Decentralized technology is redefining the digital playground.

The Internet — which initially started with the vision of a free space where users could share and access information boundlessly — has inevitably turned into a walled garden with the passage of time. A bounded ecosystem where a cluster of companies own it all, and hold complete authority of what we say, see and do. 

Such stagnation of the Web is leading to newer, decentralized solutions to emerge. 

The arrival of blockchain technology is already disrupting sectors like finance, banking and healthcare. But if the vision of Web3 is to come to fruition in any capacity, one crucial piece is still missing: decentralized computing.

In today’s article, we’ll introduce you to the notion of an Open Cloud, its major components, and why it's set to rewrite the data storage playground in the near future.

For Starters: What is an Open Cloud?

“An Open Cloud helps you manage all your apps, both legacy as well as cloud-native, while meeting your sovereignty needs. With this autonomy and control, you remain the ultimate arbiter to meet your regulatory and policy requirements.”

Put differently, it’s an ecosystem that, unlike the current centralized solutions available today, allows you to choose from a variety of different providers and hold full autonomy over your digital assets.

In an open cloud, you are not confined to a single provider or ecosystem. You can pick from a wide array of providers willing to place their hardware at your disposal — based entirely on how much capacity is needed on your end.

But it goes beyond this fact.

Here are the core components that make up an Open Cloud:

1. Open Standards and APIs — 

Transparency is a founding objective behind an Open Cloud. 

These platforms operate on accepted standards and application programming interfaces (APIs) to ensure different services and providers can work together smoothly. 

Integration and communication between systems & apps is therefore easier to carry out.

2. Interoperable Platforms — 

In an Open Cloud, interoperability is built into the ecosystem by design. 

It fosters an environment in which different cloud providers can collaborate seamlessly, regardless of the underlying infrastructure. 

Such integration of diverse technologies is lacking in current legacy systems, since hardware and applications are often not compatible with other providers — making it challenging to switch between cloud services at will.

3. Community-Driven Innovation — 

This is one of the facets that sets an Open Cloud apart from traditional systems. 

Open Cloud platforms benefit greatly from contributions from a community of developers, users, and organizations. 

Like any other DePIN solutions, Open Cloud ecosystems often reward users for engaging and becoming active participants in the community — often through token incentives and stake in the platform. 

As a result, this collaboration drives innovation & growth.

4. Vendor-Neutral Infrastructure — 

In current cloud solutions, users are often forced to rely on one single provider for their storage needs — resulting in high costs and potential for data breaches.

Open Clouds on the other hand promote a more flexible, and vendor-neutral environment, in which the user can pick the hardware provider that better fits his agenda (and even switch vendors seamlessly if need be.) 

Cyberattacks are also prevented since Open Cloud platforms are underpinned by blockchain technology. Which encrypts and distributes the data across multiple nodes in the ecosystem rather than a single location, making it incorruptible (more on this below.)

These together make up the 4 components that support an Open Cloud system.

A prime example of one of these components on display is Aethir — a DePIN project that offers cloud computing infrastructure for gaming and AI projects.

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Aethir: A Short Case Study

Aethir provides gamers with access to highly scalable, low-latency GPU resources that offer a high-end gaming experience without the need to buy significant infrastructure.

Gaming, especially cloud gaming, needs a lot of GPU power. 

Traditional cloud gaming is often criticized for dedicating a whole GPU to each user, often wasting resources. 

Aethir's decentralized system pools unused GPU power from different parties and allocates it appropriately — allowing gamers to access processing power from the nearest source. Which reduces lag and grants users a smoother and more affordable experience.

The way Aethir is addressing security is by implementing decentralized architecture that allocates data across multiple checker nodes, that verify transactions and protect your asset against potential cyberattack. 

That’s how open cloud platforms protect your data — by distributing it across multiple nodes, with each piece of data fully encrypted. This fragmented approach not only strengthens resilience as a whole, but also boosts transparency.

Every transaction recorded on the blockchain can be viewed by any participant in the network, providing clear visibility in the vast cloud environment. In other words, users can easily track how their data moves across the digital space, unlike centralized frameworks where the user is unaware of the whereabouts of his data.

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The Role Impossible Cloud Network in the Open Cloud Landscape

Another clear example of an open cloud initiative in the real-world is the Impossible Cloud Network (ICN.) It introduces a brand new, decentralized approach to cloud infrastructure.

ICN will introduce a groundbreaking architecture designed to be compatible with any cloud service, and enhance interoperability and collaboration within the ecosystem.

Just like Aethir, ICN will leverage blockchain and encryption technologies that enhance data security, integrity, resiliency, and availability while maintaining high performance and service quality. 

This will be made possible by ICN’s Protocol (ICNP), which facilitates cloud infrastructure and hardware orchestration and incentivizes hardware providers to allocate high-performance hardware for any cloud use case.

By connecting these hardware providers with service providers — the entities that ultimately design & deliver innovative cloud-based products for their customers — ICN will give way to a decentralized ecosystem that will be able to work seamlessly and give present cloud solutions a powerful opponent.

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So What’s Ahead? (Future Recommendations)

The evolution towards open cloud platforms marks a pivotal shift in how we approach infrastructure in the world. As decentralized technology continues to reshape our digital landscape, the promise of an Open Cloud stands out as a beacon of innovation and empowerment.

As we embrace this new era of cloud computing, the potential for limitless growth and transparent, secure data management underscores the transformative impact of open cloud platforms on businesses and industries alike.

To get a broader glimpse into what is ahead for the cloud computing landscape, you might want to read our research piece: A keen hypothesis of what the future of cloud computing looks like. 

There we share our theory on the best course of action for you, based on data, market analysis, current trends, and expert predictions on the cloud. As it is always pivotal for businesses to forecast where the future is heading, to stay on top of the game and make sharp, educated decisions.

In the next piece we’ll be highlighting the main benefits and challenges of an Open Cloud. We encourage you to stay on the loop for future publications so you can discover how to leverage a decentralized solution for your cloud needs.

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Thanks for reading.

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