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On the Internet, everything is permanent. In the current Web 2.0 era of interconnectivity, there has been an explosion of data and data storage. The centralized way that the Internet tech giants capture, store, and control data poses a massive challenge to the existing Internet’s architecture.
IPFS was made to solve the centralization issue inherent in today’s Internet. Essentially, it made distributed storage a reality.
InterPlanetary File Service or “IPFS” promotes the shift from the Web 2.0 centralized data storage to Web 3.0’s decentralized storage paradigm. The goal of IPFS is to solve the inherent threats to user privacy, data/identity theft, and security present in today’s Internet.
IPFS is a protocol and peer-to-peer network for storing and sharing content in a distributed file system. A boon of IPFS is that it is decentralized among peers, and no single entity can simply “take it down.” By relying on a pool of shared resources across a network of users, IPFS can persist when a single node crashes. The peer-to-peer factor IPFS saves bandwidth on media transfers by distributing downloads across multiple computers.
IPFS does not include any incentive mechanisms to encourage the storage of data for others. Filecoin combined IPFS with blockchain technology, forming a marketplace for distributed storage. Nodes with extra storage capacity can profit by renting their surplus storage to other users.
A popular analogy to help understand Filecoin is “the Airbnb of decentralized cloud storage.”
Filecoin mining means offering up excess storage on one’s computer to store encrypted data. This solved the issue of losing files, as miners can receive FIL tokens (also “Filecoin”) for keeping files online and retrievable. The system also replicates files across more nodes to prevent them from disappearing.
For the new potential opened by the Filecoin blockchain, IPFS and its many limitations are not so easily solved. IPFS is limited by national policies, complex network structures, and the performance upper limit of centralized networks in the real environment. Although data is stored in a distributed manner, IPFS cannot guarantee that data can be transmitted efficiently and smoothly between the supply and demand sides, and it loses liquidity.
Filecoin succeeds in attempting to incentivize the sharing of storage where IPFS alone could not. With its FIL token, the decentralized storage provider advanced the concept of what a token can do.
Bitcoin and Ethereum are one-dimensional digital assets mined for the sake of mining. The BTC and ETH have no utility outside of their value within the marketplace. A FIL token is versatile. In addition to its market value on the exchange, FIL can be used to rent available hard drive space within the Filecoin network.
Successfully mining BTC, ETH, or FIL is virtually impossible for new miners. These blockchains are oversaturated and monopolized by a well-established class of miners who pool together resources. A deeper look into IPFS reveals the following issues for new users, miners, and investors:
Comparing NetFlowCoin to Filecoin is not an apples-to-apples comparison. NetFlowCoin and Filecoin both handle the distributed storage of data very well.
NetFlowCoin is a software defined network (“SDN”) combined with blockchain technology. In addition to the distributed storage of data, NetFlowCoin has tokenized decentralized network resources (storage, bandwidth, and edge computing node) that turn the key internet infrastructure elements into an algorithmic market.
The market runs on a blockchain with a native protocol token (also called “NFC”), which miners earn by providing network resources (storage/bandwidth/edge computing) to the network users.
Unlike BTC, ETH, or even FIL (Filecoin’s native token), The NFC token can be used for business transactions, currency within dApps, and other uses defined within the NFC decentralized internet application platform.
NetFlowCoin is not better than Filecoin. It can just do more. Filecoin is a decentralized storage provider, and NetFlowCoin is a decentralized network resource provider. Unlike Filecoin, where the distributed storage of data is its sole purpose; decentralized storage is just one pillar built into NetFlowCoin’s architecture.
The other NetFlowCoin pillars include a global network of edge nodes that pool and support other key infrastructure elements, military-grade encryption protecting the network from harm and data leaks.
A decentralized storage solution (aka IPFS; aka Filecoin) is not too useful when your data is stuck in one place. NFC protocol takes this concept to the next level by including the capacity to distribute massive amounts of data to its users through high-speed, flexible, and unimpeded network channels.
IPFS promotes the paradigm shift from Web 2.0 centralized data storage to Web 3.0 decentralized storage and solves the problems of privacy, data value theft, and data security caused by the possession of data by the big tech giants.
Today, it is not enough to create new virtual networks that can span the world. Viable networks must also penetrate institutional or state restrictions to support the high-speed flow of data and meet the demands of the consumer. The speed of data flow and its accessibility to users is just as important as the actual value it provides.
The purpose of any data producer is to obtain the value of the production content, and the manifestation of value is extremely dependent on liquidity.
IPFS and Filecoin are pioneers responsible for making the distributed storage of data a reality. NetFlowCoin’s combination of SDN and blockchain technologies, however, refines the efficiency and functionality of the concept. The improved flow of data, diversity of tokenized network resources, and assurance that the value generated by data flow is wholly owned and earned by the provider is precisely why NetFlowCoin carries the torch towards Web 3.0.
