House Of Cards: Do Recent Outages Show The Fragility Of Web 2.0?

The modern internet is based on a highly centralized system. Almost all exchanged data is stored, routed or computed by a handful of extremely powerful big tech companies.

Servers, run by companies like Meta Platforms Inc. META, Amazon.com Inc. AMZN and Microsoft Corp. MSFT, are mostly responsible for the basic functions of the internet. 

Every time you order from DoorDash Inc. DASH or read a news article, you are interacting with one or more of just a few massive companies.

This concentration of data flow stands in contrast to earlier iterations of the web according to some experts. In its infancy, the internet was made up of a network of personal computers and then small servers run by enthusiasts. This system was displaced by today’s iteration because of the exponential growth in both the size and complexity of the modern internet. Industrialists seemingly replaced idealists.

The functionality of this system is incredible, but it can come at a cost. Increased centralization has led to outages of large swaths of the internet when a single company makes an error or is the target of an attack.

Recently, sites like Medium, FTX and Discord were down because of an unknown error with the service Cloudflare Inc. NET. The company helps make the web more secure, but as it exists as a single point of failure, it can lead to outages for websites it interacts with.

With the advent of the blockchain, many believe a decentralized, distributed future is possible — one that would potentially be free of these sorts of single-point failures. The decentralized cloud computing network Cudos, developed by Cudo Ventures, believes it could be that solution.

With its recent mainnet launch, Cudos brings interoperability and lower gas fees to everyone who chooses to partner with or build on the network. The goal is to converge the blockchain platform with Cudo’s cloud solution, Cudo Compute in the near future. 

Ultimately, the decentralized cloud platform would incentivize individual users across the globe to participate and create a shared computing resources system with no single point of failure. There are no server farms built and maintained by a single company. Data is not routed through one point or one entity. If one or some of the network participants go down, it does not affect the rest of the network. Finally, there are significant environmental benefits that come through capacity recycling. 

This vision of the internet, often referred to as Web 3, empowers the individual and moves away from the current centralized, brittle system in which a few massive companies hold outsized power and influence.

If you would like to know more and support this evolution, check out Cudos.  .

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Featured photo by Kelvin Ang on Unsplash