Cost-effective cloud storage that is reliable and secure

Filecoin storage providers use cryptographically hashed containers—known as sectors—to store data. Each sector can hold either 32 GiB or 64 GiB of data, depending on the storage provider’s configuration. Filecoin storage providers use a process known as sealing to transfer data into a sector.

The cost will depend either on the product you are using to store data or the storage provider. Thanks to staggering economies of scale, competition between providers, and incentive programs like Fil+, the cost of storage has proven to be beyond 95% lower on a per-gigabyte basis than today’s market rates for Web2-based public cloud storage providers (and can even be free in some cases).

The cost of retrieving data from the Filecoin network varies by storage provider. Clients and storage providers can and should specify the cost of data retrieval when developing the initial contract documents.

Enterprises with large datasets choose Filecoin data storage for several reasons:

• Content-based access ensures data integrity and verifiability

• Replication methodology ensures availability and durability of data

• Native immutability provides an organic hedge against ransomware

• Storage providers can be chosen based on location, add-on services provided, security certifications, cost, and other factors

• Filecoin storage is significantly less expensive than Web2 storage options

In addition to long-term backup and archive data sets, Filecoin is extensively used for a wide variety of use cases including digital archives, public data sets, research data, and genomics archives. Educational organizations use it for massive open online courses (MOOCs) and other education data sets. Enterprise organizations use the ecosystem for business analytics and as an alternative to tape backups. Other uses include non-fungible token (NFT) storage, surveillance data, drone data, and other Web3 workloads. It is also very effective for Web2 applications like climate analysis and historical internet archives.

Filecoin integration is offered on a protocol by protocol and case by case basis.  Due to the robust service provider options there are many different integrations that are provided to data owners in the network.

There are thousands of storage nodes distributed across the globe. storage providers can allow their customers to determine the geographical distribution of data so it can stay within certain countries or regions and thereby meet various data sovereignty requirements that Web2-based public cloud providers cannot.

Filecoin uses replication and auditing to ensure data durability. Data replicated six times—for example—could yield in excess of twenty 9s of data durability. (The data durability of traditional Web2 storage yields only eleven 9s.) Daily auditing increases durability by immediately revealing any data corruption, providing the opportunity to replace corrupted data with non-corrupted replicas.

The contract length for a Filecoin storage deal typically ranges from 6-18 months. Clients wishing to store data for longer than 18 months can renew their contracts at the end of the initial term, akin to renewing a contract with a traditional Web2 storage provider.

Storage providers can use various methods to keep data secure, and typically work with enterprise clients to determine the right combination of security measures. Security measures or services may include:

• Data-at-rest encryption services

• TLS/SSL encryption support for data in flight

• Secure data transport through sneakernet-style options (for large datasets; akin to an AWS Snowball)

Filecoin developers use a combination of methods to keep the Filecoin network secure. These tactics include:

• Using secure development processes

• Conducting security-focused training sessions

• Funding independent security research by third parties

Filecoin developers also engage with reputable auditing firms to complete theory audits, designed to ensure that the theory behind the Filecoin protocol and its implementation is delivering the intended value.

Enterprises can maintain data privacy using one or more methods to control access. These privacy tactics include:

• Self-encrypting data prior to placing it on the Filecoin network

• Using a wallet-based encryption scheme such as Lit Protocol to enable client-side encryption

• Using dedicated storage hardware with data retrievals disabled

• Setting retrieval costs to be so high that no retrieval attempts are made

Storage providers hold security certifications directly, with different storage providers pursuing different certificates. Storage providers may be certified or specialize in SOC2, GDPR, HIPAA, PCI, or another security framework. Clients with specific security or regulatory requirements can seek out storage providers with the relevant qualifications or certificates.

Filecoin storage providers can support data access auditing upon request. Storage providers can retain and supply data access logs to clients, provided that the client indicates a preference in advance for receiving this type of information.

Today there are more than 17 EiBs of capacity available on the Filecoin network.  With a monthly growth rate of roughly 1% per month of capacity coming online, the Filecoin network continues to grow and scale at unprecedented rates.

Filecoin is a blockchain-based decentralized storage network that is built from an ecosystem of service providers compensated through cryptocurrency (FIL).

The InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is a protocol for storing and sharing hypermedia data in a distributed file system used for storing and accessing information.

Protocol Labs (PL) is an open-source research and development lab that builds protocols, tools, and services such as IPFS, LibP2P, and Filecoin to radically improve the internet.

The Filecoin ecosystem is adding compute-over-data capabilities in multiple ways. The launch in 2022 of the Filecoin Virtual Machine was a major step forward for compute functionality on Filecoin. In addition, a compute layer between Filecoin and IPFS is currently being deployed for a variety of use cases. Some storage providers are also developing proprietary compute-over-data services.