Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Glossary

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

  • search-icon Clear Definitions
  • search-icon Practical
  • search-icon Technical
  • search-icon Related Terms

IPFS

1 min read
Pronunciation
[eye-pea-ef-ess]
Analogy
IPFS is like a decentralized Dropbox where files are found and served by content hash rather than by a central server.
Definition
A shorthand for the InterPlanetary File System, a P2P protocol for content‑addressed storage and sharing of files.
Key Points Intro
Key aspects of IPFS include:
Key Points

CID-based addressing: Identifies files by hash.

Peer-to-peer transfer: Files served by any node that has them.

Immutable data structures: Uses Merkle DAG for integrity.

DHT lookup: Locates providers via a distributed hash table.

Example
Developers deploy a DApp’s frontend on IPFS; users retrieve the UI by its CID, ensuring the code can’t be tampered with.
Technical Deep Dive
IPFS clients split files into blocks, hash them, and store them in a content‑addressed blockstore. The DHT maps CIDs to provider peer IDs. When requesting a CID, Bitswap negotiates block exchanges with peers advertising availability.
Security Warning
Since content is immutable, removing illegal or sensitive data requires DHT eviction, which isn’t guaranteed.
Caveat
Large files incur overhead from block chunking and DHT lookups.
Related Terms
InterPlanetary File System
libp2p

IPFS - Related Articles

No related articles for this term.