Overview
IPFS is a peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol designed to make the web faster, safer, and more open. In the context of the web, it replaces location-based addressing (URLs like example.com/file.html) with content-based addressing (a unique hash of the file's content).
Key Concepts
- Content Addressing: Files are identified by what's in them, not where they are.
- Deduplication: Identical files across the network are only stored once.
- Persistence: Content can remain available as long as at least one node on the network is hosting it.
Usage
Browsers can access IPFS content via gateways (e.g., ipfs.io/ipfs/<hash>) or natively using experimental browser extensions and APIs.