How redundant is Walrus?

Storing your data on a single server or device comes with significant risks. Redundancy is key to avoiding a single point of failure and ensuring your files remain secure. Without it, you can face data loss, downtime, or worse.

In this article, we will explore Walrus's redundancy strategy and why it is the safest decentralized storage protocol.

How redundant is Walrus?

Walrus is a decentralized storage protocol that uses Sui as its coordination layer.

On the surface, Walrus maintains 4-5 copies of any data uploaded to its network. Beneath that, your data is far more secure than having five copies stored in different locations.

Walrus employs a technique known as erasure coding, which splits data into smaller slivers. These slivers are then distributed across all nodes in the network, ensuring that your data is spread out and protected on a much deeper level.

Although Walrus is currently in testnet, it is expected that the network will eventually support thousands of nodes. This extensive distribution provides redundancy with 4-5 copies and securely spreads your data across a global network of nodes, making it incredibly resilient and secure.

Walrus is Byzantine fault tolerant

Walrus's extensive replication and distribution strategy makes it exceptionally fault-tolerant. Byzantine fault tolerance refers to the ability of a protocol to continue operating correctly even if some of its nodes fail or act maliciously.

Even if Walrus were to lose one-third of its network, the protocol is designed to securely retrieve data from the remaining nodes, ensuring that your files are still accessible and intact.

How does Walrus compare to alternatives?

Alternative solutions typically offer a similar level of redundancy, storing between 3-6 copies of data. However, unlike Walrus, these alternatives do not use erasure coding, meaning the number of copies is directly tied to the number of nodes where the data is stored.

AWS

While it’s possible to achieve a similar level of replication on AWS, doing so would be about three times more expensive compared to Walrus.

Filebase

Filebase stores three copies of data across its three nodes in Virginia, London, and Frankfurt.

web3.storage

This service maintains five copies of data through Filecoin storage providers.

Estuary

Before it was discontinued, Estuary replicated data across six nodes.

Pinata

The amount of data replication is not publicly disclosed.

Why redundancy and resilience matters

While these alternatives offer a similar level of redundancy, they fall short in resilience because your data is stored on a limited number of nodes. 

Even more concerning, these companies can choose to withhold critical information about the number of replicas being maintained, leaving you in the dark and potentially putting your data at risk.

Walrus overcomes these challenges with its transparent and auditable system. Using a unique blob ID and proof of availability certificate, anyone can verify that their data is being stored correctly across the network’s array of nodes.

This unmatched combination of resilience, transparency, and decentralization makes Walrus the ideal choice for secure data storage. Whether for archiving, backups, or disaster recovery, Walrus ensures your data remains protected, accessible, and decentralized.