what is Storj? Decentralized Storage

 

[ANN] Storj - Decentralized Storage

April 03, 2014, 03:44:41 AM

#1

Key Features
Storj is a software project seeking to develop a next-generation cloud storage solution that improves upon existing cloud storage providers in four key areas of the service provided.  

Less expensive for the same industry standard redundancy, uptime, and reliability;
Preferably client-side encryption and hashing automatically enforced prior to upload so all data on the Storj network is encrypted and anonymized;
Open source code released under the MIT license;
Decentralized, autonomous, and implements multiple blockchains thereby making it resistant to interruptions of service and security risks.

A key project development goal is for Storj to include a blockchain-based dual purpose token scheme that serves as:

1. An incentive payment mechanism within the Storj network between consumers and    providers of storage space and bandwidth
2. An information storage mechanism to record the hash and location of files stored in the Storj network.

Storj won first place in the Texas Bitcoin Conference 2014 hackathon contest, by unanimous decision.  The prize is a guaranteed $250,000 donation from the backers at BitAngels for their initial round of “kickstarter-style” crowdfunding soon to be announced.  Storj team members Shawn Wilkinson and James Lowry made the final scheduled presentation of the contest, which included a working proof of concept software demo.  The founding devs are now getting the alpha software ready for general testing release while putting the finishing touches on the whitepaper and crowdfunding model.

Storj is a proposed decentralized storage system that seeks to disrupt the cloud storage industry by dramatically lowering costs to cloud storage users.  It would do this by paying incentives to storage providers in the form of a "blockchain-based dual purpose token" that would also store information about file integrity and storage locations.  The Storj network would autonomously issue, collect, and distribute these tokens so that users could pay for storage and be paid for providing storage.  All data would be encrypted, preferably client-side, before being uploaded to the network. We believe that Storj should simply be a mechanism for users to store their data, and the end user should have control over their data and privacy.

Web Nodes
At the Texas Bitcoin Conference 2014 we debuted a proof of concept web node for Storj. We have since been refining that software. You may upload your files to these web nodes and after about 10 minutes your files become accessible network wide. This requires no central server. Any web node connects to the prototype blockchain and may upload and download files at very little cost. This software will be made available to early backers and supporters.

New Cryptocurrency
Most cryptocurrencies use their blockchain as a ledger for coin balances. We would also like to use the blockchain to store information about file integrity and storage locations using structured metadata. To this end we will be releasing details about a new cryptocurrency that allows us to accomplish this and get our network running immediately with the help of our web nodes. We will be including this new cryptocurrency as part of our crowdfunding model.

Whitepapers
Many of you are hungry for the technical details. We have received great technical and conceptual feedback from Maidsafe and BitAngels. We are in the process of rewriting out initial whitepaper and finalizing crowdfunding details and timeline.

Special Thanks
BitAngels, esp. David Johnston and Jeremy Kandah - For your continuing input and support.
Jeff Garzik (jgarzik) - For technical and concept help.
Gregory Maxwell (gmaxwell) - For the initial seed concept and discussion thread.
Maidsafe, esp. David Irvine and Nick Lambert - Hackathon input, mentoring and continuing conceptual synergy.
Mastercoin Foundation - hackathon support, input and mentoring.