What is Chia DataLayer and what problems does it solve?

Database in a nutshell

We live in times when almost everything depends on the flow of information and access to it. Most aspects of life now rely on data stored in electronic databases. When we want to check our children's school results, we open the electronic journal, thus gaining partial access to the school's database. Standing at the train station, we carefully observe a huge board displaying the increasing delay of our train, which actually retrieves information from the station's database.

It's not just about data consisting of letters and numbers. File storage services can also be considered as databases. To watch our favorite TV series on Netflix, we need to download it from where all episodes are stored. The same goes for cloud file storage. We upload our photos to a centralized server, where they are theoretically secure. But wait, "centralized" is the keyword here.

The problem of centralized databases

Databases, regardless of their type, are usually stored on central servers. These are powerful computers that other users connect to. They request access to information and receive a response. They are called centralized because the data is in one place and under the control of one entity. And here lies the problem.

If information is under the control of one person or company, we have to trust them to some extent. The question is whether such absolute trust is justified. Let's assume we store our medical records in some database. We want to access the latest blood test results, so we click on the appropriate link, and soon our printer gives us a document containing all the information. Everything seems fine, but how do we know if the data is correct?

The problem with centralized databases is that they are susceptible to manipulation. Let's say there was a hacker attack on the blood collection point servers, resulting in the alteration of essential patient data, including our results. The attack was subtle, and the information was altered in a way that none of the server administrators noticed anything. However, we pass our results to the doctor, and based on them, he prescribes the wrong treatment. The situation suddenly becomes serious because it concerns our health, and in extreme cases, even our lives.

The truth is that as average users, we don't have the means to check if anyone unwanted has tampered with our data. This is a problem that cannot be ignored. Fortunately, Chia Network has come up with an interesting solution.

What is Chia DataLayer?

DataLayer is a technology developed by Chia Network, providing a decentralized general-purpose database. It enables the publication of various types of content that can be later accessed and viewed by other users. The data is immutable, just like in the Chia blockchain, but it is not stored in it. Instead, only proofs of data existence along with their links are stored in the blockchain. Let's break it down a bit.

Imagine that we are users of the Chia network. We have a database that we want to share using DataLayer. As this technology is based on decentralization, we don't use any server services - we keep all the files on our hard drive. DataLayer technology creates what is called a singleton, a coin containing the hash of our data. A hash is a unique number that defines our data. If they are modified, their hash will change accordingly. Alright, so now we have some data on our disk and a coin containing their unique hash. However, we fear that our hardware might not handle significant interest in our data. No worries - every Chia network user can now replicate them, distributing the load evenly. Congratulations! A dataset is created. Now, here comes the blockchain into play. In the blockchain, a similar singleton is generated containing exactly the same hash as our coin. What's the point of all this? Well, let's look at the opposite corner.

Now, let's put ourselves in the shoes of a Chia network user who wants to access the above data. First and foremost, we need to subscribe to the mentioned dataset. Then, we gain access to all the users from whom we can obtain this specific data. We also see the history of changes in the dataset. We decide to download files from any user. But how can we be sure that they haven't made changes to the data without the knowledge of the original publisher? Here comes the singleton living on the blockchain. If the hash stored in it matches the hash of the downloaded data, we can safely consider them authentic. In other words, the blockchain oversees the data's integrity in the dataset, and only authorized users can make changes.

Summary

We have discussed how Chia DataLayer technology works and addressed the problem it solves. When we think about how centralized server systems function, we realize that the data stored on them may not necessarily be trustworthy. With DataLayer, sharing information becomes more transparent, and we regain confidence that no unauthorized changes have been made to our data. Soon, we will describe significant projects based on DataLayer.