I was pondering a distributed block storage system a while ago. One of the main reasons for using a cloud is that it is a place to store things where you can lose your computer or it can completely break and your data is off site and safe.
But disks are cheap now. So what I really want is a system where I can set aside 1TB of my disk and, in exchange, I get to store 1 TB of my data (encrypted) on other people’s disks (or, more likely, 500GB replicated twice).
But the problem is: how do I know that my replicas are safe? Most home connections re still asymmetric, so what I don’t want to download them from people who have limited upstream, I want a simple proof that they have my blocks.
And there’s an easy solution: I publish the hash of my block and a nonce, they reply with ha hash of my block concatenated with the nonce. I periodically ask for proofs of storage of random blocks that I want replicated and other participants in the network can then use their validated responses to claim storage from other people.
And then it occurred to me that I might have accidentally invented a blockchain. And that made me sad, so can someone please explain to me why this is a bad idea? I don’t want there to be legitimate uses for blockchains.
But disks are cheap now. So what I really want is a system where I can set aside 1TB of my disk and, in exchange, I get to store 1 TB of my data (encrypted) on other people’s disks (or, more likely, 500GB replicated twice).
But the problem is: how do I know that my replicas are safe? Most home connections re still asymmetric, so what I don’t want to download them from people who have limited upstream, I want a simple proof that they have my blocks.
And there’s an easy solution: I publish the hash of my block and a nonce, they reply with ha hash of my block concatenated with the nonce. I periodically ask for proofs of storage of random blocks that I want replicated and other participants in the network can then use their validated responses to claim storage from other people.
And then it occurred to me that I might have accidentally invented a blockchain. And that made me sad, so can someone please explain to me why this is a bad idea? I don’t want there to be legitimate uses for blockchains.
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