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Distributed file storage system using IPFS

By harish hv on 19th January 2024

Problem Statement

Centralized file storage systems face challenges related to data security, accessibility,
and dependence on a single point of failure. Additionally, the traditional client-server
model may lead to inefficiencies in file retrieval and sharing, especially on a global scale.

Abstract

The Distributed File Storage System using IPFS project addresses the limitations of
centralized storage by implementing the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). This
decentralized protocol enables distributed and peer-to-peer file storage, ensuring
improved security, fault tolerance, and efficient content retrieval.

Outcome

The outcome of this project is a robust distributed file storage system based on IPFS.
Utilizing a decentralized network, the system enhances data resilience, eliminates single
points of failure, and optimizes file sharing and retrieval. Users benefit from increased
security, improved accessibility, and a more efficient and reliable file storage
infrastructure, particularly suitable for applications requiring decentralized and
censorship-resistant data storage.

Reference

In current scenario the patients’ medical report is stored digitally in medical industry. The report consists of patients’ details such as patients’ private details, medical reports, and doctor prescriptions. This sensitive information is stored in centralized storage model. The disadvantage of this system is that there is problem in safeguarding user’s security. The problems such as illegal access of private data such as identity data and illness of the patient, and their medical reports. To address this issue, distributed file system of medical data using Interplanetary File System and blockchain technology is proposed. Where hash value of the report is stored in blockchain thus reducing the size of blockchain and the file is stored in IPFS. In IPFS the file is stored as hash value of the file. This framework preserves patient privacy and facilitates easy access of details of patients by authorized users such as doctors and patients. From this framework availability, integrity and consistency was achieved.

  1. Chaitanya Rahalkar and Dhaval Gujar, “Content Addressed P2P File System for the Web with Blockchain-Based Meta-Data Integrity”, 2019 International Conference on Advances in Computing Communication and Control (ICAC3), pp. 1-4, 2019.
  2. Emmanuel Nyaletey, Reza M. Parizi, Qi Zhang and Kim-Kwang Raymond Choo, “BlockIPFSblockchain-enabled interplanetary file system for forensic and trusted data traceability”, 2019 IEEE International Conference on Blockchain (Blockchain), pp. 18-25, 2019.
  3. Yongle Chen, Hui Li, Kejiao Li and Jiyang Zhang, “An improved P2P file system scheme based on IPFS and Blockchain”, 2017 IEEE International Conference on Big Data (Big Data), pp. 2652-2657, 2017.
  4. Randhir Kumar and Rakesh Tripathi, “Implementation of Distributed File Storage and Access Framework using IPFS and Blockchain”, 2019 Fifth International Conference on Image Information Processing (ICIIP), pp. 246-251, 2019.
  5. Randhir Kumar, Ningrinla Marchang and Rakesh Tripathi, “Distributed Off-Chain Storage of Patient Diagnostic Reports in Healthcare System Using IPFS and Blockchain”, 2020 International Conference on COMmunication Systems & NETworkS (COMSNETS), pp. 1-5, 2020.

    https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9587537/references#references