8 Things Surprised Me On Sia Storage System

1. You need to operate a full blockchain node and download a database of 12 Gigabytes, this can take 1-2 days even with a fast computer. If you don’t have SSD, it can be one week or more, in my case, more than 2 weeks. (I installed an SSD later.)
2. It is nearly impossible to use the Sia UI (=user interface, the user friendly managing program) on older computers, or without an SSD disk card. Otherwise it gets so slow you can't even close Windows in 12 minutes.
3. The program is very buggy, I would say, it is in alpha version-like state. It often halts with error messages, sometimes you even have to replace files with older ones you saved. SAVE Sia data files (all the mentioned 12 Gigabytes) frequently! (If you dare to use the system.)
4. Uploads are incredibly slow, you must leave running your computer several nights to upload some dozens of Gigabytes of data. Files are not only uploading once, later they are “boosting redundancy” – that means, are uploading 3-4-times.
5. If you have no more siacoins to pay the bill, your files get lost in some weeks. I don’t say it, they say it. Funny. Do you imagine store your files on a file system which could delete them in some weeks? I was disappointed.
6. You can call it “The System That Forgets Your Files” – if you don’t connect often, about once a month or so, Sia redundancy can fall, some files hosts can disappear and you have to “boost redundancy” again. It means some parts, packets of files that were stored, are getting lost. For example, redundancy falls from 3,5 to 2, and must be boosted again. They need your computer running to do so.
7. It was a nightmare to buy siacoins (SC), because only a few crypto-exchanges can handle them. Some are listing SC but are having problems, like HitBTC. I bought SC and had to sell it again 1-2 weeks later to try other exchange.
(HitBTC website is saying they identified the problem and are working on it, but there was no more successful siacoin withdrawal since this march. Poloniex had problems too. Read the last information about which exchange Sia-Team is recommending.)
8. It is also a nightmare to determinate how much you pay for all this. I have 116 smart contracts at the moment, and most fees spent are “contract spending”. I have no interest in calculate so much.

I spent almost 2 months setting up Sia on my notebook and uploading my few files, only the most important ones. Why am I suffering still with Sia? Because I could’t find any better in the crypto space yet. Maidsafe and Storj, for example, are even in a worst state, I think, both under heavy construction. Storj suspended new registrations, and you can use Maidsafe only in Alpha stage, to try demo applications.

The good news? Sia, with all the problems, works now, finally, and none of my files was lost ever.

Conclusion:
I’m not a programmer, only a simple user, I need an easy-to-use system. I suppose I ‘ll change Sia to something more user friendly when the right time comes.
I'm an adventurer and I always liked to try new systems and applications - but only the best can survive on my computer.

Links:
[SiaHomepage] (http://sia.tech)
[Pixabay] (https://pixabay.com)