Articles / 2018-11-08 19:20 PM

Today we would like to speak on such a hot IT topic as decentralized applications, their features, advantages, and prospects.

What is DApp

Decentralized Application or DApp appeared before Bitcoin. BitTorrent may be referred to as the most famous and popular DApp. However, it was the cryptocurrency boom that led to a resurgence of interest in the decentralized networks and applications. The fact is that decentralization is one of the key ideas of Bitcoin, and the mechanisms developed for consensus-building by a network of computers have significantly expanded the range of applications of DApp.

DApp: features and benefits

As you can guess from the name, decentralized applications mean primarily the absence of a certain center that offers the service, manages it, charges a fee (although this does not mean that the use of any DApp is for free), resolves conflicts, etc. Instead, a huge network of user computers performs all the functions of the application with each of them taking upon themselves a small piece of the overall task. If, for example, in the cloud storage your files are located on the company's servers, then when using DApp they are stored on the free space of hard drives of many other users.

Such a structure gives a lot of advantages. Thanks to them, in fact, decentralized applications attract so much attention. Let us speak about them in detail.

1. Reliability. If when storing files in the cloud service you depend on the company, and problems with its servers, DDoS attacks, etc. automatically deprive you of access to data, then in a decentralized network the loss of any node is not critical, since copies are stored on other machines.

2. Security. Unauthorized access to the central server creates the risk of theft, substitution, damage and destruction of all information stored there, as well as of substitution of functionality. If you use DApp, a successful hacker attack on a single node will only result in the theft of data from a particular node (and in general seems to be useless if parts of the file are stored on different machines). To get the data, a criminal has to hack thousands of computers, which is much more difficult than to attack a centralized server.

3. Trust. Turning to the services of a centralized service, you have to trust it. To trust it with your files, data, finances, correspondence, etc. It is no secret that Google, Facebook, and other companies monitor the activity of users, sell their data to others, can use them in a different way, but we have to put up with it.

Thanks to DApp, no one will receive your entire data and will not be able to track your activity, because the computer will send them to a number of machines it is connected with at a particular time. Each will know only his own part.

The existing practice of using open source DApp has become another important confidence factor. Popular applications are thoroughly tested by dozens of experts, so using them, you can be sure that there is no hidden functionality, spyware and other nasty things there.

4. Availability. Any centralized service is available to users only in those countries and regions where the parent company has established its infrastructure and branches. With a decentralized application, you only need to communicate with another computer that uses the same DApp. If he cannot fulfill the request, then it will send it along the chain to others. This computer itself will act as a retranslator.

Moreover, the use of DApp eliminates the possibility of censorship in centralized services, even if the owner of a particular site wants to block some themes or files, you can access them through other nodes.

5. Efficiency. In order to organize a centralized service, the company must purchase servers, rent a room, build communication lines and bear many other costs. In a decentralized network, files are stored on the free space of other users' hard drives, calculations are carried out at the expense of free CPU capacity, etc., and infrastructure costs are almost zero.

In general, there are a great number of DApp advantages.

Many blockchain projects develop their own DApp. DApp from Ethereum and EOS are the most well-known decentralized applications. But other ICO startups are also developing DApp. The capitalization of their tokens, amounting to many millions, is primarily supported by the prospects of this direction.

With the implementation of consensus-building algorithms, smart-contract mechanisms, etc., an increasing number of services previously being under the control of IT-corporations will be moved to decentralized applications.