Distributed Stream Stores (continued...)

Comparision to blockchain 

Blockchain Technology has been used to decentralize Security and proves to be great for identity management. A blockchain is a continuously growing list of records called blocks which are linked and secured using cryptography. Since it is resistant to tampering, it becomes an open distributed ledger to record transactions between two parties. In identity management it avoids the use of an authentication server and a password database. Each device or user media is given a private key that is guaranteed to be unique and control from that device such as the click of a button is the equivalent of signing in.

Products like Remme, Civic and Storj have demonstrated applications of blockchain to identity and storage purposes. It’s applicability to federations is also possible because the federation does not mandate a particular technology for any given member.

Civic for instance enables its users to login with their fingerprints. It uses a variety of smart contracts, an indigenous utility token, and new software applications. A Merkel tree is used for attestation.

Storj network was initiated to address scalability and increase decentralization.  It is a distributed cloud storage network and removes the notion of a centralized third-party storage provider.  The decentralization not only helps mitigate traditional data failures and outages but also supports new workloads such as from blockchain. There is a high degree of privacy for the individual whose transactions are maintained in this ledger. It does not divulge any personally identifiable information and can still prove ownership of entries. The ledger itself is maintained by a community where no one actor can gain enough influence to submit a fraudulent transaction or alter recorded data. Storj network facilitates security, privacy, and data control model. In production storage, peer to peer networks was not popular as instance-centric model because data accrues based on popularity, not on utility. Storj network introduces a challenge-response verification system combined with direct payments.  In addition, there is a set of federated nodes that alleviate access and performance concerns. Storj network also brings client-side encryption.

Emerging trends like Blockchain have no precedence for storage standards. So this is an opportunity to create one.