Is the swarm really a false promise?

Question

The swarm doesn't support the backend of a website (this part I think we're working on with minimongo), and the block chain can't store confidential information... unless it's encrypted. Okay, so, is this really going to be a storage solution?

And is it really incentivized for business owners, trying to create Dapps? It sounds like anyone can just clone an app on the swarm and publish it themselves, leading to copyright infringement (similar to music file-sharing). Sure the incentive is there for peer to peer mining, but what about the business owners incentive to use swarm?

I want a website that'll work in normal browsers (chrome/firefox) without extensions. Does ethereum, as a technology, really have the capacity to be a storage solution for a website that needs a user database, with private credentials?

Answer 1

Ethereum itself is not going to be a storage solution. Swarm is a technology based on some Ethereum algorithms and using Ethereum for its workings but it is not storing data in the blockchain.

If your system requires data confidentiality there are multitude of possible architectures. Encrypted files on p2p storage system are one of them. Highly secured data center with various possible security measures to protect your system and data is another one.

I would flip the coin and ask: if your website requires user database with private credentials - are you going to host it in the cloud? How much more/less secure is that comparing to other solutions?

Blockchain technologies offer some solutions not really available before. Such as identity and reputation systems that you can use to securely authenticate and authorize users of your application.

In the end it is always: use the right tool for the job :)