IPFS Companion for Chrome

IPFS companion is a Chrome extension that allows access to the IFPS technology (InterPlanetary File System protocol). This protocol is your next-generation protocol for file sharing, data transfer, and overall online content keeping.

At a larger scale, the IPFS protocol is a mechanism that sustains a completely decentralized data storing system for fast retrieval and sharing. This system is based on a peer-to-peer architecture. The normal functioning mechanism on the Interned is location-based. What does this mean? You have a server (the location) and you send a request to that server, let's say, for accessing a picture. The location grants permission or not, based on its level of access control.

An IPFS is a system that stores information on nodes. This is the simplistic form of the object-orientated mechanism (a container with data and links). An IPFS Object can store up to 256KB. If you have a file that is larger than 256KB, its contents are distributed in multiple IPFS objects, each of its maximum size, plus an additional empty IPFS object that stores and links to all the pieces of the file (retrievable from the other IPFS objects), in the right order.

How do you identify individual files/pieces of data in the network? Each element has a unique hash, like a digital blueprint. Each time you need to access an element in the IPFS network, the hash you are looking for must match the hash of an item that already exists in the database. Only under these conditions, the user will access the file.

At this point, you may be wondering what can IPFS companion do for you. Well, it simply allows you to share data within the network. How is that possible? Let's take a classic case scenario. There is a picture stored on a server. If the provider shuts down the location server, or simply removes public access, you can no longer find/copy that image.

Using IPFS, you can always have access to a file that is stored in each database commonly maintained by all the peers active in the network. The Chrome extension opens the door to a wider range of technologies. Having the add-on installed will quickly enable access, with the click of a button, to all the IPFS benefits.

Firstly, you should choose your type of connection: to a local or to a js-ipfs node, directly in your browser. Secondly, you should customize the other options, in order to have a good understanding of the extension's mechanisms and processes that happen in the background. The service allows you to customize the URL of your IPFS API, to choose and set your public and local gateway, customize access and the DNSLink lookup policy, and do much more.

Being a peer-to-peer system translates into the lack of a central guiding authority or an always-active, up-and-running server. That means your contribution is not only important but mandatory. IPFS companion is the type of system that needs your active presence. That does not mean much, just have the Chrome extension active at all times so you can cumulatively contribute to the network sharing mechanisms.

You can quickly access lost/no longer available files and resources, as long as you participate in the network and actively contribute to building a solid database. Having said these, you should at least test IPFS companion and get to learn more about the technology of the future. For a short introduction, check this article.