Introduction: The data availability of decentralized storage networks will give users more autonomy. Taken together, the author believes that Filecoin performs well in terms of data storage model, data consistency and economic model, and is one of the storage networks with the best data availability.

Data availability solutions for decentralized storage networks can be implemented in a variety of ways, such as sharding and storing data on different nodes, or adding more storage miners to improve data security. These solutions are all designed to ensure the availability of data in decentralized storage networks. At present, the data availability solutions of the two projects Filecoin and Arweave have their own characteristics, and more innovative solutions may appear in the future.

The meaning of data availability

Data availability is very significant for decentralized storage networks. In a decentralized network, the security and reliability of data depend on the stability of storage nodes. If data becomes unavailable, the entire network will be affected and may even result in permanent data loss. Therefore, data availability is one of the core elements to ensure a decentralized storage network.

The data availability solutions for decentralized storage networks can be achieved in various ways. One approach involves sharding data and storing it on different nodes, while another involves onboarding more storage miners to enhance data security. All these solutions aim to ensure data availability in decentralized storage networks. Currently, projects like Filecoin and Arweave have distinctive data availability solutions, and in the future, we may witness the emergence of more innovative approaches.

Source: Forbes

Data availability metrics

Filecoin’s data availability solution is primarily based on IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) technology. This solution can verify that storage miners indeed possess and store all the data of a file. While Filecoin’s data availability solution offers high reliability, its computational complexity may impact performance. Arweave’s data availability solution is mainly based on the “Persistent Storage Protocol” (PermaWeb) technology. Arweave stores files in a “persistent storage layer on the blockchain” to ensure data security. Arweave’s data availability solutions deliver high performance.

1.Data storage model:

• Filecoin uses economic incentives to achieve storage redundancy. By introducing the roles of Replication Worker and Repair Worker, Filecoin establishes a storage network based on economic incentives. Storage demanders can generate storage orders on the Filecoin network through replication workers, and monitor and maintain data integrity through maintenance workers. This economic model gives storage providers incentives to preserve storage demanders’ data, thereby enhancing data availability.
• Arweave achieves storage redundancy through protocol design. Its SPoRA consensus mechanism encourages miners to save as much historical block and Blockweave data as possible to increase data redundancy and reliability. This protocol design enables storage demanders’ data to be distributed on multiple nodes in the network, improving data availability.

2.Data consistency:

• Filecoin’s economic incentive mechanism helps maintain data consistency and integrity. Through the role of maintenance worker, the Filecoin network can promptly update expired or terminated storage orders to ensure that the data saved by the storage provider is consistent with the data uploaded by the storage demander.
• Arweave’s SPoRA consensus mechanism requires miners to save the data of all recalled blocks to ensure the consistency of historical blocks and Blockweave data throughout the network. This consensus mechanism ensures that the data stored in the network is complete and consistent.

1. Economic model:

• Filecoin’s economic model is highly flexible and scalable. Storage providers need to provide a certain number of FIL tokens as collateral to provide storage services. By introducing mechanisms such as staking protocols and storage derivatives, FIL token holders can participate in storage services and obtain corresponding economic returns.
• Arweave’s economic model focuses on the incentives of storage miners, encouraging them to save more historical blocks and Blockweave data. However, Arweave’s value network may be slightly sluggish in development after Filecoin launches an EVM-compatible storage network.

The data availability of these two storage networks is affected by the storage model, data consistency, as well as the economic model and ecosystem construction. The difference between Filecoin and Arweave in terms of data availability mainly lies in the differences in data storage models and economic models. Filecoin achieves storage redundancy and data consistency through economic incentives, while Arweave naturally achieves storage redundancy and data consistency through protocol design and SPoRA consensus mechanism. The two also differ in data retrieval. Filecoin introduces a separate economic incentive system, while Arweave improves the speed of data retrieval and access by upgrading the SPoRA consensus mechanism. In terms of economic model and ecosystem construction, Filecoin and Arweave perform well. Both use incentive mechanisms to promote node participation and data storage, and have active communities and developer ecology.

Source: Token Terminal

The trend of decentralized storage

Arweave and Filecoin decentralized storage networks have formed two relatively independent major ecosystems. From the perspective of development scale, Filecoin is far ahead in terms of revenue, FDV and market share. Analyzing the current status and trends of decentralized storage networks from the perspective of data availability, we believe it will achieve:

1. storage scalability in the era of capacity expansion: The development of Layer1 storage expansion networks is a crucial direction in addressing the challenges of data availability in decentralized storage networks during the era of expansion. By enhancing storage capabilities at the L1 layer of the blockchain, the performance and capacity of the storage network can be improved, further enhancing the availability and security of data. Particularly, the expansion of the data storage layer on mainstream blockchains like Ethereum will have profound impacts on the entire decentralized storage ecosystem. The EthStorage project on Ethereum serves as an example. EthStorage aims to enhance the performance and scalability of the storage network by adding storage capabilities at the L1 of Ethereum. Such storage expansion efforts can better meet the demands of data storage, ultimately improving data availability.
2. Aggregation of storage networks: The introduction of DSN (Decentralized Storage Network) aggregators signifies a significant advancement in enhancing data availability within decentralized storage networks. By aggregating different storage networks, resources can be efficiently utilized, leading to higher data availability. This aggregation model helps address the issue of storage network fragmentation, ultimately improving the user’s storage experience. Projects in this domain, such as 4EVERLAND, have developed decentralized cloud computing platforms that integrate multiple storage networks, allowing users to access and manage data across networks. This project enhances data availability and storage efficiency, providing users with a more reliable data access experience through aggregated storage networks.
3. Integration of computing and storage: The development of off-chain computing will further promote the data availability of decentralized storage networks. Combining computing power with storage capabilities can achieve more efficient data processing and storage services. This integration model can improve data processing speed and efficiency, providing users with more flexible and reliable data storage solutions. In addition, future solutions will involve storing data in a dedicated data availability layer, and only the Merkel roots calculated for these data will be recorded in the consensus layer. This design can not only ensure data security, but also improve performance and effectively solve the problem of increasingly centralized consensus nodes.

Source: Messari

Conclusion and outlook

The future development trends for enhancing data availability in decentralized storage networks are diverse. They include the reinforcement of storage network aggregation, integration of computation and storage, blockchain-based storage expansion, and the strengthening of data security measures. These advancements will further elevate data availability, driving widespread adoption and development of decentralized storage networks. Based on these considerations, it is crucial to focus on the following questions when selecting projects:

1. Challenges of cross-chain data availability: With the development of cross-chain technology, data interoperability between different blockchains has become possible. However, ensuring the availability of cross-chain data faces many challenges, such as data consistency, privacy protection, and scalability. Future research and innovation will be dedicated to solving these challenges to achieve more efficient and reliable cross-chain data availability.
2. Balancing data availability and blockchain performance: Blockchain performance limitations may have an impact on data availability. A high-throughput and low-latency storage network may excel in performance, but may have limitations in data availability. Future research can explore how to improve performance while ensuring data availability and find a balance between performance and availability.
3. The impact of community governance on data availability: Community governance is a vital component of decentralized storage networks and can significantly influence the development of data availability. Establishing a robust community governance mechanism that encourages community participation and consensus-building can propel improvements in data availability. Future research could focus on examining the impact of community governance on data availability and exploring ways to optimize community governance for fostering stronger data availability.
4. Combination of data availability and emerging technologies: With the emergence of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, edge computing and the Internet of Things, the combination of these technologies with decentralized storage will bring new possibilities for data availability. In the future, we can explore how to use technologies such as artificial intelligence and smart contracts to improve data availability, and explore the application of data availability in the fields of edge computing and the Internet of Things.

As time progresses, the ecosystem of decentralized storage will continue to grow, with an increase in nodes and users, the emergence of more use cases, and a further enhancement of data availability. From the perspective of data availability, different decentralized storage projects can explore deeper ecosystem collaboration. By establishing mechanisms for cross-project data sharing and exchange, various projects can complement each other, enhancing the overall data availability and synergy of the entire ecosystem. This collaborative development model contributes to building a more robust and sustainable decentralized storage network.

In conclusion, the author believes that future research and development will continue to explore technological innovation, cross-chain data availability, the balance between performance and availability, community governance, and emerging technology applications. This ongoing exploration aims to further enhance the data availability of decentralized storage networks. More storage network projects may emerge in the future, adopting more advanced technologies and protocols to provide more powerful data storage and access services.

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