27 Dec 2025 |
Blockchain Technology
|
by
James Stanitz
Traditional websites rely on servers. You type in example.com, your browser asks a single computer somewhere in the world for that page. If that server goes down, the site disappears. Links break. Content vanishes. This isnât just inconvenient-itâs fragile. IPFS flips this model entirely. Instead of asking where something is stored, you ask what it is. And that small change makes all the difference.
What Makes IPFS Different from the Web You Know
The web today uses location-based addressing. You request a file from a specific address:https://example.com/image.jpg. That address points to one server. If that server is offline, you get a 404 error. IPFS doesnât care where the file lives. It only cares about what the file is. Every file gets a unique fingerprint-its content hash. Change one pixel in an image? You get a completely new hash. Add a comma to a text file? New hash. The hash becomes the address.
This is called content-addressing. Itâs not new, but IPFS makes it practical at scale. Your file isnât stored in one place. Itâs broken into small chunks, each hashed individually. Those chunks are distributed across thousands of computers running IPFS. When you want to retrieve the file, you ask the network for the hash. Any node that has even one chunk of it will send it to you. You piece it back together. No central server needed.
Compare this to BitTorrent. BitTorrent works well for one file at a time, but each file is its own isolated swarm. IPFS connects everything into one giant global filesystem. If you download a video, and someone else on the other side of the world downloads the same video, youâre both pulling from the same pool of chunks. You might even be sharing chunks with each other directly. The network grows stronger as more people use it.
How Files Get a Permanent Address: CIDs
Every file on IPFS gets a Content Identifier, or CID. It looks something like this:QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco. Thatâs not a random string. Itâs a cryptographic hash of the fileâs exact content, using SHA-256 by default. The CID also includes a version number and the hash function used, so the system knows how to decode it.
Hereâs why this matters: if two people upload the same file-say, a copy of the Declaration of Independence-they both get the same CID. IPFS doesnât store duplicates. It knows theyâre identical. One copy is enough. This saves space and speeds up downloads. If youâve ever downloaded a file twice and wondered why it took so long, IPFS fixes that.
CIDs are immutable. Once a file is hashed, you canât change it without changing the CID. That means you can verify the file hasnât been tampered with. If you download a document and its CID matches the one you trusted, you know itâs exactly what was uploaded. No middlemen. No server-side alterations. Just math.
How IPFS Handles Updates and Versioning
If files canât be changed, how do you update them? You donât. You add a new version. Think of it like Git. Every time you make a change, you create a new file with a new CID. But IPFS links them together. You can create a special file called an IPNS record-a pointer that always points to the latest version of a file or folder. This pointer is tied to your public key, so only you can update it. This is how decentralized websites stay current. A blog on IPFS might have a static homepage with a CID likeQm...abc. The author can update their posts, each getting a new CID. The homepage can be updated to point to the new post CIDs. Visitors always see the latest version because the pointer is updated, not the content itself.
This system removes the need for CMS platforms or database updates. Everything is static, verifiable, and distributed. No one can quietly edit your blog post. You can prove what was published and when.
How You Access IPFS Without Installing Anything
You donât need to run IPFS software to use it. Public gateways do the work for you. These are servers that act as bridges between the traditional web and IPFS. You can visithttps://ipfs.io/ipfs/Qm...abc and see the file just like a normal website. The gateway fetches the data from the IPFS network and serves it over HTTP.
There are dozens of these gateways, run by individuals, organizations, and companies. Theyâre listed openly on the IPFS GitHub page. Some are fast. Some are slow. Some are more reliable than others. But even if one goes down, others keep working. Thereâs no single point of failure.
If you want to host files yourself, you install the IPFS daemon on your computer. It connects to the network, shares your files, and caches content youâve viewed. The more you use it, the more you help the network. Youâre not just a user-youâre a node. And every node makes the system more resilient.
Why IPFS Matters for Decentralized Applications
Blockchains like Ethereum store transactions and smart contracts. But theyâre terrible at storing large files. A photo, video, or PDF can cost hundreds of dollars to store on-chain. Thatâs why decentralized apps (dApps) use IPFS for data storage. The blockchain keeps the pointer-the CID. The actual file lives on IPFS. NFTs are a perfect example. Your NFT doesnât store the image. It stores a CID pointing to the image on IPFS. If someone deletes the image from IPFS? The NFT still exists, but the link breaks. Thatâs why reputable NFT projects pin their files to multiple IPFS nodes and use services like Pinata or Infura to ensure long-term availability. Without IPFS, NFTs wouldnât be practical. IPFS also powers decentralized social media, archival projects, and censorship-resistant news sites. When a government blocks Wikipedia, a copy of it on IPFS remains accessible. People in Iran, Russia, or China can still read articles using a CID, even if their ISP blocks the regular site. The content doesnât live on a server they can shut down. It lives on the computers of thousands of strangers who chose to share it.
Limitations and What IPFS Canât Do
IPFS isnât magic. It doesnât automatically store everything forever. If no one is hosting a file, it disappears. This is called the âpinning problem.â You need to actively keep files alive by pinning them-telling your IPFS node to hold onto them. Thatâs why services like Pinata exist: they pin files for you, for a fee. IPFS also doesnât handle real-time updates well. Itâs not designed for live chat or streaming video. Itâs for static content: documents, images, code, websites, metadata. You can build real-time apps on top of it, but you need other tools-like WebSockets or blockchain events-to coordinate changes. And while IPFS is censorship-resistant, itâs not anonymous. Your IP address is visible when you request or serve files. If you want privacy, you need to combine it with Tor or a VPN.How to Start Using IPFS Today
You can test IPFS in minutes:- Go to ipfs.io and click "Install IPFS".
- Download and run the desktop app for your OS (Windows, macOS, Linux).
- Drag a file onto the app window. It uploads and gives you a CID.
- Copy that CID and paste it into your browser:
https://ipfs.io/ipfs/YOUR-CID-HERE. - Share the link. Anyone with an internet connection can view it.
What Comes Next for IPFS
IPFS is the backbone of Web3. Itâs already powering millions of websites, NFTs, and decentralized apps. But itâs still growing. Projects are building on top of it: Filecoin for decentralized storage payments, OrbitDB for decentralized databases, and Textile for mobile-friendly IPFS tools. The goal isnât to replace the entire internet overnight. Itâs to make the parts that matter-documents, media, software, archives-permanent, verifiable, and free from control by any single company or government. In a world where data is increasingly weaponized, IPFS offers a way to keep information alive, no matter what.Is IPFS the same as blockchain?
No. IPFS is a file storage protocol. Blockchain is a way to record transactions in a tamper-proof ledger. They work together: blockchain stores pointers (like CIDs), and IPFS stores the actual files. Ethereum, for example, uses IPFS to store NFT images and metadata, while keeping ownership records on-chain.
Can I delete a file from IPFS?
You can remove it from your own node, but you canât delete it from the entire network. If someone else has pinned or cached the file, it stays. Thatâs intentional-itâs what makes IPFS resistant to censorship. To truly remove content, youâd need every node to delete it, which isnât practical or designed to happen.
Is IPFS faster than regular web hosting?
It depends. For popular files, yes-because thousands of people might be hosting the same content, and you can download from the closest node. For rare files, no-if no one has them, youâll wait. IPFS trades predictability for resilience. Itâs slower to load something no one else has, but it never goes offline if even one person is sharing it.
Do I need to pay to use IPFS?
No. You can use IPFS for free with public gateways or by running your own node. But if you want to ensure your files stay available long-term, youâll likely need to pay a pinning service like Pinata or Infura. Itâs like paying for cloud storage-but youâre paying for reliability, not the file itself.
What happens if the IPFS foundation shuts down?
Nothing. IPFS is open-source software. The protocol is public. Anyone can run a node. The software is maintained by a global community. Even if the original team vanished, the network would keep working. Thatâs the whole point: no central authority controls it.
