🏗️Blimp

AI-Ready Distributed On-Prem Storage.

Blimp is powered by Züs, the world’s fastest blockchain, with 400 ms optimistic and 2-second full finality. With over 60,000 GitHub commits, years of testing, and thousands of users and storage allocations, Blimp is a trusted solution ready for the demands of enterprise-scale storage and AI-driven applications.

We’ve built the first S3-compatible storage platform that is both ACID-compliant and runs on a zero-knowledge network — eliminating the need for additional services like AWS Athena or GuardDuty to secure or query your data.

Our Promise: 10x Value to Customers

• 5x better performance – Real-world tests showed up to 5x gains versus AWS.

• 2x lower costs – Thanks to zero egress and zero API fees, you save more as your usage scales.

• 2x lower carbon footprint – Our erasure-coded architecture minimizes redundancy-related overhead.

• Bulletproof security – Split-key security, zero-knowledge design, and erasure coding ensure unmatched internal breach resistance.

• No vendor lock-in – Easily add, remove, or swap providers with no disruption or central dependency.

One of our enterprise customers benchmarked Züs against AWS using s3compare.io and saw 5x performance improvements across common S3 operations — validating our edge in real-time workloads and data transfer scenarios.

We also fill security and vendor neutrality gaps that MinIO and AWS have in their solution. Check the table below for comparison.

Beyond backup and datalake storage, our platform is ideal for storing AI data, where integrity and verifiability matter such as for MCP workflows.

Feature	AWS S3	MinIO	Züs
Managed Infrastructure	Fully managed with strong global uptime	Self-hosted; requires manual setup and scaling	Fully managed decentralized infrastructure with flexible scaling
Split-key Internal Breach Security	Not available; single-party access control	Not available	Built-in split-key security prevents internal breaches by decentralizing key control
Zero Egress Fees	Charges apply for all outbound data	No egress fees	No egress fees on outbound traffic across providers
Zero API Fees	Charges per API call	Free API access	Free unlimited API requests; ideal for high-frequency apps
Encrypted Data Sharing	Requires external tools or complex configuration	Not supported natively	Native proxy re-encryption enables secure, private sharing of encrypted files
Zero Knowledge Network	Not supported	Not supported	Zero-knowledge architecture ensures providers can't access file contents or user identity
ACID Compliant (Data Integrity)	Eventual consistency; not ACID compliant	No built-in ACID guarantees	Fully ACID compliant to ensure consistent reads/writes and verifiable storage behavior
Add/Swap Infrastructure (No Lock-in)	Vendor lock-in with no real-time provider switching	Tied to fixed infrastructure	Add, remove, or swap storage providers dynamically with no lock-in

Key Features

1. Advanced Security Through Split Key and Data Fragmentation

• Split Key Technology: Ensures that your data and keys remain uncompromised if a server breach occurs. Data is stored across multiple servers, with each server holding only fragments of individually protected data.

• Data Fragmentation: Blimp fragments data across multiple servers in different locations, providing an additional layer of security that protects against breaches, ransomware, and hacking attempts.

2. AI-Ready, Distributed On-Prem Storage

• Privacy by Design: Blimp's decentralized architecture makes it impossible for anyone— including the government or Züs— to view your data.

• Proxy Re-Encryption for Secure Sharing: Share encrypted data quickly and securely. Even if you share data with a public link, only the designated recipient with the proper authorization can access the file.

3. Near 100% Availability with Flexible Parity Shards

• Customizable Parity Levels: Configure your storage to maximize availability by setting parity shards, achieving close to 100% uptime and data accessibility.

• Always-On Repair Mechanism: Blimp automatically maintains data integrity by repairing any damaged or missing data fragments.

4. Sustainable and Cost-Effective

• Lower Storage Costs and Carbon Footprint: By reducing replication needs and using efficient energy, Blimp reduces storage costs and carbon emissions by 25-50%.

• No Egress or API Fees: Unlike traditional cloud providers, Blimp has transparent pricing with zero egress or API fees, simplifying cost management.

5. Enterprise-Level Scalability and Speed

• High-Performance S3-Compatible Storage: Blimp delivers sub-100 millisecond performance, easily handling billions of files.

• Supports Massive Data Volumes: Blimp’s infrastructure scales to meet enterprise needs, offering 1 terabit-per-second throughput with minimal latency.

6. Full Control and Vendor Flexibility

• Customizable Provider Options: Choose your storage providers based on performance, cost, and geolocation preferences. Use shared, dedicated, rented, or private servers for on-prem storage to suit your specific needs.

• Replace and Add Providers with Ease: Easily manage your allocation by adding or replacing providers to optimize performance or address geolocation requirements.

Types of Allocations

In Blimp, there are two main types of allocations, designed to cater to different use cases and performance needs:

1. Enterprise Allocation

Enterprise allocations are tailored for businesses and applications that require high performance, scalability, and customization in terms of availability and data control.

Features:

• Unlimited Files and File Size: Enterprise allocations support unlimited files and file sizes, making them ideal for large datasets or applications with extensive storage needs.

• High Performance: Optimized for fast data access, with sub-100 millisecond performance.

• Permissioned Blobbers: Requires permissioned blobbers, vetted storage providers within the Züs network, ensuring higher reliability and meeting stringent compliance requirements.

• Data Control and Availability: Enterprise users can easily add or replace blobbers, manage data shards, and configure redundancy to guarantee nearly 100% uptime.

• Security and Compliance: Enterprise allocations can be made immutable, ensuring that stored data cannot be altered and that they are backed by robust split-key and data fragmentation technology for enhanced security.

• 500 Million File Performance: Specifically optimized to deliver consistent, high-speed performance when managing up to 500 million files, ensuring seamless operation for enterprise-scale applications.

• 40TB Large File Upload: Supports individual file uploads of up to 40TB, making it suitable for industries managing large-scale media, datasets, or backups.

Choose this if your use case demands the highest data security, customizability, and availability. It’s well-suited for AI applications, compliance-heavy environments, and large-scale enterprise data storage.

2. Standard Allocation

Standard allocations are designed for general use, balancing performance, security, and cost-efficiency for individual or small business use cases.

Features:

• 100 Million File Performance: Optimized to handle up to 100 million files, ensuring reliable performance for medium-scale storage requirements.

• Data and Parity Shards: Standard allocations use a set number of data and parity shards to protect data and ensure redundancy, though they may have limits on file size or total storage compared to enterprise allocations.

• Max File Upload Size: Standard allocations support a maximum file upload size of 40GB × data_shards, providing flexibility for uploading large individual files.

• Cost-Efficient Storage: More economical than enterprise allocations, suitable for users who need reliable storage without extensive customization.

• Flexible Use: Standard allocations still allow users to manage their storage but offer fewer advanced options than enterprise allocations.

• Security: Using Züs’ data fragmentation and split-key technology, standard allocations provide strong data protection, though performance and availability may be lower than enterprise allocations.

It is ideal for individual users, small teams, or businesses looking for a reliable storage solution with standard security and performance features at a lower cost.

Feature Comparison Table: Blimp Vs Traditional Cloud Solutions

Feature	Decentralized Storage (Züs Blimp)	Traditional Private Cloud	Traditional Public Cloud
Ownership and Control	Full control over data	Full control over hardware, software, and data	Limited control over hardware and software
Scalability	Highly scalable	Limited scalability	Highly scalable, except for EBS
Cost	Architecturally lower costs due to no replication, CDN, database	Higher upfront costs	Expensive (EBS, EFS, data transfer, and API costs)
Security	Unparalleled security due to data fragmentation and distributed keys	High level of security but susceptible to internal control issues	Strong security measures, but potential risks associated with internal data breaches
Performance	High performance due to its distributed nature, protocols, and built-in database	Slower query due to key-value pairs	Slower query due to key-value pairs
Reliability	Highly reliable due to data redundancy and fault tolerance	Susceptible to single points of failure	Reliable, but may be subject to outages or disruptions
Privacy	High level of privacy due to proxy re-encryption protocol	High level of privacy but susceptible to internal control issues	May have internal privacy leaks depending on the cloud provider and its processes
Compliance	Dynamic trustless provable compliance with a decentralized platform	Can be compliant with various regulations but may be vulnerable to internal breaches	Can be compliant with various regulations but generally holds liability for regulatory compliance

Advanced Features

• Immutable Allocations for Data Integrity: Prevent accidental or malicious data alterations by making your allocation immutable. This setting ensures files remain unmodifiable after upload, adding a data integrity layer.

• S3 Endpoint Integration: Set up S3 endpoints with minimal effort, enabling integration with existing applications. Once configured, you can access the S3 operations page in Blimp to manage your data using S3-compatible tools. For users needing improved protection, Blimp supports automatic encryption and compression for S3 uploads. This feature is particularly useful for data archiving and additional data security.

• High-Availability Data Replication: Blimp supports primary and secondary allocations across different regions. In server downtime, Blimp enables immediate data recovery from secondary allocations to ensure uninterrupted access.

• FUSE FS for Cloud-Native Apps: For cloud-native applications, Blimp’s FUSE FS allows scalable storage on virtual machines, containers, or servers, replacing traditional options like EBS or EFS3. Easily mount your Blimp storage as a file system and manage your data as though it were local.

Real-Time Monitoring and Data Transparency

Blimp offers data transparency with the following:

• Fragment Location Monitoring: View where your data fragments are stored, including server locations and data center regions.

• Detailed Allocation Management: View and adjust your storage providers in real-time, ensuring that your data remains in optimal locations for performance, cost, and compliance needs.

Dedicated Workspaces and Wallets

In Blimp you can create multiple workspaces and dedicated wallets within Blimp:

• Manage Projects and Teams Efficiently: Set up individual workspaces for each project or team, ensuring isolated and secure storage.

• Easy Wallet Creation: Generate secure wallets for managing storage payments with 24-word mnemonics, simplifying financial transactions on Blimp.

Getting Started