BTFS v1.5.0 is now released!
BTFS v1.5.0 now includes the node repair mode. BTFS node repair mode is used for fixing file shards in the BTFS network which are lost due to offline Host nodes or deletion. An uploaded file will be converted into 30 shards based on a specific algorithm. These shards will be uploaded to 30 different Hosts. The algorithm also ensures that any 10 of the 30 shards can piece together a complete file.
Under the repair mode, when the number of available shards for an uploaded file is lower than a certain threshold, BTFS network will broadcast the repair task to nodes with their repair mode on. Upon receiving these tasks, the repair nodes will download available shards and calculate lost ones, and find new Hosts to store these shards.
To incentivize users to opt in for the repair mode, we introduced two types of rewards:
1. Download rewards for nodes who download available shards and calculate lost ones.
2. Repair rewards for nodes who are the first to store lost shards onto new Hosts.
The rewards will take effect upon a separate announcement after the reward parameters are properly adjusted following the release of the new version.
Steps to enable BTFS node repair mode:
1. Launch the node
Note: You will have to enable Host mode first, as this is a prerequisite for turning on the Repair mode.
Please launch the node by following the steps here for enabling the Host mode: https://docs.btfs.io/docs/run-a-btfs-host
2. Turn on the Repair mode via Host UI page or command-line
a. As illustrated below, please visit the Host UI page with your browser: http://127.0.0.1:5001/hostui, click Settings on the top right and switch on the Repair mode on the Setting page. Once the feature is enabled, BTFS will automatically restart.
b. Run the following command: btfs config profile apply storage-repairer, and restart btfs daemon. You can run the following command to show the config file: btfs config show, and check whether HostRepairEnabled in the config file is set to be true.
c. After the repair mode is on, you can check on the Host UI homepage to see if the mode is enabled there.
Other selling points:
Filecoin is going to release the repair mode in Q1 next year. And we are faster than them.
About BitTorrent
Based in San Francisco, BitTorrent is the company behind the largest decentralized P2P communications protocol for distributing data and large files over the Internet. The protocol is responsible for moving a significant percentage of the world’s Internet traffic each day.
The company currently develops products across two brands, BitTorrent (https://www.bittorrent.com) and µTorrent (https://www.utorrent.com), which offer popular torrent download clients for Windows, Mac, and Android. With over 100 million active users each month, BitTorrent offers feature-rich, safe torrent programs for the desktop, a browser-based torrent streaming and downloading the product, and a mobile torrent downloader for Android available on Google Play Store.
