DStore: A distributed system for outsourced data storage and retrieval

Abstract

In this article, we propose a distributed outsourced data storage and retrieval system named DStore, which is constructed in a peer-to-peer networking environment. Peers (data owners) can rent the local idle disk space and large bandwidth of other peers (lessors) to store personal data and achieve fine-grained data retrieval in a distributed manner without the burden of local storage and maintenance. However, after data outsourcing, data owners no longer have physical possession of the data and face the risk of not being able to efficiently access the data. To solve the above issues, DStore employs smart contracts to audit the integrity of the outsourced data and develop a multikeyword retrieval module to support efficient access by data owners. In DStore, smart contracts can efficiently audit outsourced data without additional communication overhead for data owners; smart contracts and lessors do not compromise the privacy of data owners. Finally, we conduct an extensive security and performance analysis to ensure that DStore is secure and feasible.