Analysis of Blockchain-Based Storage Systems

Increasing storage needs has driven cloud storage to become a prevalent choice to store data for both business and personal use. Cloud service providers, such as Google, offer advantages over storing personal hard drives; however, customers lose privacy and require trust in the provider to act honestly with their data. This thesis explores an alternative to cloud storage using Blockchain technology. I focus on Sia, a blockchain-based storage platform that allows users to rent storage from other users. In this study, I evaluate the security, performance and costs between the Sia and traditional cloud storage. I assessed security based on five categories: encryption, data access, durability, redundancy and availability. The performance and costs were evaluated through various storage tests using Sia and Google Drive. The results revealed Sia to have higher availability and less data access (more privacy). Google Drive displayed faster upload times, while Sia displayed faster download times. Additionally, the final cost of using Sia was comparable to cloud providers; however, was more than double of what was expected due to data redundancy costs. Further testing is needed to fully understand the complex costs structure of a blockchain-based storage platform.