Folder Protocol Review

Ecosystem for P2P Storage Contracts & Layer 2 Solution for Decentralized Storage Protocols

Designed to function as a second-layer on Filecoin’s mainnet network, Folder Protocol (FOL) aims to make it possible to send large batches of data while also providing safe storage. The Folder Protocol ecosystem consists of node operators, miners, and those offering storage and data retrieval services. 

By Folder Protocol introducing a layer-2 solution for decentralized storage protocols as an incentive layer on top of IPFS, it is seen as a possible solution to IPFS’ scalability problems and a solution that also address the challenges of boosting transaction speeds and improving network bandwidth.

For storage verification, Folder Protocol intends to use a much more secure and efficient methodology of commit-then-execute message execution instead of a conventional challenge-response signature scheme. 

Miners and clients can use Folder Protocol’s secure network and FOL tokens to enter into peer-to-peer storage contracts. The protocol makes it possible for buyers and sellers to conduct storage space trades directly. This encourages clients and miners to freely negotiate prices and features.

Folder Protocol’s token economy consists of several keys actors who interacts with each other. The first are the miners and clients who provide computing power to the protocol, thereby also contributing to the Filecoin network which means they receive FOL tokens as rewards.

Next is the Folder Protocol which functions as an intermediary layer that is responsible for the facilitation of exchanges with respect to computing power and FOL token between FOL client and IPFS/Filecoin nodes accumulating Filecoin. In addition, the ecosystem is also comprised of IPFS or Filecoin nodes that are owned by Folder Protocol and which provide computing power as a part of the Filecoin network in order to carry out mining operations.

A group of virtualized gateways of subnodes of IPFS network operate Folder Network’s IPFS solution for decentralized storage. The subnodes are carefully chosen from the subset of nodes in the FOL network. They are then executed on all of the subnode’s computational or storage resources. The virtualized subnodes effectively form a network of IPFS gateways and since the nodes in the gateways are intricately connected, they can achieve enterprise level scalability and performance for data storage and retrieval.

Some of the benefits of using Folder Network and its virtualized gateways of IPFS network include enabling users to switch between networks in the event that a node chooses to make its data available across other gateway networks. According to Folder, what essentially happens in such instances is that the node will request a change to the Folder Protocol Node Monitoring Service and subsequently the Folder Protocol then processes the request and initiates the inter-gateway connection without losing any of the node’s data. The node will store all the data and its configuration before making it available in a different virtualized gateway network.

Folkee is Folder Protocol’s IP-based NFT platform. Folder Network intends on providing a permanence layer through the use of cryptographic proofs as provable NFT storage to make sure NFT data and metadata is tamper-proof and reliable.