June 2022 Update

Every now and then I like to post a test update using Publii and Storj to ensure that everything is working ok. I recently added a New Relic synthetics monitor to this website to track any downtime in order to verify how robust Storj website hosting is. 

This comes in the wake of a problem with DNS resolving for websites hosting on IPFS using Fleek. Currently the AtmoVantage IPFS test site (https://ipfs.atmovantage.com) is down with a "Error 1016" - "Origin DNS error".

I've always favored Storj over IPFS because the Publii to S3 bucket publishing relies on fewer third-party gatekeepers. Since Publii is free, open-source, downloadable software it cannot be censored. Storj itself is a potential gatekeeper that has the potential for censorship, but this can be mitigated by using a secondary DNS service like Cloudflare to obfuscate the real IP address and host behind a website hosted in an encrypted Storj bucket. 

Furthermore, although Storj technically could censor, they would first have to be made aware of the website and S3 bucket in which the website files were located before they could take any deplatforming action. Creating a Storj DCS account is free and can be easily anonymized using whatever email you want. You can also pay anonymously for additional bandwidth using STORJ tokens instead of a credit card. This makes it easier for a deplatformed person to re-create their censored website by simply opening a new Storj DCS account.

With IPFS website hosting, the Fleek service is a huge potential gatekeeper. They have full visibility into all the websites that are hosted through them, making it very easy for them to censor a controversial website.

For this reason, I am still bullish on using Storj as a decentralized, anonymous website hosting service that is censorship-resistant and resilient.