When you are the only bookworm around, borrowing a book from the library becomes easy peasy. In fact, the librarian even knows you by name, so she barely records your details. After a while, you tag a friend along, and she also becomes a regular. The librarian still knows your name, but she now records both of your addresses and contact details. When another 10 people join in, and then 20, 70, 200, it becomes more difficult to keep track of who has which book– so the library creates a system for data management. So, what is data management? Data management is the process of collecting, storing, organizing, retrieving, and processing data. This can be done either centrally, in one location, or decentralized, in multiple locations. It can be as simple as the librarian keeping track of who has which book, or as complex as a government managing the data of its citizens. Now, the problem with this system is that the data is stored and managed in one place. If your data is managed in one place, it is centralized. So, when the power is cut or the system crashes, all the data is lost. In addition, someone with the librarian's details can gain access to the system, and steal your physical address and phone number details, and those of other users in the system. The librarian could also simply make a mistake and write down the wrong phone number, intentionally delete or modify your details, or lock you out of the system. Alternatively, if the government decides to change the rules or misuse the data, there is no way for citizens to know or do anything about it. This is where decentralization comes in. Decentralizing data management Now, let's imagine that instead of borrowing books from one central location, you and your friends set up a decentralized network of book exchanges. There would be no need for a librarian, and you would all be able to keep track of who has which book using a shared spreadsheet. This is an example of data management decentralization. Decentralization means that the data is not stored and managed in one place, but is distributed across a network of nodes (computers). It makes it much more difficult for the data to be lost or stolen, and makes it more secure. In simple terms, it implies spreading out this responsibility for managing data among many people or organizations. But why is data management decentralization important? One of the ways of decentralizing data management is via blockchain technology. A blockchain-based database is decentralized and holds and manages data in a network of computers. Decentralizing data management can be done for many reasons, but most often it is done to improve efficiency, reliability, or security. Tamper Resistance Decentralizing data makes it much more resistant to tampering or corruption. If one computer in the network is compromised, the rest of the network can still function normally. It also becomes much more difficult for anyone to make unauthorized changes. This provides a greater level of security and assurance that the data remains intact. It contrasts with a centralized system, where a single point of failure can bring down the entire system. Unparalleled Security Decentralization can also improve security. By distributing data across multiple computers, it becomes much more difficult for attackers to access or corrupt all the data. This is because they would need to compromise several computers to get at the data, which is much more difficult than compromising a single central system. Flexibility and Control Decentralization allows for greater flexibility and control over how data is used. For instance, if a centralized data management system were to experience an outage, everyone who relies on that system would be affected. However, if the data is distributed across multiple locations, then it can still be accessed even if one location goes down. This allows for a much quicker and smoother recovery from any potential disruptions. High Performance, Efficiency, and Reliability Decentralizing data management can help to improve performance and efficiency. When data is spread across multiple computers, it can be accessed and processed more quickly than if it were all stored in one central location. When data management and data systems are centralized, for instance, it becomes difficult to access and update. This can lead to delays and errors in decision-making. Users retrieve data from the nearest node to save time. It is especially important for applications that need to process large amounts of data in real time. One example of why decentralization might be used is if a company has users located all around the world. Rather than storing all the data in one central location, it would make more sense to store it closer to the user so that they can access it more quickly. This would also help to reduce load times and improve overall performance. How Inery Fits In Inery is a decentralized data management solution that integrates blockchain functionalities with distributed database properties. It addresses the issue of data management by providing users with data security, privacy, and owner-controlled data assets. This means that the network users are responsible for their data and can decide who can access and use them. As such, data is spread across multiple nodes in the network, eliminating a single point of failure. The distribution makes accessing the data from any location easy, as the users retrieve data from the nearest node. A failure in one node doesn’t affect the workflow of an organization, government, or business. It also enables systems to communicate seamlessly and securely, facilitating data sharing. Thus, decentralized data management solutions like Inery offer many advantages compared to centralized approaches, including greater resilience, improved performance, and better security. It is no wonder that this approach is becoming increasingly popular as organizations look to manage ever-growing amounts of data.

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