Introducing Filebase Object Maps

When using the decentralized web, do you ever wonder where your data is actually stored? How close or far away is it? What about country or continent distribution? We've received this question a lot.

Today we're excited to introduce the first iteration of a new feature offering: Filebase object maps! This has been a widely requested feature and we're thrilled to finally make this available. With Filebase Object Maps, you can now view the real-time geographic distribution of your data on a visually plotted map.

So let's dig right in: What are object maps?

When you upload data to Filebase, your files are stored as objects and split into many smaller segments, commonly referred to as shards. This process is known as Reed–Solomon erasure coding. Once these smaller shards are created, we leverage decentralized storage networks to store the data. The nodes (or servers) that make up these decentralized storage networks are geographically spread out all over the world, and Filebase uploads each individual shard to a different server.

These details are important, and it is this geographic distribution of data that allows Filebase to maintain high levels of availability and durability. As a result, a single datacenter going down has a near zero effect on the ability for us to retrieve your data from a decentralized storage network.

So where does a map come in? It's simple: We will now show you on a map, where the individual shards of your specific file are stored. This functionality is now live in Production today for the Storj network, and we have already started adding support for the Sia and Skynet networks as well. Expect a separate announcement soon when support for these additional networks is released.

In the world of decentralized storage, we view this type of feature as a table stake, and it's necessary in order to maintain trust and transparency with our user base. In this respect, we have even more plans to address these qualities in future revisions of our product.

That's it for today! Stay tuned for more updates, and as always, feel free to reach out with any questions or feedback that you might have!