Rev 22: Distributed file storage moved to distributed file storage

2006-07-03T00:05:56Z

Distributed file storage moved to distributed file storage

Rev 22: from infoAnarchy (now offline)

2006-07-03T00:05:40Z

from infoAnarchy (now offline)

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See also: [[Mirror]] | [[Distribution]] | [[Information]] | [[Filesystems]]

==== What is distributed file storage? ====

There are two broad categories of peer to peer applications:

* [[Distributed file sharing]] - These are applications which allow real-time sharing of content with other user's that are also on at the same time; however, this content does not 'live' on the peer network after a certain user that is sharing this content leaves the network. It does not 'persist' over time. Examples of this kind of network are [[Napster]] and [[Gnutella]].

* [[Distributed file storage]] - These are a newer class of peer to peer applications where the peer network actually looks and feels like 'a giant hard-drive in the sky'. Files are saved into this 'space', and persist there even after the original peer that performed the insert has left the network. Examples of this kind of network are
** [[MNet]]
** [[Freenet]]
** [[The Circle]]
** [[ENTROPY]]
** [http://oceanstore.cs.berkeley.edu/ OceanStore] which is aimed to store 1 mole of bytes (6 * 10^23) for 1000 years based on [[distributed hash table|Tapestry]] providing multi-user read/write access.
** [http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/druschel01past.html PAST] is a secured distributed file storage based on [[distributed hash table|Pastry]] which allow only data insertion, data extraction and data reclaim.
** [http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/505024.html Pasta] allow file's owner to rewrite it and others the read. Pasta is also based on Pastry.
** [http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/dabek01widearea.html CFS] is a almost complete distributed [[file system]] on top of [[distributed hash table|Chord]]
** [http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/muthitacharoen02ivy.html Ivy] is multi-users distributed files system using a distributed hash table.
** [[Advogato]]: [http://www.advogato.org/article/817.html The Open Group releases DCE 1.2.2 as LGPL'd Free Software] - Quote: "[...] Yet even this is somewhat irrelevant, although related to, what has been released: DCE 1.2.2 contains DFS - the Distributed File System. And I'm going to be bold enough to claim that DFS is the ONLY Distributed File System in the world that actually does what it says on the tin: distribute files. Getting locking right is a bitch: it requires an absolute dead-accurate distributed and correct view of what the present time is on every machine: hence, in DCE 1.2.2, you have a time server. [...]"

==== What kinds of algorithms and strategies have been used to achieve distributed file storage? ====

The field of distributed file storage is newer than the older field of [[distributed file sharing]], and is therefore still developing and finding it's legs. No ubiquitous 'killer app' has developed out of this newer field yet. Some important tools and concepts that can help you get started with this new field:

* [[Hashing]]
* [[Distributed hash table]]
* [[Emergent file storage networks]]
* [[Forward Error Correction]]
* [[Bloom Filters]]
* [[Overlay networks]]
* [[Hash Cash]]

==== What are some good discussion forums for distributed file storage? ====

The following are some [[IRC]], listserve, etc spots where folks are building this new kind of P2P network:
* [http://zgp.org/pipermail/p2p-hackers/ p2p-hackers]
* [http://www.transarc.ibm.com/~ota/bluesky/ bluesky] (The bluesky mailing list seems to be dead; there hasn't been traffic there since May 2002. What's up? --[[BradNeuberg]])
* ''Add some IRC channels here''
* [[BitTorrent]] could be considered a form of distributed file storage or more like "distributed distribution".
* This thread on [[Slashdot]] about [http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/05/13/2049210 distributed file ''systems''] for Linux
* [http://www.brilliantdigital.com/ Brilliant Digital] is also using this process subversively in programs like [[KaZaA]] and other services. It runs in the background and works as a distributed storage for Brilliant's clients. It is considered [[spyware]].

{{infoanarchy|Distributed_file_storage|Distributed file storage}}

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distributed file storage - Revision history

Rev 22: Distributed file storage moved to distributed file storage

Rev 22: from infoAnarchy (now offline)