> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.theblockchainlibrary.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# IPFS - Content Addressed, Versioned, P2P File System

> The IPFS white paper presents a peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol designed to make the web faster, safer, and more open by replacing location-based addressing wi

# IPFS - Content Addressed, Versioned, P2P File System

The IPFS white paper presents a peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol designed to make the web faster, safer, and more open by replacing location-based addressing wi

## Abstract

The IPFS white paper presents a peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol designed to make the web faster, safer, and more open by replacing location-based addressing with content-based addressing. Instead of fetching data from a central server identified by its network location (HTTP), IPFS utilizes cryptographic hashes to identify content by its unique fingerprint. This architecture enables data integrity and persistence, as changing any part of the data results in a different identifier. The paper details the integration of technologies like Distributed Hash Tables (DHTs) for routing, Merkle Directed Acyclic Graphs (Merkle DAGs) for structuring data, and BitTorrent-inspired block exchange for peer-to-peer transfers. By allowing users to host and serve content from their own nodes, IPFS decentralizes the infrastructure of the internet, mitigating the vulnerabilities of centralized points of failure and censorship. The resulting system is inherently version-controlled and resistant to link rot. This research is foundational for the decentralized web (Web3), providing the primary storage layer upon which many distributed applications and NFT platforms are currently built.

**Authors:** Juan Benet

**Publication:** Academic Paper

**Publication date:** 2014-01-01

## Key findings

* Content-addressing ensures data integrity by linking information to its cryptographic hash.
* Distributed Hash Tables (DHTs) facilitate efficient peer discovery and data location in a decentralized network.
* The Merkle DAG structure allows for efficient versioning and deduplication of complex file systems.
* P2P file retrieval reduces reliance on central servers and improves resilience against outages.

## Citation

Juan Benet (2014). IPFS - Content Addressed, Versioned, P2P File System. Academic Paper. [https://github.com/ipfs/papers/raw/master/ipfs-cap2pfs/ipfs-p2p-file-system.pdf](https://github.com/ipfs/papers/raw/master/ipfs-cap2pfs/ipfs-p2p-file-system.pdf)

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**Canonical knowledge ID:** `research:ipfs-content-addressed-versioned-p2p-file-system`