Decentralized Computing & Storage vs. Legacy Cloud Solutions

On November 11th, 2021, an Infura outage collapsed large swaths of the Ethereum ecosystem, forcing the likes of Binance and MetaMask to suspend ETH and ERC-20 withdrawals, since they couldn't get accurate price data or even complete transactions.

Investors and projects using Ethereum at the time were bewildered, and some started to question the security of decentralized applications in the wake of this outage. The problem, however, lies not in the nature of decentralized applications, but in the centralized infrastructure that underpins many of them today.

Centralized services like AWS, which largely underlies Infura, are vulnerable to outages, and as the world increasingly moves towards decentralized applications, these centralized services will become increasingly irrelevant.

Decentralized Computing and Storage

A better solution is Aleph.im, a decentralized computing and storage network that doesn't rely on any central authority. Aleph.im is built on the blockchain and uses a distributed storage system that allows users to store files and data in a secure and decentralized manner.

This makes Aleph.im immune to outages and provides a more reliable and secure alternative to centralized services like AWS. This makes Aleph.im ideal for powering decentralized applications and for storing data in a secure and reliable way.

One new feature, called Computing Resource Nodes, is set to play a major role in the network. These nodes will make it possible to run serverless code in a decentralized way, making it possible for projects to further decentralize their stack. This is a critically important development for blockchain ecosystems and will help protect them from outages caused by centralized providers.

Anyone with a bare metal server, and some decent hardware specifications, can easily register and link their node on the Aleph.im network, potentially becoming eligible to receive a "minimum wage" of $ALEPH tokens for the resources they provide to the network.

Computing Resource Nodes in Practice: Ubisoft Quartz Partnership

Aleph.im partnered with Ubisoft Quartz to offer a decentralized storage system for dynamic NFTs. Ubisoft Quartz is Ubisoft's new platform focused on playable and energy-efficient NFTs.

Ubisoft Quartz is built on the blockchain and uses Aleph.im's decentralized storage network to store files in a secure and reliable manner. This makes it possible for Ubisoft Quartz to offer a more reliable and secure platform for playing games and creating digital assets.

Aleph.im's technology is used in two ways by Ubisoft Quartz. The first use is for the generation of dynamic metadata on the fly for every game asset. The second use is for the storage of metadata and the gamer profile data in a GDPR compliant way.

This partnership is a big win for both companies. For Ubisoft Quartz, it means they can take advantage of Aleph.im's technology to provide a more efficient and secure platform for gamers. And for Aleph.im, it means they can expand their reach into the gaming industry.

Where Centralized Providers Fall Short

The Web 2.0 world has long relied on centralized providers like AWS, Google, and Microsoft to host websites and applications.

While these providers have been great for delivering scalability and reliability, they have also been responsible for a number of problems, including outages, censorship, privacy, and control.

For example, in late December of 2021, AWS outages disrupted a broad range of applications, including Google, Slack, Amazon, Venmo, Tinder, Coinbase, and many more. These outages not only caused massive inconveniences for users, but also cost businesses millions in lost revenue.

Centralized providers also have a history of censorship. For example, as the New York Times reports, Chinese providers of AWS bowed down to pressure from the Chinese government and began censoring content in compliance with Chinese censorship laws. This means that not only can the Chinese government control what its people see, but it can also pressure centralized providers to comply with its censorship laws.

This is fundamentally what enables the so-called "Great Firewall of China" - the world's most sophisticated and extensive censorship system.

Centralized providers also pose a privacy risk. For example, in March of 2021, Bloomberg reported on how Google had allegedly been tracking the location of users, even though they had explicitly turned off location tracking and used Incognito browsing. This means that centralized providers can track users' every move, and often do so without users' knowledge or consent.

Finally, centralized providers also pose a risk of control. In many cases, these providers are able to control what content is hosted on their platforms, what applications can be used, and even what users can say. This can have a chilling effect on free speech and innovation.

In short, centralized providers are often unreliable, censorable, privacy-invasive, and controllable. As a result, we should be looking for alternatives that can provide the same scalability and reliability without the downsides mentioned above.

Takeaways

The future of Web 3.0 isn't cloud-based, it's decentralized. After all, to realize the intended benefits of the blockchain, from censorship resistance to improved privacy, a properly decentralized infrastructure is essential. Attempts to use centralized cloud providers like AWS for this infrastructure, as is done by projects such as Infura, are fraught with peril.

Aleph.im is a perfect example of the type of decentralized infrastructure the blockchain needs. Aleph.im is a decentralized computing and storage network that is immune to outages and provides a more reliable and secure alternative to centralized services. This makes it ideal for powering decentralized applications and for storing data in a secure and reliable way.

Aleph.im's technology is already being used by Ubisoft Quartz to deliver a more efficient and secure gaming experience. And with Computing Resource Nodes, Aleph.im is making it possible to run serverless code in a decentralized way, making it possible for projects to further decentralize their stack. This is a critically important development for blockchain ecosystems and will help protect them from outages caused by centralized providers.

Be sure to join @aleph_im’s Twitter Spaces Series, “Decentralize Everything”, featuring guests and projects from across Web3; beginning March 17th the series will be hosted live, every other Thursday at 3:00PM UTC