What Is a Decentralized Database?
A decentralized database is a network of computers designed to store and manage data in a decentralized way.
How that is done can vary widely from system to system, but they all have two things in common:
- There is no single authority managing the whole network
- The members of the network are never all in the same physical location.
The latter feature means that all decentralized database systems are also distributed systems.
Benefits and Advantages Of Decentralized Database
The advantages of decentralized databases are numerous:
- They offer superior protection from data corruption and theft as the data is distributed among the database’s individual nodes.
- By distributing the data and eliminating central authorities, decentralized databases can significantly reduce single points of failure in the system.
- Even if parts of the system are being attacked, fail, or are otherwise compromised, the system will continue to run and serve its clients.
- These databases are censorship-resistant, making them a great choice when dealing with sensitive publicly available data that needs to be protected from malicious interests.
- Data recorded to decentralized databases is incredibly difficult to change without majority network consensus — a useful feature in applications where complete data integrity is required (e.g., banking).
Centralized vs Decentralized Database
Centralized databases come with their own benefits, such as tight control over the physical location of data.
This is incredibly important for certain businesses and government institutions. Even though centralized databases are prone to physical and digital penetration, these entities are often willing to brave the risks of attack to reap the benefits of complete privacy and total control.
For other businesses, corporate entities, and individuals, decentralization is a better fit. Their requirements align more closely with the benefits stated above offered by decentralized systems.
Both choices come with benefits and downsides and picking one or the other is completely dependent on the use case.
Conclusion
If you are faced with a choice between a decentralized database, a centralized distributed database, or a purely centralized, single-location database for your project, business, or personal use case, take care to consider your current and future privacy, security, and data integrity needs.
Weigh your options carefully, as switching databases can be tedious, time-consuming, and expensive later on.
Buterin, Vitalik. “The Meaning of Decentralization.” Medium, Medium, 6 Feb. 2017.
https://medium.com/@VitalikButerin/the-meaning-of-decentralization-a0c92b76a274
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