In principle, a distributed cloud storage system is envisioned where every aspect of cloud storage such as transport, processing, or storage of data is entered into the blockchain.

After this, what happened to data, where it went, who accessed the data, and how that data was governed can be verified by anyone who has access to the blockchain. Essentially, the blockchain freezes the computing platform in time and cloud users can verify that the platform is in the correct state in real-time. Such a system helps in giving complete traceability, accountability, and transparency for the cloud, and those entities that are either using or administrating the cloud.

How Does Distributed Cloud Storage Work?

All users in distributed cloud storage are connected over a peer-to-peer network. This network is more secure, up to 10x faster, and 50 percent less expensive than the traditional datacenter-based cloud storage solutions. Thus, distributed cloud storage enables users to store data in a secure and decentralized manner. This is done by using blockchain features such as transaction ledgers, cryptographic hash functions, and public/private key encryption.

Data centers are the hub of cloud storage capabilities for cloud giants like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Dropbox. But, these data centers come with a high price tag for cloud developers, providers, and users. Moreover, they come with an even higher cost of data failures and security breaches. From networking equipment and physical servers to other infrastructure demands like electricity, cloud service providers are spending billions of dollars every quarter just to maintain or grow their service offerings.

The blockchain is revolutionizing cloud storage by putting the user back in control over their data and devices. The decentralized aspect of blockchain means that there are no central servers to be compromised, and because of the use of client-side encryption, only the end users have complete access to their un-encrypted files and encryption keys.

Benefits of Distributed Cloud Storage with Blockchain

We have listed down three major benefits of distributed cloud storage, here

Tamper-proof data

For example, backup and storage specialists have proved that stored data has not been tampered with, when an effective and verifiable backup was created. Distributed cloud storage based on blockchain technology stores only hashes of its data blocks. And the encrypted and distributed hashes are enough to verify these data blocks.

Verifiability

Blockchain does not just store data in a distributed and encrypted form, but also provides for a sequential chain in which every block contains a cryptographic hash of the block. This links the blocks and thereby, creates a decentralized transaction ledger.

No more middlemen

For many cloud experts, the biggest change that blockchains are likely to bring is disintermediation. This is because a well-designed and publicly accessible blockchain can replace many of the functions that we currently rely on cloud intermediaries for providing a trustworthy trading environment, guarding against fraud and handling, ensuring contract compliance, and financial transactions.

Blockchain’s power does not lie in its heavy encryption; its distribution across a chain of computers also makes blockchain harder to attack. Blockchain is a self-verifying sequential storage scheme that can be used to immutably record transactions, ownership or identity, to negotiate and enforce contracts and much more.