Decentralized web

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The decentralized web is a network of independent computers that provide secure, censorship-resistant access to information and services without relying on central servers or clouds, using decentralized computing.

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History and development

Decentralized computing has a long theoretical and practical history in the design of robust systems. The internet itself was designed around principles of decentralization, allowing an unknown network of machines to be organically connected, addressed, and updated over time without a central administration.

In the development of the internet, Web 1.0 is sometimes described asprimarily static webpages with minimal interactivity; while Web 2.0 was described as the "read/write" web, with dynamic content and user interaction, including platforms like YouTube and the advent of smartphones which could easily capture and broadcast information from anywhere. [1] The rise of cloud computing and large platforms that served the needs of Web 2.0 led to a recentralization of the internet around those services.

Web 3.0 is the name given to a decentralized web movement that is sometimes described as a "read/write/own" stage of internet development. It focuses on decentralizing the underlying infrastructure of the internet, shifting away from centralized data storage and management using new protocols and technologies. Motivation for this includes:

Decentralized protocols

Like the centralized data storage of the centralized web, decentralized web protocols provide a shared data layer, eliminating the need for centralized data centers. This means data is stored on users' computers and used across various decentralized applications. [4]

BitTorrent and other peer-to-peer filesharing networks are one of the earliest successful decentralized protocols, allowing for file sharing and storage without a central archive, and allowing large files to be shared by many participants who could not store it in its entirety. Blockchain networks are a more recent example of decentralized tools and systems, in particular built on low-trust networks and transactions. [5] [6]

In 2021, BitTorrent announced the development of Project Maelstrom to develop a fully decentralized and censorship-resistant browser. [4] Other decentralized browsers such as Beaker have been developed building on top of IPFS and other file-storage protocols.

Starting in 2016, the Internet Archive and Protocol Labs began hosting a regular DWeb Summit dedicated to new technical and social communities building the decentralized web. [7] [8] [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Client–server model</span> Distributed application structure in computing

The client–server model, also known as client server network architecture, is a distributed application structure that partitions tasks or workloads between the providers of a resource or service, called servers, and service requesters, called clients. Often clients and servers communicate over a computer network on separate hardware, but both client and server may reside in the same system. A server host runs one or more server programs, which share their resources with clients. A client usually does not share any of its resources, but it requests content or service from a server. Clients, therefore, initiate communication sessions with servers, which await incoming requests. Examples of computer applications that use the client–server model are email, network printing, and the World Wide Web.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hyphanet</span> Peer-to-peer Internet platform for censorship-resistant communication

Hyphanet is a peer-to-peer platform for censorship-resistant, anonymous communication. It uses a decentralized distributed data store to keep and deliver information, and has a suite of free software for publishing and communicating on the Web without fear of censorship. Both Freenet and some of its associated tools were originally designed by Ian Clarke, who defined Freenet's goal as providing freedom of speech on the Internet with strong anonymity protection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peer-to-peer</span> Type of decentralized and distributed network architecture

Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network, forming a peer-to-peer network of nodes.

Uploading refers to transmitting data from one computer system to another through means of a network. Common methods of uploading include: uploading via web browsers, FTP clients], and terminals (SCP/SFTP). Uploading can be used in the context of clients that send files to a central server. While uploading can also be defined in the context of sending files between distributed clients, such as with a peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing protocol like BitTorrent, the term file sharing is more often used in this case. Moving files within a computer system, as opposed to over a network, is called file copying.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Distributed hash table</span> Decentralized distributed system with lookup service

A distributed hash table (DHT) is a distributed system that provides a lookup service similar to a hash table. Key–value pairs are stored in a DHT, and any participating node can efficiently retrieve the value associated with a given key. The main advantage of a DHT is that nodes can be added or removed with minimum work around re-distributing keys. Keys are unique identifiers which map to particular values, which in turn can be anything from addresses, to documents, to arbitrary data. Responsibility for maintaining the mapping from keys to values is distributed among the nodes, in such a way that a change in the set of participants causes a minimal amount of disruption. This allows a DHT to scale to extremely large numbers of nodes and to handle continual node arrivals, departures, and failures.

BitTorrent, also referred to as simply torrent, is a communication protocol for peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P), which enables users to distribute data and electronic files over the Internet in a decentralized manner. The protocol is developed and maintained by Rainberry, Inc., and was first released in 2001. A 2004 study by Cachelogic found that one third of all internet traffic was BitTorrent traffic.

An anonymous P2P communication system is a peer-to-peer distributed application in which the nodes, which are used to share resources, or participants are anonymous or pseudonymous. Anonymity of participants is usually achieved by special routing overlay networks that hide the physical location of each node from other participants.

A dark net or darknet is an overlay network within the Internet that can only be accessed with specific software, configurations, or authorization, and often uses a unique customized communication protocol. Two typical darknet types are social networks, and anonymity proxy networks such as Tor via an anonymized series of connections.

Content-addressable storage (CAS), also referred to as content-addressed storage or fixed-content storage, is a way to store information so it can be retrieved based on its content, not its name or location. It has been used for high-speed storage and retrieval of fixed content, such as documents stored for compliance with government regulations. Content-addressable storage is similar to content-addressable memory.

Decentralized computing is the allocation of resources, both hardware and software, to each individual workstation, or office location. In contrast, centralized computing exists when the majority of functions are carried out, or obtained from a remote centralized location. Decentralized computing is a trend in modern-day business environments. This is the opposite of centralized computing, which was prevalent during the early days of computers. A decentralized computer system has many benefits over a conventional centralized network. Desktop computers have advanced so rapidly, that their potential performance far exceeds the requirements of most business applications. This results in most desktop computers remaining idle. A decentralized system can use the potential of these systems to maximize efficiency. However, it is debatable whether these networks increase overall effectiveness.

In computing, a shared resource, or network share, is a computer resource made available from one host to other hosts on a computer network. It is a device or piece of information on a computer that can be remotely accessed from another computer transparently as if it were a resource in the local machine. Network sharing is made possible by inter-process communication over the network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tribler</span> Peer-to-peer filesharing software and protocol

Tribler is an open source decentralized BitTorrent client which allows anonymous peer-to-peer by default. Tribler is based on the BitTorrent protocol and uses an overlay network for content searching. Due to this overlay network, Tribler does not require an external website or indexing service to discover content. The user interface of Tribler is very basic and focused on ease of use instead of diversity of features. Tribler is available for Linux, Windows, and OS X.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xunlei</span> Chinese multinational technology company

Xunlei Limited is a Chinese multinational technology company and an online service provider founded in 2003. The subsidiary of Xunlei Limited, Shenzhen Xunlei Networking Technologies, Co., Ltd. was formerly known as Sandai Technologies (Shenzhen) Inc. and changed its name to Shenzhen Xunlei Networking Technologies, Co., Ltd. in May 2005. Its headquarters are in Nanshan District, Shenzhen.

Distributed networking is a distributed computing network system where components of the program and data depend on multiple sources.

Internet censorship circumvention, also referred to as going over the wall or scientific browsing in China, is the use of various methods and tools to bypass internet censorship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">InterPlanetary File System</span> Content-addressable, peer-to-peer hypermedia distribution protocol

The InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is a protocol, hypermedia and file sharing peer-to-peer network for storing and sharing data in a distributed file system. IPFS uses content-addressing to uniquely identify each file in a global namespace connecting IPFS hosts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PeerTube</span> Decentralised video hosting network

PeerTube is a free and open-source, decentralized, ActivityPub federated video platform powered by WebTorrent, that uses peer-to-peer technology to reduce load on individual servers when viewing videos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Filecoin</span> Open-source, public cryptocurrency

Filecoin (⨎) is an open-source, public cryptocurrency and digital payment system intended to be a blockchain-based cooperative digital storage and data retrieval method. It is made by Protocol Labs and shares some ideas from InterPlanetary File System allowing users to rent unused hard drive space. A blockchain mechanism is used to register the deals. Filecoin is an open protocol and backed by a blockchain that records commitments made by the network’s participants, with transactions made using FIL, the blockchain's native currency. The blockchain is based on both proof-of-replication and proof-of-spacetime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Open Network</span> Blockchain network originally developed by Telegram

The Open Network is a decentralized computer network consisting of a layer-1 blockchain with various components. TON was originally developed by Dr. Nikolai Durov and the messaging platform, Telegram and now embraced by a global community of independent contributors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tron (cryptocurrency)</span> Blockchain computing platform

TRON is a decentralized, blockchain-based operating system with smart contract functionality, proof-of-stake principles as its consensus algorithm and a cryptocurrency native to the system, known as Tronix (TRX). It was established in March 2014 by Justin Sun and since 2017 has been overseen and supervised by the TRON Foundation, a non-profit organization in Singapore, established in the same year. It is open-source software.

References

  1. ↑ "What Is Web 3.0? – Forbes Advisor". www.forbes.com. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  2. ↑ "The Decentralized Web". MIT Digital Currency Initiative. 2020-01-02. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  3. ↑ Hsieh, Ying-Ying; Vergne, Jean-Philippe (March 2023). "The future of the web? The coordination and early-stage growth of decentralized platforms". Strategic Management Journal. 44 (3): 829–857. doi: 10.1002/smj.3455 . ISSN   0143-2095.
  4. 1 2 "Bittorrent Moves to Decentralize the Web".
  5. ↑ Alabdulwahhab, Faten Adel (2018). "Web 3.0: The Decentralized Web Blockchain networks and Protocol Innovation". 2018 1st International Conference on Computer Applications & Information Security (ICCAIS). pp. 1–4. doi:10.1109/CAIS.2018.8441990. ISBN   978-1-5386-4427-0 . Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  6. ↑ "The Decentralized Web". MIT Digital Currency Initiative. 2020-01-02. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  7. ↑ Corbyn, Zoë (2018-09-08). "Decentralisation: the next big step for the world wide web". The Observer. ISSN   0029-7712 . Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  8. ↑ "Decentralized Web Summit: Towards Reliable, Private, and Fun | Internet Archive Blogs". 2016-06-16. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  9. ↑ "Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine". archive.org. Retrieved 2024-04-16.


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