An Introduction to IPFS and its Strengths.

moac.io
MOAC
Published in
3 min readJul 17, 2018

What is IPFS?

IPFS stands for InterPlanetary File System. IPFS is a distributed web that point-to-point hypermedia protocol. This allows for faster network speeds, higher security, and more openness. IPFS protocol aims to replace the traditional HTTP protocol.

IPFS Solves HTTP’s Problems

Everyone knows that the internet is built on HTTP protocol. HTTP protocol is a great invention, allowing the internet to develop at the speed that it has. But HTTP is beginning to fall behind as the internet develops faster and faster.

HTTP’s centralization makes it ineffective and costly.

Every time the HTTP protocol is used, the entire file (whether it be a page, video, or picture etc.) has to be downloaded from a centralized server. This makes for slow speeds and low efficiency. Doing the same over P2P requires 60% less broadband. P2P divides the document into smaller pieces, downloading each piece from different servers, greatly increasing the speed.

Files on the web are frequently deleted.

Think back for a minute. Have you ever saved a webpage only to visit it later and see a 404 (Not Found) Error? Typical HTTP webpages are only stored for an average period of 100 days. Web files are frequently deleted (due to the high storage costs), making them impossible to store permanantly.

Centralization limits the web’s growth.

Our current internet is a highly centralized network. The internet is one of humanity’s great inventions and has accelerated technological innovation. Various regulations threaten the functionality of the internet, such as internet blockades, restrictions, monitoring etc. These all stem from the centralization of the internet. But the distributed IPFS protocol can overcome these defects of the internet.

Internet applications rely on backbone networks.

Backbone networks are limited by several factors, including war, natural disasters, internet regulations, centralized server downtime etc. All of these can interrupt service to internet applications. IPFS can greatly reduce internet applications’ reliance on these backbone networks.

IPFS’ Potential

IPFS isn’t just meant to speed up the web. Rather, it will eventually completely replace the HTTP protocol, making the whole internet a better place.

What’s in IPFS

-IPFS is a protocol, like HTTP

It is a content-addressable storage system

The content is distributed

It utilizes distributed hash, P2P sharing, and version management system technology.

-IPFS is a file system

It has folders and files

Files can be uploaded to the system

-IPFS is a web protocol

It allows users to view webpages like HTTP

Web browsers of the future will be able to directly support ipfs:/ or fs:/ protocol.

-IPFS is a modular protocol.

Connection layer: Can connect through any other network protocol.

Routing Layer: Locates the file address.

Data Exchange: Realized through BitTorrent technology.

-IPFS is a P2P system.

It’s a worldwide P2P file transfer network.

It’s a distributed network structure.

There is no single point of failure.

-IPFS is a CDN

Files stored on the IPFS network will increase the global CDN speed.

BitTorrent’s broadband management.

-IPFS has its own naming service.

-IPNS: A naming system based on SFS (Self-certifying File System) that can be bound to existing domains.

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