Following the roadmap, our September 30th announcement saw the release of a public proof-of-concept and testnet launch for NeoFS, a distributed decentralized object storage platform integrated with the Neo Blockchain focusing on fault tolerance, scalability and performance.

Previously, we released a series of videos aimed at providing users with a simple introduction to the architecture and business logic of the NeoFS storage platform. All episodes are available on the Youtube channel.

Key benefits

NeoFS is intended to be primarily used by decentralized applications (DApps) as a data storage and a content delivery network. Moreover, NeoFS can be used for creating private distributed storage systems for SMEs which use regular servers or clusters.

The NeoFS storage network is designed to work reliably in unstable and unpredictable environments. This is achieved by using a combination of homomorphic cryptography for zero-knowledge data validation and game theory models for ensuring correct peer behavior.

In NeoFS, users fully control how their data is stored. By defining a storage policy, they may not only set how many replicas they want to have, but also what requirements storage nodes must satisfy. For example, one may set a policy for the data to be stored in three copies only in Europe by nodes having low latency SSD storage.

To leverage industry standards NeoFS integrates seeming less with existing cloud infrastructure such as Amazon S3 or Google Cloud without compromising privacy. The open NeoFS API allows for anybody to implement NeoFS on third party infrastructures.

The NeoFS testnet launch is planned as a phased release of test environments for a convenient and structured training of users and testers in the basics of working with NeoFS.

First step

Today NeoFS local SDK, which allows to deploy locally a full NeoFS network and work with it through neofs-cli, will be granted for public access. Github repository contains not only SDK but also demo video on how to deploy NeoFS local, Golang libraries of applied methods such as homomorphic hashing and network map and some other useful stuff.

The system architecture is described in the “NeoFS Webinar: Architecture of decentralized object storage” video, where users can learn the benefits of a novel method of data audit based on homomorphic hashing, network map for controlled data placement and other advantages of NeoFS.

How to start with NeoFS local SDK.

NeoFS local SDK video.

Second step

On October 7th, we will provide access to NeoFS testnet and the send.neofs service for the community. This stage will allow users to take advantage of storing objects on a real NeoFS network by loading objects through a web interface and working with them through neofs-cli anywhere.

Send.neofs is a convenient web-service for the temporary storage of objects in the network without any charge. It demonstrates an example of the integration of NeoFS and real web services.

In this case, the following limitations will be imposed on the network:

Maximum upload size is 50 Mb

Work with the network does not require GAS tokens for convenient testing at this stage

Third step

On October 14th, the community will be provided with a set of libraries for integration with NeoFS. At this stage, users will be given the opportunity to create their personal containers in the NeoFS public network and use Neo GAS tokens (native GAS token will be used in Neo 3.0, in Neo 2.0 we will temporarily use NEP-5 GAS tokens like GAS in Neo 3.0).

Network limitations:

Maximum upload size of 50 Mb on a public network

Work with the network does not require mandatory use of tokens for the convenience of testing at this stage

Fourth step

On October 21st, the community will be given the opportunity to launch their personal storage nodes and join the public test network. The use of GAS tokens will become mandatory, but the limitations on the size of objects will be removed.

NeoFS look and feel

Everyone is welcome to participate in the testnet now! During the test, we will be collecting network metrics and feedback from participants, which will help to improve the developed system.

Our team is aimed at making NeoFS a fully open source project in the first half of 2020, so any feedback is important for us.

It will help us to make the first step towards our global goal, a true-cloud solution. We are currently designing Neo Lambda, a platform for distributed stateless computing. As soon as we complete the development of a stable version of NeoFS, and in parallel with it, Neo Node in Golang and Neo Lambda, we will be able to provide a true cloud platform for individuals and enterprises.

We wish to deliver an exciting open source project for everyone!