IPFS is a peer-to-peer distributed file system that connects all devices with a single file system.
In a way, IPFS is similar to the World Wide Web.
It’s interesting that the regular Internet if often referred to the “World Wide Web’, while IPFS is called the “InterPlanetary File System”, that is because IPFS is a part of the brand new Web 3.0.
IPFS represents content-addressing in the Internet. Any file uploaded to the IPFS will be linked to via a hash.
So, when we upload a file into the regular Internet, our link will appear as HTTP/site address/file directory/file, while in IPFS we simply receive a hash, coded in BASE58.
IPFS stores data on distributed servers/devices. The content is accessed quickly, since it is requested from the closest server/device available.
On the other hand, in the regular Internet, a file uploaded to a server in America, Japan or Australia will take longer to load than a file on a server in Russia. This is similar to latency in online video games.
Submarine cables
Schematic map of Internet cables
To make things clearer, let’s take a look at the map of submarine fiberoptic cables of the Internet.
An estimated IPFS map. Here is an estimated IPFS map, where it is possible to quickly load content from the point that is closest to the user. Since the entire network in interconnected, all data is constantly being updated/synced with a distributed ledger.
Schematic map of IPFS
The Web 1.0 era began in 1994, when Tim Berners-Lee (CERN employee) founded the World Wide Web Consortium, the organisation that developed the standards for the Web and the Internet. Web 1.0 is a read-only web. With the emergence of websites, content, which was previously only available via TV or radio, could be accessed at any time from any computer that is connected to the Internet.
The current Web 2.0 is an improved Web 1.0, where users can interact with each other, edit content and create content of their own on a centralised server or a website that offers them access to necessary tools. It became possible to follow new in posts of users and publish your own observations at any time, anywhere. In 1999 the term Web 2.0 was coined by Darcy DiNucci.
Web 3.0 is concept of a new Internet, based on blockchain and decentralisation, with the goal to directly provide content to the user. Berners-Lee himself first described a semantic web, which would be an important part of the system. Currently, we can observe gradual development of the modern Internet, and blockchain technology is playing a key role.
It expected that, by the next wave of cryptocurrency growth, the Web3 and decentralised file, site and app storage will be the main topics at hand. It is expected that content regulation will be decentralised, new AI-processes will emerge, digital currencies will be accepted as the main means of payment and the influence that big tech companies on users will decrease.
There is a multitude of Web3 services that have already implemented IPFS in a variety of different applications. Certain web browsers have IPFS support by default, while others require modification. IPFS is not as convenient and easy to use as standard websites, however, as with most Web3 platforms currently, the situation will improve with time.