Topic: [ANN] Sia - Decentralized Storage - page 390. (Read 1382227 times)

Well the way I understand it is that an individual file upload will be split into pieces of data amongst 6 or 8 storage host somewhere in the world. The only way to see that file in a complete useful way is through the up loaders wallet. There is no way to actually view a file on any one storage host. (as its in a piece of the data) So that's really close to being anonymous I would think.

Just playing around with uploading files from my wallet to Sia storage. I sent one mp3 file, Sia-UI zip, a Windows10 iso file and a windows 10 media creation tool.  
... Now each of those files are now split up on at least 6 of the 30 known host hard drives. And 1/6 of a file could be on any one of those 30 host. So how would anyone know I uploaded an iso file up to the network?

Now imagine instead of 30 host we have 3000 host. Now I'm sure my IP service would know I have sent files up maybe based on bandwidth or something or possibly the size even, but I don't think they would know what it is that I sent.

But all of this has so much potential in todays world. Its great.

Can you elaborate on how SIA (or: Sia?) provides anonymity to hosters and/or renters?

What I understand of SIA thus far is that hosted files are split and encrypted. But this is not the same as anonymity.

The list of hosts, with their IPs, is publicly accessible. Similarly, I understand transactions on the blockchain are transparent. Thus, transactions on the blockchain are pseudanonymous, not strictly anonymous.

+1

I do not recall coming across this document, but then again I have not read through the entire thread yet. It should definitely be upfront there with links to website, FAQ etc.

Also, consider linking to the Reddit page:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Siacoin

I don't know who's running that, but it might lighten the load off this thread when newcomers have alternative forums to ask their questions.

I was thinking today of setting up a Sia Wiki, aka the Bitcoin Wiki. I know the Siacoin.com website is on Github, but it has the appearance of a company rather than a community site.

What are your thoughts on this?

yes it deff should be, I'll give it a read tonight... I'm still trying to wrap my head around how this is all put together 

newb Q... is there pos reward at all ?

I can also see a point in time where company's/individuals would be willing to pay even more for SIA services because of its anonymity.

You guys should put this link in OP. That's where most of the newcomers are looking.

yes it deff should be, I'll give it a read tonight... I'm still trying to wrap my head around how this is all put together  

newb Q... is there pos reward at all ?

We try to keep all of the important information here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zNpAct53E_5p4KO3_-ZOrg5N9HQw8ACTQ7zAyksSIf8

To clarify my opinion. Criticism constructive or not is crucial for development.

But many following the thread are tired of hearing the same irrelevant ones. We wish new users would think before posting.

But anyway new users are the lifeblood of any project. But I think Sia over the next 2 years will be so big and important it will be one

of the first cryptos where users will need us more than vice versa.

Exactly what I was going to say after reading your first paragraph.

I can also see a point in time where company's/individuals would be willing to pay even more for SIA services because of its anonymity. That could possibly cause demand for SIA as the preferred way to cloud host. So really the sky is the limit. But I don't feel the in the early days we can be more expensive per dollar/GH

By the way: Can I change the default port from 9982 to something else, in case I want to run multiple hosts in a network with a shared IP?

Blockchain synchronization, however, is still extremely slow! I'm still just at block height 2033, after nearly 15 hours... Can anyone share a bootstrap chain?

This does not make sense. If the Sia network is to be used as cheap storage for businesses' massive storage requirements, where is that storage supposed to come from?

I assumed that Sia was about enabling unused storage on millions of devices around the world to be part of a massive network, which then entities with storage requirements could use.

Clearly, the millions of devices we're talking about belong to Average Joe and Jane. Thus, the client software must be dumb-proofed and simple enough to be used by a 'regular' person.

I actually do expect that. But it doesn't bother me if people don't. What does bother me is someone who doesn't skim through what a

Sure, Sia appears buggy. Sure, its beta. However, it is BETA, and not ALPHA. Remember how long GMail was beta? Quite some time... Beta typically implies working, yet potentially with some trouble  spots. Sia's issues are more than minor bugs. The usability bugs in Sia are apparently serious enough to render wallets for non-experts unusable and corrupting the databases, causing loss of money (yes, real money if you'd like) and time.

I've gathered this much that Sia is still a small community of developers and users. There are 33 hosts, a few repeat posters on this thread, and 28 subscribers to the Reddit forum... I can understand people getting upset when people criticize their baby. Yet, projects such as these can only move forward with continuous valuable feedback from new users. As a coder myself, I know the value of testing my software with new users. They have a (sad) tendency to click all the 'wrong' buttons and do everything in the 'wrong' order, hence revealing all the bugs in my software before even getting it to work once! This happened to me yesterday with Sia as I was unaware of the implications of killing the siad process after closing the GUI, hence corrupting my database and forcing me to resync. I *could* have figured this out in advance if I had heeded your advice above and read through this thread first. But seriously, do you expect every new user to skim through 111 pages of posts, before downloading and running a couple of binaries of BETA software? When was the last time you did that?

The Sia community should welcome criticism from newcomers, however harsh and unwarranted they may seem, as they reflect the user experience from a beginners standpoint. After all, if you can't make the newcomers happy, how can you ever expect the user base to grow?

Having said so, I understand your sentiment, and I understand Sia is work-in-progress. Yet, and I stress, the software is BETA and not ALPHA, which implies usability.

Sia seems a really, really cool project, and I've decided to jump into it and support it in these early phases. I will run a node/host, buy some Siacoin and help out new users by sharing my experiences as I learn. This is how you grow a community, not by effectively ostracizing them when their complaints are too harsh to handle.

Your correct, anyone running a open wallet can also set the amount of hard drive storage they wish to dedicate to SIA, with very little knowledge or effort. And get paid a little SIA for doing so. The issue now however, is opening the 2 required ports. That does require a little geekness" as it has to be done manually. Upcoming versions will have UPnP so opening the ports for hosting will not be an issue then. Taek correct me if I am wrong there.  

Again this is my opinion but it is based on dev words and logical vision of Sia.

I don't see millions of joes renting their unused 200 gb from their laptop. Running Sia and keeping the client open up and running long

enough to be considered  a reliable host. Certainly the more hosts the better and the beauty in Sia is anybody can rent their space.

But realistically Sia will be a success because it allows anybody to set up their own cloud business. I can aspire to take a piece of amazon

cloud's pie by going out and buying 200 terbytes of hdds. Announcing my space on Sia without registering as a business or any licenses.

Now I attract cloud users by setting my price to what I think will take business away from amazon and use my space. Although netflix

needs millions of terabytes to run their business, my 200 terabytes is one of many reliable "small host companies" that netflix uses to

stream to their customers.

Oh, Sia-UI-v0.4.2-beta-win32.zip includes x64 version of siad and dosent work on x32 systems 

Somebody will answer where Sia a wallet keeps the downloaded blocks?

Stuff like this...
Will limit this (very promising) project to super-geeks that unlimited time to f*ck around with crypto wallets.

That said, the GUI wallet is what counts and it's making progress:



OK, the blockchain is updated and I've transferred a little test coin from Polo...
But, of course, I'm LOCKED OUT... even after I've been given a 29 word passphrase (where NXT uses only 12 words).



Oh, the Dev wants me to run another 2 separate command line utilities...
And muck around with more passphrases with little known copy/paste techniques via consoles.

Let's add 17 more "locks", baby = very poor design.

Sorry, but you HAVE TO make GUI wallet standalone to attract normal people. Please make standalone GUI wallet a priority.

Are those nodes that only offer space, or all nodes connected? I don't appear on that list. Is that because I'm not done syncing the blockchain yet?

I've been syncing for 10 hours now. I'm at block height 1976 (connected to 8 peers). Is it normally this slow?

Also, I cannot Announce my storage. I get the error message:
"Error 400 Bad request host address not reachable; ensure you have forwarded port 9982"

I have forwarded port 9982 on my router. Still doesn't work.

I think you have to forward 9981 as well

This does not make sense. If the Sia network is to be used as cheap storage for businesses' massive storage requirements, where is that storage supposed to come from?

I assumed that Sia was about enabling unused storage on millions of devices around the world to be part of a massive network, which then entities with storage requirements could use.

Clearly, the millions of devices we're talking about belong to Average Joe and Jane. Thus, the client software must be dumb-proofed and simple enough to be used by a 'regular' person.

This does not make sense. If the Sia network is to be used as cheap storage for businesses' massive storage requirements, where is that storage supposed to come from?

I assumed that Sia was about enabling unused storage on millions of devices around the world to be part of a massive network, which then entities with storage requirements could use.

Clearly, the millions of devices we're talking about belong to Average Joe and Jane. Thus, the client software must be dumb-proofed and simple enough to be used by a 'regular' person.