Skycoin CXO: Hypermedia Evolved

Move over BitTorrent and DropBox. Skycoin’s immutable objects system with content-addressable storage will revolutionize global file storage and sharing.

Hypermedia refers to a non-liner collection of information such as video, audio, text, graphics and other files. The World Wide Web is the definitive example of hypermedia.

But the way in which media is stored on the Web today is beset by three major drawbacks — it’s inefficient, unreliable, and hazardous.

It’s inefficient because data is hosted on centralized servers. If 100 users in Tokyo wish to view a video on a server in London, the data is sent between London and Tokyo 100 times, consuming costly international bandwidth and introducing latency for every user. It’s unreliable because servers can be shut down (by the owners, hackers, or governments), networks can experience congestion, and service providers can go out of business, rendering data unavailable. It’s hazardous because files can be surreptitiously modified and tampered with. The contents can be changed, or malware injected without a user’s knowledge.

To overcome these issues, Skycoin developed the CXO immutable objects system — a secure, distributed, next-generation peer-to-peer data storage and file-sharing service.

If you’ve used BitTorrent, the concept of distributed storage should be familiar. Rather than a central server hosting files, they’re broken into small segments which are duplicated and stored across many computers around the world. This allows users to download simultaneously from multiple sources.

BitTorrent certainly improves the efficiency and reliability of data storage, but it doesn’t address the risk of file tampering or malware infection.

CXO mitigates this risk through the concept of content-addressable storage.

What is Content-addressable Storage?

Content-addressable storage is a new way of hosting data so that it can be retrieved based on its content, rather than on its defined location.

With standard HTTP (the foundation of data communication on the World Wide Web) the location of a file is determined by its IP address, path and filename. These details are assigned by the owner of the file.

In CXO, the address of a file is instead determined by its hash, which is derived cryptographically from the file’s contents. This means each unique file has a unique hash address. If the contents are modified even slightly, an entirely new hash is generated. This eliminates the risk of a file being modified or infected with malware without the user’s knowledge.

Content-addressable storage provides assurance that the retrieved document is identical to the one requested. This is particularly useful for organizations that must comply with document-retention laws such as Sarbanes-Oxley.

Each non-identical version of a file will have its own unique hash and be stored permanently throughout the network. Any identical or duplicate files will share the same hash, thereby solving the problem of deduplication.

With CXO, users publish content using their public key, and this content can only be edited by the publisher. This content is then replicated in a peer-to-peer manner and copied to other nodes that request the content or subscribe to the publisher’s data feed, thus propagating the content across the network.

Other nodes can’t modify the data feed, since they don’t know the publisher’s private key, thus guaranteeing data integrity even if the file is not downloaded directly from the publisher’s node. And the publisher’s privacy and anonymity are protected, because the publisher’s physical location can’t be tracked (the publisher is simply seen as another peer on the distributed network).

When a user requests a file, CXO efficiently retrieves it from the closest nodes hosting the data. Once the file has been retrieved, it is also stored on the requester’s node. Multiple copies will be therefore be stored organically on many nodes throughout the network, all retrievable based on their hash.

In the Tokyo/London example above, after the first user in Tokyo downloads the video (or part of it) each subsequent user in Tokyo would now begin to download the video automatically from local nodes, rather than streaming the same information 100 times between London and Tokyo. By pushing content to the edge, CXO reduces latency and makes more efficient use of network resources.

The Next Generation of Distributed Cloud Storage

By solving all three issues inherent to HTTP-based data storage (efficiency, reliability and security), CXO will become the fastest, safest, most efficient and most reliable hypermedia hosting solution on earth. And no government or organization will be able to remove, shut down, or restrict access to the data stored immutably on the CXO network.

CXO supports ECDH encryption, immutable tree structures, public/private key storage, address generation, and signature verification. It also includes standard libraries for communication, messaging and data serialization.

CXO inherently provides efficient file management, storage, and versioning. It facilitates the hosting and distribution of massive data-sets such as high-volume, high-definition, on-demand, real-time video. This gives CXO the potential to not only transform the Web, but also to herald a new era of decentralized apps built upon Skycoin’s distributed architecture.

Researchers, archivists, and blockchain developers will be able to host, manage, and work with immense sets of data. Content creators will be able to deliver an enormous quantity of media at a fraction of the traditional cost. The developing world will enjoy reliable access to information, despite a lack of local high-speed communications infrastructure.

CXO is perfect for CDNs (Content Delivery Networks), because rather than traversing long distances, data is delivered from the closest source to the requester, minimizing network consumption and reducing latency. CXO’s robust self-replicating database will be the foundation of the next generation of distributed and uncensorable file storage/sharing applications, making apps like Google Drive and DropBox obsolete. Inter-Planetary File Systems (IPFS) can be also built on top of CXO.

Future-proof Games and Apps with CX and CXO

CXO, together with CX (Skycoin’s powerful new blockchain programming language), will be used to create distributed versions of YouTube, Instagram, Wikipedia, Dropbox, BitTorrent, GitHub, Telegram, Twitter, Reddit, Facebook and many other social sharing/networking platforms.

Social media content must be easily available and verifiable. But storing it directly on a blockchain would lead to excessive bloat as the platform grows more popular. Using CXO to host and distribute the content avoids this issue, because CXO combines the immutability of a blockchain with the massive scalability and robustness of a distributed CDN.

The Skycoin BBS, built on CXO

The Skycoin BBS is one application that already makes use of CXO, delivering similar functionality to some of the aforementioned social platforms. And on these new distributed CXO-based applications, each user will have full control over their own profiles and data feeds. The scourge of online censorship will finally be at an end.

But CX/CXO apps don’t stop at online social platforms. The technology can also be used to develop any type of business application, from email apps to spreadsheets, databases, CRM suites and productivity tools.

In fact, anything that can be built using a traditional programming language like C++ or GoLang can also be built using CX/CXO. Businesses will be able to develop and deploy their own private or public CX apps, incorporating CXO immutable objects, stored on the organization’s own public or private Skycoin Fiber blockchains, and running on the organization’s own hardware.

For the first time ever, both businesses and individuals can deploy their own distributed cloud storage and cloud computing solutions, with full control, and no reliance on external parties. All powered by Skycoin technology.

CXO immutable objects stored on Skycoin Fiber immutable ledgers will also transform the video game industry, enabling the permanent storage of in-game virtual assets, and allowing these assets to be safely traded and sold on decentralized exchanges. MMORPGs like RuneScape will benefit enormously from this innovative technology, as robust virtual economies emerge, based around the crafting and trading of valuable cross-platform digital goods.

A selection of rare and valuable KittyCash virtual assets

KittyCash is one such game in development by the Skycoin team. KittyCash is a proof-of-concept blockchain game that combines crypto-collectable and Tamagotchi-style elements, in which players can trade, breed, feed, and play mini-games with digital cats.

Conclusion

By vastly improving the speed, reliability and security of hypermedia storage and distribution, CXO will revolutionize the way we communicate, share information, collaborate and interact online.

But CXO is just one part of the expansive Skycoin ecosystem. Other components of the ecosystem include:

To learn more about the world’s most comprehensive blockchain ecosystem, simply join one of these Skycoin telegram groups today.

Skycoin: https://t.me/Skycoin

Skywire: https://t.me/Skywire

Sky Fiber: https://t.me/Skyledger

CX General: https://t.me/Skycoin_CX

CX Labs: https://t.me/CXLabs

CX Game Dev: https://t.me/Skycoin_Game_Dev

Skycoin Rewards: https://t.me/SkycoinRewards

Price Discussion: https://t.me/SkycoinTrading