IPFS: The Future of the Internet?

The InterPlanetary File System, or IPFS, is an exciting new technology that promises to change the way files on the internet are stored an accessed. Let’s dive into what IPFS is, how it differs from current standards, and the potential use cases that could be enabled with this technology.

Currently, the main file system for the internet is the HyperText Transfer Protocol, or HTTP. While it’s been the de facto standard for the past few decades, there are some issues with the way it works.

First, HTTP is incredibly centralized, which poses a lot of issues related to the preservation and distribution of content. For example, each time a user goes to a site, the file or website that they find there is entirely stored on a centralized database with a company like Amazon or Google. Additionally, if the website gets hacked, the file that might be at a specific location on the website could be changed to a malicious file or virus. 

Technically, HTTP uses a location-based addressing standard, which is why it suffers from issues related to immutability. Instead of looking for a specific piece of content on the web, users look up a website that stores the content. This is incredibly size-inefficient, as unnecessary duplicates are stored on many different centralized servers.

What makes IPFS unique is its use of content-based addressing. When a user uploads a file to IPFS, they receive back a unique hash that leads directly to their content, instead of a link to a website hosting their content. Additionally, IPFS is decentralized, and anyone can provide storage for other users’ content in exchange for money, even with laptops or home computers that have some extra storage space on them. This can be done through Filecoin, a blockchain-based protocol specializing in the exchange of IPFS storage for FIL.

Pinata.cloud, among other companies, specialize in hosting files on IPFS in a more centralized, albeit simpler to set up, way. On their site, users can subscribe to a plan and then upload a specific amount of data per month. This makes IPFS accessible to even those who do not know how to use blockchain technology.

Through Filecoin and paying a premium, users can even store their content on multiple hosts, making it incredibly redundant. The only way a user would lose a file uploaded to IPFS is if all of their hosts decided to not host it, which would hopefully only happen in the cases where a host holding a file would be illegal or morally objectionable. And any time they use the hash they were given to get the file, they will always get the original file they uploaded, and there is no possibility to change it.

The promise of IPFS is extremely interesting and it offers the potential to decentralize the internet down to its core. Entire websites could be hosted on IPFS, making them fully protected from being taken down by any government entity or powerful technology company. In fact, some basic websites are already being hosted on the new file system, and are hosted on hundreds of hosts distributed around the world. 

Ultimately, IPFS has yet to take off in the same way HTTP has, but it may only be a matter of time until the Internet switches to a new standard. In the meantime, the problems with HTTP will pave the way for IPFS to provide solutions. 

By Lincoln Murr

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