🏗️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.

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.

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:

  • 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.

  • 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.

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