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by simple-thoughts 1300 days ago
I recently helped a small site migrate from cloudflare to IPFS with dnslink using Fleek. I understand how certain types of customers might need cloudflare’s scale and tools. But for a small, static html+js it’s completely overkill and introduces a ton of complexity. Plus the uptime and speed benefits of having the site on IPFS are great for anyone who’s using a browser extension that supports it are a big plus.
1 comments
uncletammy 1300 days ago
> Plus the uptime and speed benefits of having the site on IPFS are great for anyone who’s using a browser extension that supports it are a big plus.

Interesting. I have never hosted a site on IPFS but my assumption would be the opposite. I would expect more downtime from nodes frequently going on and offline. I would also expect longer load times because of the absence of CDNs and generally lower node uplink speeds.

I guess I'm working under the assumption that IPFS is still mostly comprised of hobby nodes hosted in basements. Sounds like IPFS has matured a bit since I last looked at it.

What role does the browser extension play in the speed gains you've seen? Is it slow without the extension? Also, would an IPFS compatible browser like Brave still require a separate extension for improved speeds?

Sorry for all the questions. I'm just super interested and eager to move back to a more censorship resistant version of the web, like the one I fell in love with as a kid.

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simple-thoughts 1300 days ago
It’s a specific situation. The projects I assist are small (100-10000 dau) but dedicated. High definition nft in particular can consume a lot of bandwidth. These projects are relying on free version of cdn. Of course if you are a big public enterprise cdn will be faster. But for a small and dedicated international community, a tutorial on downloading and running a local IPFS node with a browser extension means especially since often users are geographically co located they get a faster downlod speed than free cdn. Yes nodes go on and offline but because the community cares about their dapp members will run IPFS nodes on their own pc which requires almost no technical knowledge. The peering system is good enough for IPFS nto not have caused issues with community nodes going up and down.

Yes much slower without locally run IPFS node and extension. Fleek is good because it uses bunny cdn as a backup for users who aren’t on IPFS. I wouldn’t trust any public IPFS node to be fast, I’ve used piñata which has had so many issues. While fleeks public IPFS nodes are also slow same as cloudflare. Really for IPFS to work you need the community to pick up slack and run local nodes

(Also don’t apologize, that free web is exactly why I started learning to use IPFS then later found actual useful case people wanted lol)

Also on brave browser- haven’t tested it but if you run local IPFS node and configure it in theory should be fast. However I dont encourage brave as some of their practices are mildly distasteful.

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