Distributed Data Storage
Last updated
Last updated
In any decentralized system, consensus is the fundamental process by which multiple participants (nodes) agree on the state of the network without relying on a central authority. In the context of Candao’s peer-to-peer decentralized cloud system, consensus ensures the integrity, security, and efficiency of data storage, while also establishing a robust foundation for decentralized ownership. Here, we’ll explore the high-level objectives, challenges, and mechanisms that form the core of Candao’s storage model.
The consensus mechanism in Candao has several overarching objectives:
Data Ownership and Security: The primary goal is to ensure that users retain full ownership of their data. This is achieved by ensuring that data stored on the network cannot be accessed or manipulated without the owner’s permission. The storage model supports this by enforcing cryptographic proofs that validate ownership and access rights.
Integrity and Trust: Data integrity is vital in any decentralized network. In Candao’s model, the storage mechanism is responsible for ensuring that once data is written to the storage system, it cannot be tampered with or corrupted. This builds trust among users that the data they upload remains secure and accurate.
Scalability and Performance: In a decentralized cloud system, the ability to handle an increasing amount of data and users is crucial. The consensus mechanism ensure that as more users join the network and more data is stored, performance remains high. This means data retrieval times should remain low, and the system should efficiently handle larger volumes of transactions.
Decentralization and Accessibility: In line with blockchain principles, consensus ensure that no single entity can dominate the network. It must facilitate data storage across a wide range of distributed nodes, making the network accessible to users worldwide, irrespective of their geographical location.
Energy Efficiency: Candao’s model is designed to be as much environmentally sustainable as possible. The goal is to use consensus mechanisms like Proof of Replication (PoRep) and Proof of Spacetime (PoSt), which provide data security without the high energy costs.
Economic Incentives: The storage mechanism is closely tied to economic incentives. Storage providers, validators, and users are incentivized to behave honestly and efficiently through rewards systems, typically distributed from the Ecosystem Rewards Pool. This alignment of economic interests ensures network security and proper functioning.
CDO tokens serve as the backbone of the Candao network, acting as both collateral and currency within the consensus model. Their role is to enforce trust and encourage participation across the network. CDO tokens are utilized in multiple aspects of the consensus mechanism, such as:
Collateralization: Storage providers must stake CDO tokens as collateral, ensuring that they have a vested interest in maintaining the integrity of the data they store. If a provider fails to uphold their responsibilities, they risk losing their staked tokens.
Transaction Fees: CDO tokens are used to pay for network transactions, such as data uploads, downloads, and storage management. This creates a circular economy within the network where users purchase storage space and storage providers earn rewards.
Validator Rewards: Validators, who verify the integrity of the stored data through Proof of Spacetime (PoSt), are also compensated in CDO tokens. This incentivizes them to actively participate in securing the network.
Security Through Token Value: The value of CDO tokens is inherently tied to the security and functionality of the network. As demand for decentralized cloud increases, the value of the tokens increases, providing additional security by making malicious behavior more costly.If malicious validators are ejected from the system, new participants are eager to become validators.
Candao uses a hybrid model based on two primary proofs:
Proof of Replication (PoRep): This proof ensures that each piece of data stored on the network is uniquely replicated by the storage provider. PoRep guarantees that data is not only stored, but that it is stored securely and cannot be replicated fraudulently by malicious providers. This proof uses cryptographic techniques to validate that data is stored as claimed.
Proof of Spacetime (PoSt): PoSt ensures that the data remains stored for the agreed-upon period. Validators continuously verify that storage providers are keeping the data available over time. PoSt introduces a time dimension to the consensus model, ensuring the long-term availability of data.
Verification Process: Validators randomly challenge storage providers to prove they still hold the data. This proof is cryptographically verified and recorded on the blockchain. Failure to prove storage results in penalties for the provider, ensuring that they remain honest and reliable.
Verifiable Delay Functions (VDFs): These functions are used to ensure that the process of verifying storage happens at regular intervals, maintaining network security and fairness. All proofs are time bound and can be verified.
While the storage model offers a robust framework for decentralized cloud, it must also address several challenges:
Latency in Data Retrieval: In a decentralized network, data may be stored on nodes far from the user’s location, potentially leading to higher retrieval times. Candao addresses this by implementing caching mechanisms and geo-location optimizations, which prioritize retrieving data from the nearest nodes to the user.
Fault Tolerance: The network must be able to handle node failures without losing data. This is achieved through data redundancy, where multiple copies of the same data are stored across different nodes, ensuring that if one node fails, the data remains accessible.
Scalability of Consensus: As the network grows, the number of transactions (data uploads, retrievals, etc.) will increase. Candao’s consensus mechanism must scale effectively, ensuring that validation and verification processes do not become bottlenecks.
Energy Efficiency vs. Security: Balancing the energy efficiency of consensus mechanisms with the need for robust security is a key challenge. PoRep and PoSt offer a more energy-efficient alternative to traditional Proof of Work, but they must still be optimized to ensure that the network remains secure without excessive resource consumption.
As the Candao network grows, the governance model will continue to evolve. Key areas of future development include:
Advanced Cryptographic Proofs: Research into more efficient cryptographic proofs, such as zk-SNARKs (zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive arguments of knowledge), could further reduce the computational burden of data preservation, making the network more scalable and efficient.
Community Governance: As Candao evolves, community-driven governance will play a larger role in determining how the storage mechanism operates. This could include voting on changes to staking requirements, validator selection processes, or the introduction of new consensus features.
