The project is still under development, and the developers have not yet released an alpha version. A few early storers and miners are currently testing the network, though. That said, there\u2019s reason to be excited about Filecoin. The team is well-respected in the industry, and they\u2019ve also produced successful projects in the past.<\/span><\/p>\n In addition to the record-breaking ICO, Filecoin also received investment from top venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, including Y Combinator, Naval Ravikant, Andreessen Horowitz, and Winklevoss Capital. This magnitude and mix of funding, combined with the team\u2019s experience, give this project a level of legitimacy rarely seen in the crypto industry.<\/span><\/p>\n This article will explore whether the project warrants the hype it has received.<\/span><\/p>\n Current data storage solutions, like Amazon and Google, are centralized and therefore vulnerable to attack. We\u2019ve seen this play out with high-profile data breaches. Perhaps the most notable recent breach is the Equifax hack.<\/span><\/p>\n Additionally, we\u2019re creating massive amounts of new data every year. This year, humanity will produce more data than in the past 5,000 years combined. The demand for storage doesn\u2019t seem to be slowing down.<\/span><\/p>\n Filecoin seeks to capitalize on the increasing demand for storage using blockchain technology to coordinate a peer-to-peer network of storage nodes. However, it\u2019s not alone. The <\/span>race to be the best decentralized storage solution<\/span><\/a> is crowded. Platforms like <\/span>Storj<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Sia<\/span><\/a> have already launched and are building a user base. Decentralized storage is gaining traction as a viable solution for more secure storage.<\/span><\/p>\n Where Filecoin fits into the decentralized storage ecosystem is user control. Storj and Sia control pricing for their platforms while Filecoin implements a marketplace for bidding between uploaders and hosts. This marketplace is incentivized to make storage much cheaper over time. \u00a0Filecoin also gives users the ability to prioritize speed, redundancy, or cost when making their orders.<\/span><\/p>\n A major part of Filecoin\u2019s value proposition is its unique architecture. Where most networks implement a single, standard type of node, Filecoin proposes a dual solution.<\/span><\/p>\n Ideally, Filecoin wants to incentivize mid-sized storage nodes. Huge data centers would be too centralized and defeat Filecoin\u2019s mission. However, small operators would be equally problematic with inconsistent connections and little available space.<\/span><\/p>\n Retrieval nodes are unique to Filecoin\u2019s system. They need to be located close to the storage nodes on the network. However, retrieval nodes also need high bandwidth and low latency. They get paid when they are the fastest to locate and retrieve a file for a user.<\/span><\/p>\n In practice, this likely means the most successful retrieval nodes will operate on fast connections in high-density population centers where many storage nodes operate simultaneously.<\/span><\/p>\n As a Filecoin user, you\u2019ll specify the file you want to upload and pay a small fee to have your upload request listed on the Filecoin exchange. There, storage nodes will bid on the rights to store your file. This bidding process is designed to get the uploader the lowest price possible. The Filecoin exchange is a decentralized exchange with its orderbook living entirely on the Filecoin blockchain.<\/span><\/p>\n After that, Filecoin encrypts your file and divides it into many segments. These various segments get sent to various points on the network that bid to host your file. The exact location of all your file segments gets recorded on the Filecoin blockchain in what\u2019s known as an allocation table. In order to recall all the pieces of your file, you must know the file\u2019s private key. Only the file owner has the private key, so only the file owner can find, reassemble, and decrypt the file.<\/span><\/p>\n Filecoin\u2019s developers created a unique consensus mechanism for Filecoin. Consensus mechanisms can be thought of as incentive schemes for securing the network. In Bitcoin\u2019s proof of work consensus, the incentive is to provide lots of processing power for the hashing algorithm.<\/span><\/p>\n The novel solution of Filecoin is using consensus to incentivize hard drive space instead of computing power. The proof of replication consensus model requires miners prove to a verifier that they have created various copies of various files on the network. This increases redundancy and reliability of the network while also incentivizing storage nodes to add more disk space to the network.<\/span><\/p>\n The full version of the proof of replication consensus mechanism is not yet available to the public. Therefore, it\u2019s difficult to nail down the specifics of how the protocol will work. However, the development team has released a <\/span>white paper<\/span><\/a> with preliminary explanations.<\/span><\/p>\n Much of the excitement behind Filecoin has to do with the team creating it. Protocol Labs is a well-respected team in peer-to-peer technology. They\u2019re the company behind projects like IPFS, libp2p, IPLD, Multiformats, and CoinList. Filecoin leverages those other technologies, especially IPFS, which already has a lot of the peer-to-peer file transfer and storage infrastructure already in place.<\/span><\/p>\n Needless to say, the team is steeped in the blockchain tradition. They have extensive experience deploying open source technology. They\u2019re also very familiar with the code bases of other projects in the space. They\u2019ve specifically cited Ethereum and Zcash as influences on how they think about implementing Filecoin\u2019s blockchain and smart contracts.<\/span><\/p>\n Prior to the Filecoin ICO, Protocol Labs operated with a relatively slim budget of $3.5 million, building these various, rather successful projects on a shoestring.<\/span><\/p>\n [thrive_leads id=’5219′]<\/p>\n The Filecoin ICO is the biggest token sale in history, bringing in a whopping $257 million. The pre-sale and ICO combined represent 10% of the overall token allocation.<\/span><\/p>\nThe Problem with File Storage & Data Usage<\/b><\/h2>\n
Two Types of Nodes<\/b><\/h2>\n
1. Storage Nodes<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"filecoin](\"https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Screenshot-2018-02-16-at-18.51.11-300x206.png\")
This will be familiar to anyone who knows about Storj or Sia. Anyone can rent out extra hard drive space on their computer. Filecoin will use that hard drive space to store small, encrypted portions of other peoples\u2019 files.<\/span><\/p>\n2. Retrieval Nodes<\/span><\/h3>\n
How Filecoin Works<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"filecoin](\"https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Screenshot-2018-02-16-at-18.57.43.png\")
<\/p>\nUnique Consensus Mechanism<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"filecoin](\"https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Screenshot-2018-02-16-at-18.51.02-300x215.png\")
<\/p>\nProtocol Labs<\/b><\/h2>\n
Filecoin Token (FIL) ICO<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"filecoin](\"https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Screenshot-2018-02-16-at-18.58.59.png\")
<\/p>\n