



The Opacity Storage Beta is here and I'm SUPER excited!





Not only has this project been one of very few that I have followed so religiously but it's one project that seems to have made it's way up out of the grassroots to become something that can be described as solid, reliable and with huge potential for all business users, consumers, bloggers and basically anyone that uploads files, documents, video's or photos.

The sheer anticipation of what they will grow into blows my mind especially as they've not deviated from their initial goals which were set out by their team in the roadmap.





I have written about Opacity a few times now, so it's no surprise that I'm keeping a close eye on its progress. For those of you who aren't aware of what Opacity is, I previously covered the introduction in this post here: Opacity Future of Distributed Storage





Being a blogger, and, someone who values their privacy, this storage solution really intrigues me and will definitely help me personally with file storage and sharing - without the added bullshit. Also, I'm pretty sure Elyse will flip if I don't sort my file storage out sooner rather than later.





With the intro out of the way, let's get down to the nitty-gritty.





When registering on most websites and setting up an account, you will often have enter personal information, and, any information you input is stored on a database. However, on the Opacity web interface, you will not be asked to enter any personal information when setting up your account - that in itself is major!

You are first issued with a randomly generated series of words that will act as a recovery code. These twelve words should be stored away somewhere safe.





Next, you are given an Opacity handle.





This is essentially your username and password combined and is comprised of 128 characters. Again, this handle should be stored securely and not be shared with anyone that you do not want to view your files. If you do lose this, then you can use your recovery code to recover it, however, that is your only option for recovery as the Opacity team neither has access to nor stores these handles.





OPQ is the platforms of native currency. I used 2 OPQ to create my account.





At the current price, 1 OPQ is equal to 5 pence or 6 cents. I sent my transaction using Metamask because it's a simplified cryptocurrency wallet and even for the newest crypto enthusiast, it's going to be the simplest method. However, you can use any other Ethereum based wallets to make the transaction.





I also changed the gas price because the Ethernet network seems to be going through a good patch. Yay for quick transactions!









After setting up your account you will be able to login with your Opacity handle. I hate websites that are hard to read as they tend to just confuse and irritate me. The User Interface on this site is free from clutter and looks clean and simple, which it is!





In the simplest form it sets out your uploaded files in a basic table format - this shows you very clearly what is what. There is no hunting for uploads which is a huge bonus, mainly because some other sites feel there needs to be files, partitions and walls to get through just to find your damn uploads! Grrr!





Uploading is as simple as clicking the upload button, locating the file on your computer and clicking "open". Obviously, the upload time is dependent on your internet speed, server load and connection quality. After the file has uploaded it will be shown on the user interface along with the file information, date of upload and, buttons for sharing or downloading the file.

The sharing feature was a major bonus for me, I tend to share quite a bit with Elyse and also clients so this simplified (but hugely effective) format made it easy to utilise file sharing while also being reliable. If you choose to share a file with someone, only the person you are giving the link to will be able to download the file - you still remain in control of the access which should give you, the user, peace of mind.





Overall, I'm feeling very giddy with the Beta launch - and, gearing up for the major launch. Opacity Storage offers us a service that most people need yet it comes with the addition of privacy and protection. I don't know of any other competitors offering the benefits that Opacity Storage offer, with the added user control.





What are your thoughts on Opacity and online storage in general? I'd love to see your comments below!



