Technology Category
Search and Optimization: Distributed SearchData Mining & Knowledge Management: WebReasoning under Uncertainty: Stochastic Optimization
Shelby: Decentralized Storage Designed to Serve
🤖 AI Summary
Existing decentralized storage protocols fail to meet the throughput, latency, cost, and availability requirements of Web3 data-intensive applications—such as video streaming and AI training—forcing continued reliance on centralized infrastructure. This work proposes a high-performance decentralized storage protocol addressing these limitations. Its core contributions are: (1) a clean separation of control and data planes; (2) low-overhead erasure coding coupled with minimal repair bandwidth mechanisms; and (3) a lightweight cryptographic auditing protocol that ensures strong cryptographic-economic security without compromising performance. The system leverages a purpose-built backbone network interconnecting RPC and storage nodes, and supports a pay-per-read incentive model. Experimental evaluation demonstrates that the protocol achieves throughput and latency approaching Web2-level performance, significantly enhancing feasibility for read-intensive production workloads. This advancement enables truly decentralized Web3 data applications.
Technology Category
Application Category
📝 Abstract
Existing decentralized storage protocols fall short of the service required by real-world applications. Their throughput, latency, cost-effectiveness, and availability are insufficient for demanding workloads such as video streaming, large-scale data analytics, or AI training. As a result, Web3 data-intensive applications are predominantly dependent on centralized infrastructure.
Shelby is a high-performance decentralized storage protocol designed to meet demanding needs. It achieves fast, reliable access to large volumes of data while preserving decentralization guarantees. The architecture reflects lessons from Web2 systems: it separates control and data planes, uses erasure coding with low replication overhead and minimal repair bandwidth, and operates over a dedicated backbone connecting RPC and storage nodes. Reads are paid, which incentivizes good performance. Shelby also introduces a novel auditing protocol that provides strong cryptoeconomic guarantees without compromising performance, a common limitation of other decentralized solutions. The result is a decentralized system that brings Web2-grade performance to production-scale, read-intensive Web3 applications.
Problem
Research questions and friction points this paper is trying to address.
Existing decentralized storage lacks performance for real-world applications
Web3 apps rely on centralized infrastructure due to storage limitations
Shelby provides high-performance decentralized storage for data-intensive workloads
Innovation
Methods, ideas, or system contributions that make the work stand out.
Separates control and data planes
Uses erasure coding with low overhead
Introduces novel auditing protocol
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