Aegeus will change the way data is stored and transferred……forever.
I have written this article with the intention of it being understandable to everyone; and not just those who are already familiar with cryptocurrency or IPFS.
I hope that this will demonstrate what Aegeus have set out to do, and if it is achieved; why I and my team members strongly believe this will be revolutionary in the way data is stored and shared.
Currently, there is not a solution available for storing or sending data that encompasses the key elements that everyone is looking for; Security + Accessibility + Ownership. Every existing data management contains flaws.
To start with, let’s take a look at what the current options we have for storing and sharing data and the problems they face:-
1. Storing data locally on a computer
a. Insecure — people can access your computer if they are at your home or hackers can easily connect to your computer as you have very limited internet security in place (compared to large corporations).
b. Data loss — run the risk of hard drive failure, causing data loss.
c. Accessibility — Can only access the data from one location generally.
2. Storing data on an external device (usb drive, external hard drive)
a. Loss — an external device can easily be misplaced or lost, especially when you are carrying it everywhere you go.
b. Insecure — If you are carrying it everywhere you go, this can easily be stolen, lost.
c. Data loss — the external device could fail causing data loss.
3. Using cloud storage like Google drive/Microsoft Onedrive etc
a. Centralised — stored on the company (Google, Microsoft etc) servers, your data can be accessed/edited/deleted by the company.
b. Insecure — Although more secure than the previous options in this list, they are still located on servers that can be hacked.
4. Using IPFS (Inter-Planetary File System), decentralised, generates hashes (like a password string)
a. Insecure — As long as anyone has the generated hash string, they can access the file(s)
(See an example below of what the file looks like if someone were to access the hash file if they are not the intended recipient on the Aegeus IPFS network, totally encrypted and unreadable)
Out of the first 3 options, the best currently used is the cloud service solution and it is extremely popular.
With cloud storage, our data can be accessed anywhere and we can have it secured by using a password; perfect I hear you say?
No. We DO NOT want our own data to be accessible to anyone other than ourselves or the people that WE CHOOSE to have access to it, this is not the case with Cloud storage.
Data held with cloud storage companies can be accessed, altered and removed by any party with control of the server. Persons processing our data may be an entity with legitimate authority, or concerningly a malicious hacker.
Therefore, our data CANNOT be stored on any companies’ server, it NEEDS to be decentralised.
This is where IPFS comes into play.
Decentralization using IPFS (Inter-Planetary File System)
IPFS is a peer-to-peer network, which, in its simplest form, is created when two or more PCs are connected and share resources without going through a separate server. (The essence of decentralization).
You can think of IPFS as being similar to BitTorrent. It is a decentralized way of storing and referring to files but providing greater control.
This is how IPFS works: -
1. Tony wants to upload a PDF file to IPFS.
2. He puts his PDF file in his working directory.
3. He tells IPFS he wants to add this file, which generates a Hash of the file (you can tell it is IPFS because the hash always starts with Qm…).
4. His file is now available on the IPFS network.
For example; Tony wants to share this file with his colleague Ruth through IPFS. He simply tells Ruth the hash from Step 3 above. All Ruth needs to do is browse to the Hash within IPFS and she gets a copy of the PDF file.
Great, so with IPFS we have our decentralization; but what happens if someone gets hold of the generated Hash? They have access to your file(s)!!!!!
We NEED more security than this.
Cue Aegeus blockchain.
Blockchain technology.
Blockchain technology is a ledger, just like the bank’s ledger, but this time, it is not owned by anyone, it is completely decentralised, highly secure and cannot be manipulated at all.
The person that invented blockchain technology and bitcoin is anonymous; he/she only goes by the sudo name: Satoshi Nakamoto.
The way the blockchain works is extremely clever and for me to explain it in detail it would take some time and take me way off topic but if you would like to find out more about this fascinating, world changing technology, I found a very simple explanation here: https://www.quora.com/Could-you-explain-what-cryptocurrency-is-in-laymans-terms
So how will the Aegeus blockchain help us with security?
The Aegeus blockchain will encrypt the file BEFORE storing it on the IPFS network!!
So how does it achieve this? Here is an example: -
1. Tony wants to share a file with Ruth.
2. He generates a new Aegeus wallet address.
3. Ruth does the same.
4. They give each other their addresses.
5. Tony imports Ruth’s address into the Aeg web portal and Ruth import’s Tony’s.
6. Tony uploads the file to the Aeg ipfs network selecting to only share to Ruth’s address.
7. It sends and shows up in Ruth’s client.
8. Ruth, and Only Ruth can now open the file. If anyone else browses that IPFS hash, it will show up entirely encrypted and unreadable.
As you can see, by using the IPFS network coupled with the Aegeus blockchain, we get a completely decentralised and secure way of sharing and hosting data; something that until now has struggled to exist.
What role does the actual coin AEG play?
While it would be ideal that everyone would selflessly and altruistically provide free storage for others on their own dime, it is also unfortunately unrealistic.
The users on the network who are wishing to store their data will pay storage fees in AEG to the storage node owners.
A percentage of the storage fee is also burned in the process.
What is the current status of the Aegeus product?
In September 2018, the community was given a first glance at the prototype via a Live video call. The purpose of this was to demonstrate the Aegeus proof of concept and provide an insight into the product technology.
Our dev team continued to deliver by releasing the Public Beta in December, allowing the public to test the Aegeus IPFS solution for themselves.
Although we didn’t receive as much feedback as we would have liked, the feedback we did receive was extremely positive.
Currently, our Dev team are continuing to develop the product to reach our end goal of a seamless data management solution.
What are the future plans for Aegeus?
Files, files, files!
In its current form, we are only able to send text-based messages and URLs. The Aegeus team are working to enable the users to store, send and receive all file types.
Masternode Governance — This was put on hold whilst the developers focus was on getting this Beta out but will be implemented soon.
In-wallet product — Being able to send and receive files in a decentralized and secure manner within the wallet is another great feature we are looking at introducing.
Storage nodes — As you are aware the data will be stored on IPFS, the data is stored in many locations, a bit like BitTorrent.
These are called Storage nodes. The developers are creating storage nodes that are tied into the Aegeus chain, that way people can pay/get paid for it.
The way the Aegeus storage node operates is based on an incentive and a scoring system. Storage nodes will be available for direct storage leasing, or the network as a whole can participate and share in a reward based on their reliability.
The user will pay for these services in Aegeus’ native token — AEG. Storage nodes would be paid in AEG as well.
The incentive to provide reliable data hosting is built-in, and at a fraction of the cost of traditional solutions.
As the network grows and more nodes go live, redundancy increases exponentially. This can provide a true 100% uptime guarantee on an unheard-of level of certainty. Legacy providers can only offer this on a theoretical level, with usually some compensation factored into an SLA if that uptime should fall below a threshold in agreed terms.
Final thoughts
Aegeus was created in 2018 and since then we have created a wonderful team of enthusiastic, hardworking people from around the globe.
We have released a prototype followed by a public beta.
The Aegeus product vision is fast becoming a reality and we really would love people to join us on this extremely exciting, but also game changing journey.
A huge percentage of Cryptocurrency’s have very poor or even non-existent use cases, Aegeus will not only improve individual’s lives but it is geared perfectly for companies/big corporations.
Take Hospitals as an example, the Aegeus IPFS platform, in its finished form, will be IDEAL for them to use to store data and send/receive documents securely to patients.
The possibilities are endless!
A New Era of Data Management is upon us where we have created a solution that has 100% uptime, more security than there has ever been and finally, COMPLETE ownership of your data.
Be part of the change.
If you want to find out more information, please see the resources below:
Website: https://aegeus.io/
Github: https://github.com/AegeusCoin
Bitcointalk: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3644459
Coinmarketcap: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/aegeus/
Explorer: https://chainz.cryptoid.info/aeg/
Discord: https://discord.gg/bTtgmMf
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Aegeus.Coinn/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aegeus_Coin
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Aegeus_Coin_Official/
English Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/H6MhmRMCEGThVbXkPNhV4g
Russian Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/H6MhmQ78SdJglau9PnkUWg
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aegeuscoin/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqNdU_fT1ur1UKC4e7wJq8A
Medium: https://medium.com/@aegeuscrypto
