Web3.0 vision: decentralized storage and computing will be the main front

Original title: "Web3.0 panoramic analysis"

Author: Frank Li, Vice President of Investment at ParallelVC

What exactly is Web3.0 that everyone is talking about?

The development of the Internet has gone through two stages: Web1.0 and Web2.0. Web sites in the stage of Web1.0 are mostly static sites, and there is no interaction process between network users and network information. Users can only obtain the information displayed on the network, and the effectiveness and efficiency of information acquisition are relatively low.

With the increase of Internet speed and bandwidth, people and Internet gradually began to interact.

In 2003, dale ducherty, vice President of O 'reilly Media, introduced the concept of Web2.0. Web2.0 is called the read-write web. In the early days of Web2.0, compared with Web1.0, all web users could create their own content and upload it to the network instead of getting information from the network, which greatly increased the richness of the network information.

With the further development of AI, big data and other technologies in recent years, human-computer interaction has been promoted to a new stage. The browsing information, clicking, searching and other online behavior data generated by users on the Internet are captured and recorded. The technical background can analyze the accurate user portrait through the real-time data of users combined with their past information, and recommend corresponding products or information to users according to the user portrait. In this way, it not only improves the conversion efficiency of merchants' purchase, but also enables users to find the goods they may want to buy more quickly, so that users can have a better experience.

However, information centralization, while convenient, also has a big disadvantage, that is, all the data of users are collected and used by the platform without their awareness, and even the ownership of the data is ambiguous.

In the early days of Web1.0 and Web2.0, the amount of user data was small and the data dimensions were relatively small, so users' personal data could not generate much value.

However, with the increase of people's access to the Internet in recent years, the value of personal information on the Internet has become significant. In the past two years, there have been cases of Internet companies violating personal privacy data and user data theft in various countries. In the future, with the development of artificial intelligence Internet of Things (AIoT) and 5G networks, the dimension of personal network data will be more comprehensive and valuable, making data security and data privacy more important.

The emergence of Web3.0 is to solve the current problems faced by Web2.0. Blockchain network, due to its functions and properties of de-trust, non-tamper and confirmation of rights, well meets the requirements as the underlying technology of Web3.0. At the same time, due to the change of network architecture, data is no longer a mere number but a commodity with value attributes, and our existing data network is gradually transformed into a value network.

I wrote an article last timeThis paper analyzes the role of decentralized storage in the construction of Web3.0 and the current development status of the head project filecoin of decentralized storage. This time, I will combine the current architecture of Web2.0 to analyze which technical components need to be modified and how to modify if the vision of Web3.0 is to be fully implemented in the future.

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1. & have spent Current overview of Web2.0 technology architecture

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The figure above shows the current technology architecture of Web2.0. The core technology links can be divided into storage layer, development layer, service layer, network layer, user layer and business layer. In addition, test platform, operation and maintenance platform, data platform and management platform and other ancillary platform support is also required. The following will explore the specific role of each component and whether the corresponding upgrade is needed in the transition from Web2.0 to Web3.0.

one & have spent Supporting functional platform

1. & have spent Management platform

The first one is the management platform. The management platform mainly serves the development team and the company. Its core responsibility is the management of authority, whether it is business system, middleware system or platform system.

There are two main functions of the management platform. The first is identity identification, which needs to determine the identity of the current operator to prevent illegal personnel from entering the account for operation. The second function is to delimit the operation authority of different operators to prevent unauthorized personnel from operating.

Management platform will be an indispensable link in the future Web3.0. Although the current blockchain projects are all based on the current public chain development of decentralized applications (Dapp), in the future Web3.0 world, not all the projects are new projects and completely open source and decentralized, it is more likely that the current Internet enterprises will migrate. In this case, the management platform is still a technical component that cannot or is not available. Even for decentralized projects, especially for products with relatively complex business logic and those that interact directly with money, the need for a management platform cannot be ignored.

The lack of a management platform can lead to serious security problems (including attacks by external hackers and cases of internal theft). Because the management platform is mainly for B-end users and mainly used for internal management, there is no need for decentralized transformation, and it can completely continue the current technical architecture and product design.

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2. & have spent Data platform

The data platform is a very important part in the current Internet technology architecture. At present, the data platform is mainly used for data management, data analysis and data application.

The first dimension is data management, which includes data acquisition, data storage, and data access. The first is data acquisition, which currently includes log, user behavior, business data and other information. Because Web3.0 is a decentralized network architecture, user data belongs only to users. So the mechanism for collecting data from users needs to be modified, and there is no doubt that collecting data is a job that needs to be done. Platform, because users do not have the ability to access and collect personal data. However, how to ensure that platforms are not evil after they are acquired is an important direction to be studied. Data storage was thoroughly analyzed in the previous article. Decentralized storage is essential, otherwise the security and privacy of user data cannot be guaranteed. Data access service is mainly responsible for providing protocols for reading and writing data. In this part, the protocol level is not directly related to the decentralization of the network, so it can be completely retained without special technical improvement. Finally, data security, because the data has become decentralized storage, because the main responsibility for data security has become a mechanism to provide decentralized storage, at the same time, how to generate data in the middle of the data stored on the chain is also a very important part of the weak part of security, need to focus on research. & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent & have spent

The second dimension is data analysis, which includes data statistics and data mining. Both aspects are based on existing data for further analysis. It is not directly related to whether the platform is decentralized or the ownership of data. Therefore, no special technical improvements are required.

The third dimension is data application. The data application level mainly relies on a large number of data sources and powerful data analysis capability, and only through data analysis can it be applied with certain probability. In the Era of Web3.0, although the ownership of data returns to the user, users can still authorize the platform to use their various data for better product experience, so data richness will not be greatly impacted and data application will not be greatly hindered.

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3. & have spent Operational platform

The operation and maintenance platform is mainly to ensure the normal operation of the platform and applications. The four core responsibilities are configuration, deployment, monitoring and emergency response. Configuration is mainly responsible for the management of resources, such as IP address management, virtual access management. Deployment is primarily responsible for getting the system online, including release management and rollback. Monitoring is mainly responsible for collecting data after the system operation and monitoring. Finally, the emergency is mainly responsible for the handling of the system failure, such as offline fault machine, switching IP, etc.

The main responsibility of the operation and maintenance platform is to ensure the normal operation of the platform, without much intersection with data and decentralization, so it does not need to make major changes. However, since the operation of the platform may intersect with the blockchain technology to some extent in the future, it is necessary to manage and monitor the information on the chain and the relevant operation situation. This part needs to be further studied and developed.

4. & have spent The test platform

The test platform is mainly used for testing various functions on the daily platform, which is mainly divided into use case management, resource management, task management and data management. Compared to the three functional platforms described above, the test platform is more independent and does not have much interaction with the real business scenario, so it will evolve into the web3.0 phase. The test platform also does not require massive upgrades or improvements.

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2. & have spent The core layer

In the entire Web architecture, the core layer can be divided into 6 layers, namely storage layer, development layer, service layer, network layer, user layer and business layer. The storage layer, development layer, service layer and network layer are mainly the back-end technical layer, which are mainly used to support the normal operation of application software and application platform. The business layer and the user layer are mainly the front display layer, which mainly presents information to users and interacts with them. These six layers are analyzed in sequence below.

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1. & have spent The business layer

The business layer is relatively flexible and is designed according to the specific business logic of different applications and platforms. If Web3.0 continues with the current dominant Internet architecture, with only technical iterations in decentralized storage and computing, the business layer does not need to be tweaked too much. If Web3.0 is completely migrated to a network based on blockchain technology, the business layer also needs to be transformed accordingly. Because in a network with blockchain as the underlying architecture, the form of data will change, and the way and frequency of transactions will be slightly different from the traditional Internet architecture. Therefore, the business layer needs to change according to the characteristics of its own business so as not to interfere with normal use.

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2. & have spent The user layer

The user layer is relatively complex, including user management, information push and user information storage. Among them, user management and information push don't need much improvement, because whether the network is decentralized or not, they all need to have the same user login system (single sign-on or authorized login) and information push system (the core is to identify login account and push message). Unlike the previous two, user information storage will become relatively complex.

The storage of user information is divided into two parts. The first part is the information uploaded by users, such as pictures and information uploaded by users on weibo and information uploaded on WeChat. No doubt it belongs to the user, but it must be stored on the platform or application. One is that most users do not have the ability to independently set up their own storage schemes (decentralization or centralization).

In addition, because the user base is large, and the upload behavior is relatively frequent. If each user USES their own storage solution, the user experience of the application or platform can be greatly affected by delays in connection and invocation. However, if all the data is stored on the platform or application side, it is difficult to guarantee the privacy of the data, because the back-end technology cannot be visually presented to the user, even if the platform or application secretly accesses the storage and even USES the user's information.

So if we really want to implement Web3.0, in addition to solving the basic technical problem of decentralized storage, we also need to study how to ensure the security and privacy of data before it is stored. The second part of user information refers to users' behavior data on the website, such as what products they click to browse, or what information they query, etc. Such data is more difficult to manage than data uploaded by users.

Because all behavior occurs within the platform or application, the user has less control over the data, or even the right to know. Currently, users cannot know their behavior data in the application, so in fact, ownership and use right are on the platform. If the platform or application wants to return the data to the user, it may need to rely more on the formulation of laws and regulations, otherwise the platform and application will not give up such important assets as user information. On the technical side, this kind of data faces the same problem that individuals upload data. How to ensure that the data is stored in decentralized storage once it is generated, and how to ensure that developers are not doing evil before it is stored, is part of the biggest challenge.

3. & have spent Storage layer

The storage layer can be simply divided into two parts. The first part is the database, including SQL(relational databases) and NoSQL(non-relational databases). Data is mainly used for data management, data can be added, query, update, delete and other operations. Databases play a role in storage as operating systems do in computers. Even if decentralized storage is realized in the future, database technology will be indispensable, because without database, the efficiency of data storage, collaborative work and information reading will be greatly affected. But as far as it goes, there is not much need to decentralize the database relative to destorage.

The second part of the storage layer is the decentralized storage technology highlighted in the previous article, which is an integral part of the implementation of Web3.0. Data security and privacy can be better guaranteed only when decentralized storage is implemented. More information can be referred to in the previous article, which will not be repeated here.

4. & have spent Development layer

The development layer is similar to the test platform mentioned above. It is a pure functional component in the whole architecture, mainly providing support for the development of platform or application. In the development layer mainly includes the development framework, server and container three specific technical links. The development framework is mainly used as the skeleton of development, and there are different development frameworks for different development languages. Here, the server mainly refers to the development of the server at the software level, so that it is connected with the business layer and user layer, and plays a supporting role for the platform or application. Finally, there is the development container, which mainly manages objects after development (including life cycle, dependencies, etc.).

The technology composition in the development layer is relatively independent from the network structure, and there is no need to redesign the technology architecture to adapt to Web3.0.

5. & have spent The service layer

The service layer is mainly used to coordinate the writing problems of different systems within the same architecture. The three main functional modules in the service layer are configuration center, service center and information queue. The configuration center is mainly used for the unified deployment of all servers to support each business module, but also should be deployed quickly after the failure to avoid affecting the actual operation. Service center, mainly to solve the problem of cross-system configuration and scheduling, through the service name system and service bus system to identify and deploy the server. Finally, queue information is mainly used for asynchronous notification across systems. The server module is mainly used to support the development of the platform or application internally and is relatively independent of the specific underlying network structure. Because if future Web3.0 evolution can directly embrace the current service layer.

6. & have spent The network layer

The network layer is similar to the storage layer. Compared with Web2.0, there will be a major architectural change in Web3.0, mainly from a centralized architecture to a decentralized architecture. Network components in the traditional architecture mainly includes load balancing, CND, machine room and center three basic modules.

Load balancing includes DNS load, hardware load and software load. The main purpose of load balancing is to make the load of a cell reach a balanced state. Besides, load balancing also needs to be considered based on load, performance (throughput, response time) and service. The main service objects of load balancing are mainly concentrated on the platform or the application itself. In fact, the Domain Name System (DNS) that is dependent on DNS load is an important component of Web, and it is also an important direction to be explored in decentralized network.

At present, The domain name system is a centralized system. The domain name system can be simply divided into three layers. At The top is ICANN(The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), which controls everything and occupies a central position.

The second layer is the domain registrar, such as Verisign, which controls top-level domain names (TLDs) such as.com.

At the bottom are domain name registrars, which provide retail domain name registration services directly to customers.

At the network level, ICANN's absolute control means that all domain names and websites linked to domain names are subject to ICANN's review, and information may be seized and tampered with, so the authenticity and freedom of information is greatly reduced. Although DNS decentralization cannot be used to realize the confirmation and protection of user information ownership mentioned at the beginning of this article. However, if DNS is completely decentralized, the time network can be decentralized and the freedom of network information can be greatly improved.

So far, though, DNS makes it harder to decentralize, with current projects like ICANN's system making it easier to do so, mainly with TLDs and CATs (certificate authorities). On the whole, DNS decentralization will not have a substantial impact on Web3.0, but is more of a icing on the cake.

The second module is Content Delivery Network (CDN), which is an important part of the current Network.

CDN relies on the edge servers deployed in various places, and through the load balancing, content distribution, scheduling and other functional modules of the central platform, users can get the required content nearby, reduce network congestion, and improve user access response speed and hit ratio. The key technologies of CDN mainly include content storage and distribution technology, among which the content storage part needs to be de-moderated. In CDN, the edge needs to cache the content to be distributed before it can be distributed to users. The cache also has the highest risk for data security and privacy. It may be stolen by CDN providers and attacked by external hackers through DDOS and other methods.

For large companies, internal CDN networks are generally set up to protect their business data. Because of the cost problem, small businesses mainly rely on professional CDN providers. The overall technical service objects of CDN are oriented to ToB enterprises and have little correlation with individual user data. The decentralization of communication technology in CDN will not bring much improvement to the security and privacy of individual user data.

The last module of the network layer is the computer room and the center module, which are mainly hardware. Support platform and application operation through the machine room and center.

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3. & have spent Web3.0 summary

The path of Web3.0 is still relatively unclear, Web3& NBSP; The foundation is one of the early teams experimenting with Web3.0, and one of the missions of projects like Polkadot is to serve as the underlying framework for Web3.0. However, the feasibility of completely abandoning the current Web2.0 technology framework and establishing a new framework is relatively low.

First, blockchain technology is unquestionably immature.

Ethereum, currently considered the best public chain, does not appear to be a world  NBSP; NBSP; at this stage; The possibility of computer, and its problems are mainly focused on its underlying technical logic, after the underlying technical problems are solved, it is impossible to expect to face application level problems. The characteristics of blockchain technology itself determine that it is difficult to undertake the number of internet-level transactions and the number of users. In the consideration of public chain, the main link of current evaluation is still TPS, but even if TPS reaches the demand, it is still not enough to replace the current Internet architecture.

The lower layer of blockchain also increases its restrictions and requirements for upper layer applications due to the priority given to decentralization and security. These limitations and requirements prevent applications from designing more complex business logic. Under such a premise, it is difficult to fully migrate many of the traditional Web2.0 applications.

But even if migration were possible, few traditional projects would migrate.

Because itself high cost of migration, the underlying logic of block chain, unlike the Internet now has a larger bottom, migration means redevelopment, trial and error this requires very high cost, time cost and money but in pay a cost at the same time, do not have access to more users or other value in return, it will let its users' personal information lose value is very high, so the app is there is no reason to migrate. Meanwhile, for most apps, such as the longest used take-out app, e-commerce app and map app in China, there is no real value and significance for them to be built on the block chain.

At the same time, it can be concluded from the above analysis that the main technical differences between Web3.0 and current Web2.0 will focus on decentralized storage and computing, while other technical modules do not need to be changed significantly. Therefore, it would be a better choice to maintain the current Web2.0 technology structure and upgrade and apply it in decentralized storage and computing.

Finally, on the whole, web3.0 will take longer to implement due to the immaturity of decentralized storage and computing technologies. At the same time, the development of Web2.0 to Web3.0 also seems to need the promotion of relevant policies at present. At present, Chinese Internet users do not have much awareness and requirement on ownership and use of personal information, so it is difficult to promote the development of Web2.0 to Web3.0 from the perspective of users. If there is no policy push and the current architecture application on the traditional Internet has no motivation to actively seek change, the promotion of Web3.0 will be greatly hindered. With all the information and questions mentioned above, Web3.0 is a good direction for the future, but it is still in a very early stage, and it will take longer to evolve and evolve in the future.

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