And for the first time, you'll realise the true value of "Cloud".

The data storage industry is currently dominated by very large, corporate-controlled platforms like Google, Microsoft or Amazon. If you aren't aware of this, their control over your data can be alarming.

Just last year, several users were locked out of their documents on Google Docs for violating Google's terms of service. Which terms of service? In its warnings, Google doesn't say specifically.

Everyone loves Google Docs! Your work saves automatically every few seconds, and you can access your documents from any internet-connected computer in the world  — and any phone, too.

But this is a good reminder that you don't really "have" everything you're putting on it  — Google does, on servers somewhere, and can take away as quickly and easily as it gives. The glitch also proved a point  —  Google was able to identify "bad" Google Docs, which indirectly means almost everything you do on Google is monitored, recorded, and stored. You can also find out about what information they collect in their Privacy Policy.

If you really want to take control of your data, be the rightful owner, it's time to seriously consider decentralised data storage. As a blockchain technology, it enables greater transparency by removing the need for a central authority to manage transactions, making digital storage more secure and censorship resistant.

Here's one great example:

The main advantage of decentralising is giving control back to users. You will be able to control and share not just documents, but lots of data which is yours by default: fitness tracking, location, financial transactions, social media posts, etc.

If you've read my previous article, you should know that right now, we're already running out of available storage space to meet demands of the big data economy. At the same time, we have people sitting on a sizeable amount of unused hard drives that's never utilised. What if they can contribute to the data storage supply by renting these unused storage space to the ones who really need them? In return, they get paid.

Sounds like a good deal, isn't it?

…but how does it help businesses?

On a typical decentralised data storage network, your documents are broken into multiple pieces, encrypted, and then sent to these participating data storages located all around the world. By doing so, there's no single point of failure for hackers to attack and it ensures higher data availability. The best part  —  the price of these storages are much cheaper if compared to existing "cloud" services like Microsoft or Google.

And you don't have to worry if any unauthorised third party is able to look at your files because on the blockchain, these files are protected by your own personal "private key". No one has access to this digital key, except you. However, you might need to draft a new Usage Policy on key management for your employees.

Okay! So which one is the best?

Recent years, we've seen many decentralised storage providers entering the market. Although each of them has their pros and cons, I'd say Arweave provides an innovative edge over most of its competitors. The key differentiator between Arweave and the rest is that they not only provide a low-cost option, but also delivers a truly censorship free on-chain data storage.

With Arweave, you won't find yourselves in a situation whereby you're locked out of your own documents. You've total freedom and control  —  no one, not even the government authorities can take down your files. This is because if you store something on-chain, it is immutable and will always be there forever.

Most of the other competitors only store file hashes on-chain for data forgery protection, while the actual content is stored off-chain. This disregard the immutable property of a blockchain. At Arweave, they fully utilised the benefits of a blockchain to deliver the true value of "Cloud" - that's highly secure, low-cost, and permanent data storage.

You can find more detailed overview of Arweave in my previous article. Nevertheless, you can also visit their official channels:

Website: https://www.arweave.org/
Telegram: http://t.me/arweave
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArweaveTeam
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArweaveTeam/
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Arweave/

I'm also available at BitcoinTalk: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1895068