Understanding the KS Storage

In today's digital landscape, managing data securely and efficiently is paramount. Kalp Studio Storage (KS Storage) offers a decentralised solution that leverages the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) to provide robust, distributed, and censorship-resistant file storage. This tutorial provides a comprehensive overview of KS Storage, guiding you through its features and functionalities to help you harness its full potential.

Before exploring KS Storage, let’s understand some terminologies to understand this tutorial better.

What is IPFS?

The InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is a peer-to-peer, decentralised protocol designed to revolutionise how we store and share data across the internet. Unlike traditional web protocols that rely on centralised servers, IPFS allows files to be stored and retrieved directly from a distributed network of nodes. This system offers significant advantages in speed, resilience, and censorship resistance.

Key Concepts of IPFS

1. Content-Addressed Storage

• In IPFS, files are identified by their content hash rather than their location (URL). This hash, called a CID (Content Identifier), is a unique fingerprint of the file.
• If the content changes, its hash changes, ensuring you always retrieve the exact file version you want.

2. Peer-to-Peer Network

• IPFS operates on a decentralised network of nodes. Each node stores data and can communicate with other nodes directly, bypassing the need for centralised servers.
• Data retrieval is faster and more efficient because users can download pieces of a file from multiple nodes simultaneously.

3. Data Deduplication

• Since files are identified by their content, IPFS avoids storing duplicate copies of the same data, optimising storage usage.

4. Immutable and Permanent Links

• IPFS ensures that once a file is uploaded and distributed, it remains accessible forever, provided at least one node retains it. This immutability is ideal for archival purposes and ensures data integrity.

Before we dive deeper into KS Storage, here are the prerequisites.

Prerequisites

KALP Studio Account: If you don’t have your account already on KALP Studio, create one here.

Navigating KS Storage

• Scroll down on the KALP Studio dashboard and on the KS Storage Card, click on the Explore button.

(If you haven’t subscribed to the KS Storage plan, you can choose the plan of your choice. To learn more about the KS Storage plans, click here in the docs.)

• After that, you’ll be redirected to the Storage Buckets page, where all the buckets you create will be stored.

• Since it’ll be our first bucket, click the Create Bucket button on the top right.
• You’ll be redirected to a pop-up where you can enter the name of your bucket. Enter the name of your choice, and click on Create to confirm.

• Now that we have our bucket created, we can upload the files of your choice on this bucket. Here are the files that can be uploaded:

  • Documents (e.g., PDFs, Word documents)
  • Images (e.g., JPEG, PNG, SVG)
  • Audio and Video files (e.g., MP3, MP4, WAV)

• Now, within your bucket, let’s click on the Upload button, to upload a file. For this tutorial’s purpose, we are uploading a .jpg file. You’ll be redirected to a pop-up, where we can type a tag (as it helps to filter our bucket items), and the name of the file.

• Once the file details have been added, click on the Add button.

• Here, you can see your file has been uploaded in the bucket. You can see the different details, like Type, Tag, CID, Last Modified, File Size, Status and the three dots (which provide you the option of Sharing the file as a link and Downloading the file).

Generating the API Key

You can also use the API Auth Key to interact with KS Storage from external applications.

Here’s how you can do it:

• Go to API Key Generation from the left navigation menu.
• Click Create API Auth Key, and give it a name and description.

• Once you click on Create Now, you can see that your API Key is ready, and you can toggle with it by turning it active or inactive.

To check the details about your bucket, on the sidebar, click on Storage buckets, and you can information like the bucket name, the number of files, and other details.

You can manage the buckets from this section, including adding, deleting, or viewing files.

Conclusion

Kalp Studio Storage (KS Storage) is a robust, user-friendly solution for managing data in decentralised environments. Combining simplicity with powerful features enables developers to store and retrieve files seamlessly, making it an ideal choice for projects that demand security, scalability, and flexibility.

Whether you’re a beginner looking to explore decentralised storage or an experienced developer building complex applications, KS Storage offers the tools and guidance needed to get started quickly. Its integration capabilities and intuitive interface ensure that managing data becomes a hassle-free experience. As the demand for decentralised solutions continues to grow, KS Storage positions itself as a reliable and innovative option, empowering users to embrace the future of data storage.

If you have any queries, join our Discord server and let’s continue the discussion there.

Until then, see you in the next tutorial.