How Tardigrade Works

Unlike traditional cloud storage, on Tardigrade, files are encrypted, split into smaller pieces, and distributed on a massive global network of decentralized nodes which is why it’s fast, reliable and insanely secure.

Learn More arrow down

1

Files are Encrypted Locally

Files are encrypted before they’re even uploaded to our network, ensuring no one can access data without authorization – and this is just the beginning.

End-to-end AES-256 encryption is standard on every file on Tardigrade., making your data incredibly secure.

You don’t need to trust Tardigrade to keep your data private and secure. Data isn’t uploaded until it’s encrypted, so your data is only accessed with permission.

Only you should own your data. A file on Tardigrade is almost impossible to access without the proper keys or permissions. Because everything is encrypted locally, your data is literally in your hands, and no one else’s.
Retrieve Image
Retrieve Image

2

Encrypted Files are Split Into Smaller Pieces

After files are encrypted, they get split into smaller, even fragments that are completely indistinguishable from each other.

A typical file gets split into 80 pieces, of which any 30 can be accessed to reconstitute the file. Each of the 80 pieces is on a different drive, with different operators, power supplies, networks, geographies, etc.

Splitting files yields tremendous security, performance, and durability advantages. Our decentralized architecture offers improved out-of-the-box security and privacy for our clients. It also enables better performance and reliability compared to centralized/legacy/traditional cloud storage providers.

Yes, it does. We’ve never lost a single file on the Tardigrade network due to our decentralized architecture. Tardigrade has 99.99999999% file durability, and since we split each file into 80 pieces, we only need 30 pieces to reconstitute a file.

3

File Pieces are Distributed on a Global Network of Nodes

Storj Labs pays Node Operators to run Storage Nodes where file fragments are privately stored, making data breaches a thing of the past.

We have a network of thousands of Nodes that are all globally distributed.

We split each file into 80 different encrypted pieces. Each file is stored on a different Node.

It’s incredibly secure by the mere fact that a Node Operator doesn’t know what files are stored on their Node. Even if a Node operator wanted to access your files, they only have a small shard or piece of that file. They would have to track down at least 30 other Nodes to reconstitute a file, and all of those files are also encrypted. It’s virtually impossible to compromise a file.
Retrieve Image
Retrieve Image

4

Retrieve

Complete files are fully retrieved at lightning speed using just a few of the small portion of the fragments from that file on our network. There’s no central point of failure so your data is always available.

Since each file uploaded to Tardigrade is split into 80 pieces, encrypted, then stored on 80 different Nodes, one Node going offline won’t impact any files stored on any particular Node.

To reconstitute a file, we only need 30 pieces of that file to retrieve it.

Tardigrade acts much like a peer to peer network. Since there are thousands of Nodes all around the world, it’s as fast as or faster than centralized cloud services like Amazon S3.

Why Decentralized is Better

TraditionalTardigrade
No-Single Point of Failurecheck iconcheck icon
Secure by Defaultcheck iconcheck icon
Affordablecheck iconcheck icon
More Durablecheck iconcheck icon
Storj Network Diagram

We're Reinventing Cloud Storage

Files are fully retrieved at lightning speed using just a few of the small fragments of that file on our network. There’s no central point of failure so your data is always available.

Experience Decentralized Cloud Storage for Yourself