Reimagining The Data Storage with Blockchain Part 1

Data has always played an essential role in modern industry, and that role is becoming more noticeable with each passing year.

Recently, the rise of ‘big data’ has had a significant impact on the industry. Revenues for software and services are predicted to grow to $103bn in 2027. Data is being produced continuously everywhere, from our social media accounts to the equipment we use to predict earthquakes, and it is precious.

That brings us to the most significant problem the industry will face in the future — how to store all this data, in a way that is secure, affordable, and also easily accessible. As the amount of usable data grows, we need to make sure that the storage systems we have in place can handle it, and won’t collapse under the pressure.

Right now, that seems challenging. The widespread storage options are already struggling to handle the growing quantities of data, and as time goes on, this will only get more difficult.

Before we explore potential solutions to this, let’s first take a better look at the problems with popular centralized storage systems.

Why the Current Approach is Not Working

The current methods for data storage are mainly based around massive, centralized data centers. Even cloud storage relies heavily on these large central databases, and there are all sorts of problems with this approach. These include:

• They are bloated and oversized. This makes them costly and time-consuming to maintain, not to mention devastating for the environment.
• They are vulnerable to hacks and cybercrime because they have a central point of failure that can be targeted to bring the entire thing down.
• They are hard to scale. The amount of data out there is increasing exponentially, and these centralized databases will quickly find it difficult to work with so much demand.

So, what could be the solution? Many believe that Blockchain, with its decentralized method of storage, could be the answer.

Blockchain Solution

Blockchain has several advantages:

• It is secure. The data is encrypted and distributed across multiple nodes, creating a decentralized network with no central point that makes it hard for hackers to do damage.
• Since there is no central party in charge, it’s challenging to corrupt a blockchain. This can only be done in some networks by seizing control of a majority of nodes, which is nearly impossible.
• It is immutable. This means data cannot be manipulated or handled; in other words, users can trust the data and the integrity behind it.
• It is fast. By drawing on a vast network of nodes instead of central servers, blockchains have the potential to be much faster than traditional storage methods, making access quick and easy.

This is all for part 1 of our series, hope you enjoyed it. Next part is coming on Monday!