Gitopia v6 Upgrade: Decentralized Storage

Announcements
#1

Gitopia v6 Upgrade: Decentralized Storage

We are thrilled to announce the upcoming Gitopia v6 network upgrade, marking a pivotal moment in our roadmap. This upgrade represents a major milestone towards a fully decentralized repository storage network, enabling a more robust, resilient, and censorship-resistant Gitopia ecosystem.

The v6 upgrade introduces a new storage module, allowing anyone to join as a Storage Provider and contribute to the network’s data availability. Storage Providers will be incentivized through storage rewards for proving data integrity.

storage-architecture
storage-architecture1000×800 58.9 KB

Important Notes for Validators

The proposed upgrade will take place at block height TBD (approximately TBD).

With this new upgrade, a new x/storage module is added to the Gitopia blockchain. Validators will be responsible for validating transactions related to this new module, including storage provider registrations, challenge-response mechanisms, and reward/slashing distributions. You can find the detailed information in the storage module docs. Note that the validators are only handling the consensus of the storage network, the actual storage data is handled by the storage providers.

Recommendations

  1. Back up your data before attempting the upgrade.
  2. Monitor the #mainnet-validators channel on Discord for real-time support during the upgrade process.

Background

The Gitopia v6 upgrade is a foundational enhancement that extends our protocol beyond core version control to include decentralized storage. This move is critical for achieving true data sovereignty, enhancing network resilience, and enabling scalable, community-governed data persistence for all Git repositories. This upgrade will follow the standard governance process, requiring approval through an on-chain proposal.

Upon approval of the governance vote, validators will be required to update the Gitopia binary at the specified halt-height.

Upgrade Details

The primary focus of this upgrade is the integration of a decentralized storage layer, transforming how repository data is managed and accessed. Key changes include:

  1. New Storage Module (x/storage) Implementation
    • Introduces the foundational layer for decentralized repository storage directly into the Gitopia blockchain.
    • Manages storage provider registration, repository packfile info, release assets info, proof-of-storage challenges, reward distribution, and slashing mechanisms.
    • Defines on-chain parameters for storage reliability and economic incentives.
  2. Storage Provider Role & Participation
    • Enables any interested party to join the network as a Storage Provider by running a dedicated storage node and registering with a minimum stake.
    • Storage Providers contribute to the network’s resilience and data availability by hosting repository data and release assets.
  3. Proof-of-Storage Mechanism
    • Implements a challenge-response system where Storage Providers submit periodic cryptographic proofs to verify they are genuinely storing repository data.
    • Successful proofs earn storage rewards; failed challenges result in stake slashing, ensuring accountability and data integrity.
  4. Enhanced Data Redundancy via IPFS pinning services
    • Storage providers can optionally configure an IPFS pinning service like Pinata to pin repository data to the public IPFS network, providing an additional layer of redundancy and accessibility.

Important Notes for Storage Providers

This section is specifically for individuals interested in becoming a Gitopia Storage Provider and contributing to the decentralized storage network.

How to Join

You can find the detailed instructions here.

Rewards & Penalties

  • Storage Rewards: Successfully submitting periodic storage proofs will earn you LORE tokens as a reward for your service.
  • Stake Slashing: Failure to respond to challenges or submitting invalid proofs will result in a portion of your staked LORE tokens being slashed, emphasizing the importance of continuous and honest operation.
  • Detailed information about the economic incentives can be found here.

Support & Coordination

  • #storage-providers channel within the Gitopia Discord will be available for Storage Providers to seek support, discuss operational best practices, and coordinate with the community and core team.

Testing

Extensive testing has been conducted internally on the v6.0.0 upgrade, with particular focus on:

  • x/storage module functionality and stability.
  • Storage Provider registration and staking workflows.
  • Proof-of-Storage challenge-response mechanisms.
  • Reward distribution and slashing logic.
  • Integration with existing Gitopia repository operations.

Potential Risk Factors

This upgrade involves several significant changes that validators and future storage providers should be aware of:

  1. New Module Stability: The introduction of a new core blockchain module (x/storage) may present unforeseen edge cases.
  2. Economic Model Refinement: The reward and slashing parameters for Storage Providers are based on initial models and may require future adjustments via governance proposals to optimize network health and sustainability.

Coordination and Support

The upgrade process and ongoing decentralized storage operations will be actively coordinated through:

  • #mainnet-validators Discord channel
  • #storage-providers Discord channel (new)

Governance Votes

The following summarizes the voting options for this proposal:

  • YES - You agree that Gitopia should be upgraded with this release.
  • NO - You disagree that Gitopia should be upgraded with this release.
  • NO WITH VETO - You believe this proposal is spam, infringes on minority interests, or violates governance rules.
  • ABSTAIN - You contribute to the quorum but decline to vote for or against the proposal.

Emergency Procedures

In case of critical issues during the upgrade:

  1. DO NOT restart your node without consulting the validator community.
  2. Monitor the #mainnet-validators channel for emergency instructions.

Resources and Documentation

We encourage all stakeholders, especially current validators and aspiring Storage Providers, to:

  1. Review the proposed changes thoroughly.
  2. Participate in the governance process.
  3. Prepare for the upgrade.

Please share any concerns or questions in the forum discussion below.