Running and IPFS Node
Would you want to operate your own IPFS node and contribute to the network? Using Protocol Labs' official software package, IPFS Desktop, is the simplest way to get started. It allows you to install and manage your own node so you may upload your own data to the network. It is available for Windows, Mac, and Ubuntu. Would you mind sharing a photo of your cats? Easy as pie, really.
Meanwhile, Chrome, Edge, Brave, Firefox, and Opera all support the web browser add-on known as IPFS Companion. You may use your browser to communicate with IPFS Desktop and your installed IPFS node. Additionally, it gives ipfs:/ addresses functionality to browsers that don't already have it.
In 2017, the Turkish government blocked access to Wikipedia. The IPFS team responded by mirroring the Turkish version of the website on its decentralized network.
The Future
Despite the fact that, as of this writing, IPFS has not updated its public roadmap since early 2020, IPFS Project Lead Molly Mackinlay stated on GitHub that her team is concentrating on a number of technical improvements as well as further browser integrations. The work her team is doing to better explain the benefits of using IPFS is arguably the most intriguing.
It is, ultimately, the pitch. At its most basic level, IPFS should make sense to any web-savvy user, but how many of those people want to download and run a node while using cumbersome content identifier (CID) connections rather than typical, well-known online URLs?
Like many Web3 platforms, IPFS is currently not as slick and user-friendly as normal webpages, although this could change over time, especially as more web browsers begin to support native links. Unstoppable Domains is another service that offers simpler-to-remember URLs that refer to IPFS content, and more browsers are beginning to accept them as well.
IPFS has cleverly used the expanding NFT business as a tool to strengthen its case. There were suddenly reports of people's expensive new purchases going missing because the platform or server hosting them fell down as NFT collectibles took off in early 2021. The distributed network may be properly backed up using IPFS; there is a dedicated website for this purpose, and NFT markets like OpenSea have included the feature as well.
Otherwise, it appears like Protocol Labs is concentrated on extending the IPFS concept into new products and use cases. Filecoin is a distributed online storage platform that uses IPFS as its foundation and compensates node operators in bitcoin for their unused storage and bandwidth. The company introduced Web3.storage in August 2021, a service that integrates with IPFS and Filecoin to make it easier to build Web3 apps.
Other intriguing applications of IPFS are being utilised to support Web3 development in the future. For instance, the governance voting platform Snapshot enables token holders to participate in proposals within decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs), a frequent element of decentralised finance (DeFi) initiatives.
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