• The current infrastructure behind Web3 is largely centralized, with most IPFS pinning providers using just one source (Cloudflare) for the service.
• Pinning providers create a risk of censorship, failure, and limit the benefits of a distributed system.
• There are teams working to develop solutions that can layer onto existing IPFS protocols while providing a decentralized structure.
Web3’s Centralized Infrastructure
Web3 has come a long way in creating a truly decentralized ecosystem by making the world more borderless and resilient. However, some of its infrastructure remains decidedly centralized due to IPFS pinning providers relying on one single source – Cloudflare – for their services. This creates risks such as censorship and failure which limits the full potential of a distributed system.
The Problems with Pinning
Pinning providers face two issues – performance and cost. To increase performance they have to use CDN out in front of the IPFS nodes but this creates centralization as they rely on Cloudflare for it. Furthermore, using cloud storage providers such as AWS causes long-term costs to add up over time which isn’t ideal especially if Web3 platforms don’t prioritize revenue generation. It’s clear that an alternative solution needs to be developed to solve these problems while still providing decentralization.
A Storage Agnostic Solution
The solution here is to move towards decentralization but without forcing networks to adopt completely new protocols or processes. Teams are now working on developing alternatives which can layer onto existing IPFS protocols while ensuring decentralization at all levels without compromising on performance or cost efficiency.
Decentralizing Content Delivery Networks
Content delivery networks are integral in increasing performance when it comes to web applications but they also need to be decentralized so that there isn’t any single point of failure or censorship risk associated with them. Solutions such as Arweave and Filcoin provide an expensive yet reliable option for content delivery while traditional CDNs like Cloudflare lack decentralisation features needed for Web3 systems and networks .
Conclusion
Web3 is leading us into an exciting new era where true decentralization is becoming possible without compromising on reliability and efficiency but we still need solutions in place that can ensure this goal is met at every level from storage options all the way through content delivery networks.. With teams actively developing solutions that can layer onto existing IPFS protocols, we should soon see improved decentralization across Web3 systems thanks to these innovative solutions allowing us to reap even more benefits from blockchain technology..