dWeb's network allows peers to communicate over what are known as "revelation" servers. These revelation servers act as towers for peers to communicate over and also hold the dDNS records related to all dWeb-based datasets (websites and web applications). dWeb's networking libraries known as "flockcore" libraries, power dWeb's revelation server framework, allowing dWeb-based peers to efficiently share data between each other.
Example
Bob<-->dSite Broadcaster<-->Revelation Server<-->dApp (Broadcaster)<-->Alice
It's important that people within the dWeb community continue to grow dWeb's global network of revelation servers, by adding more infrastructure to the network. The @flockcore/presets library lists the revelation servers that are currently being provided by community members but more will be needed in the near future, to expand the network and further decentralize it over time. dWeb community members can donate a $5/month server to the network, by launching one via Digital Ocean, Scaleway, Linode, AWS, Rackspace, Vultr, LightSail or via another cloud provider. We've made the process of launching a revelation server easy and need as much help as we can get, expanding the "People's Internet".
How Do I Benefit
While there isn't a way to financially benefit from launching a revelation server, the general public will benefit from it greatly. In fact, the benefits far outweigh the costs. Relying on donors around the world to host encrypted "towers", instead of ISPs, who watch everything that we do, is a definite advantage, as well as giving developers a way to build powerful websites and web applications that have no central point of failure, is just another advantage. We're also listing our contributors on the Distributed Web GitHub, as well as the dWeb website.
What Are The Risks?
There are no risks. I know what you're thinking though. What if someone creates a website for illegal activities and your revelation server somehow connects with this website, you're going to get in trouble right? Absolutely not. Think of a revelation server as a vault of keys, where each dataset has a key for locating it on the network (a revelation key) and the keys that identify the peers who are replicating and distributing it over the network. That's it! Browsers like dBrowser, know how to use a revelation server to find datasets via the peers that host them. In other words, revelation servers don't host datasets or even touch datasets, they simply store the keys associated with them.
How Do I Launch One?
Using NPM, you can install a revelation server with one command, as long as you're connected to dWeb's public NPM repository (npm.dwebs.io). Installing is as easy as running npm install -g @flockcore/server and running the ddns utility that is now installed on the server by running ddns listen --port=6620. To make sure the ddns utility is continuously running, you will need to run it within screen mode.
Once you have launched a node, let the dWeb Community know via the Telegram room. We'd love to add you to the project as a contributor and expand the network for everybody while we're at it.
Thanks To dWeb's Supporters
Without support, the dWeb will never come to fruition. The dWeb is being built by the people and for the people. There is no other way to build a truly decentralized web. If we are going to build a powerful network that benefits us all, we have to start somewhere. We believe that through the efforts of the dWeb community, we can build a massive decentralized web, where everyone can benefit in the end. Thanks to all of you who have already come forward to support the community's efforts on this project. We truly appreciate your contribution and look forward to making something special out of it.
Today's dWeb Update
I know we have been silent, as many things are rolling out. When we go silent many things are happening. Here is a few notes on the happenings:
- We're currently working on fixing some bugs within the NPM server.
- The dWeb is live, as all 5 of our current revelation servers, as well as 2 bootstrap servers (which I'll explain in a different post) are running nicely.
- The dWeb website is nearing completion, as many websites are down like dDrive and others. We should have those up and running in a few days. It has been quite an effort from the community. Folks can access the current website at https://dwebs.io.
- dWeb isn't a business, this is just a project that a bunch of people have come together to launch. Every day there is something new, as well as new people contributing to its overall foundation.
- dWeb is working alongside the Arisen blockchain that is also launching in the next few weeks, to form the only completely decentralized web out there.
- We hope to have dBrowser 1.7.5 released in the coming days.
NOTE: There are many websites on the dWeb homepage that are down but should be up in the next few days. We're currently working on them actively and finalizing some things before they go live. We don't need any legal issues ;).
Thanks to you all for all the efforts you guys have been putting in. For all of you just coming across the Distributed Webs Project, please don't forget to share it with your friends!
Jared Rice Sr.
dWeb Core Developer