# Why On-Chain Storage Matters?

**URL:** <https://forum.autonomys.xyz/t/why-on-chain-storage-matters/4539>\
**Category:** Research\
**Created:** [November 5, 2024, 7:05am UTC](https://forum.autonomys.xyz/t/why-on-chain-storage-matters/4539 "2024-11-05T07:05:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Chen\_Feng\_2023](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e56c9b/32.png) [@Chen\_Feng\_2023](https://forum.autonomys.xyz/u/Chen_Feng_2023)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2024, 7:05am UTC](https://forum.autonomys.xyz/t/why-on-chain-storage-matters/4539/1 "2024-11-05T07:05:50Z")

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In this short blog post, we’ll break down what on-chain storage means at Autonomys and why it’s essential to our work.

### What is On-Chain Storage?

On-chain storage can be understood in two ways:

1. **Narrow Sense** : Data is stored on-chain if it meets two conditions:

- It’s recorded in the blockchain’s history.
- Every participating node stores it.

Bitcoin is an example of this type, where all nodes keep a full copy of the data.

1. **Wide Sense** : Data is considered on-chain if:

- It’s recorded in the blockchain’s history.
- Only some nodes store it (or its coded version), but they still guarantee its availability.

Ethereum’s Danksharding is an example of this.

Currently, the Autonomys network uses the narrow-sense definition of on-chain storage. However, our upcoming sharded version will adopt the wide-sense definition.

### Why Does On-Chain Storage Matter?

Compared to off-chain storage, on-chain storage requires no additional trust assumptions. With on-chain storage, all data is within the blockchain itself, eliminating the need to rely on outside entities for data availability.

Consider an example: if we store block headers on-chain but use an off-chain solution like IPFS for block bodies, then our data availability depends on IPFS’s reliability. In the Web3 world, reducing these kinds of dependencies is desirable. On-chain storage, where the blockchain itself guarantees data availability, aligns more closely with Web3’s trustless philosophy.

### Why Choose the Wide-Sense Definition?

The narrow-sense approach, where every node stores all data, is not scalable. Since all nodes must download all data, the data throughput is limited by the bandwidth of the slowest nodes—creating a bottleneck. The wide-sense approach, however, allows us to scale more effectively. It offers two ways to boost data throughput:

1. **Data Replication by a Subset of Nodes** :

- Each node stores a commitment to the data (proving its inclusion in blockchain history).
- The data itself is stored only by a subset of nodes, and as long as one honest node is online, the data is available.

1. **Erasure Coding with Distributed Storage** :

- Every node stores a commitment to the data.
- The data is erasure-coded, and each node stores just a portion of it (i.e., a coded data chunk). The data can be fully recovered if enough honest nodes with coded data chunks are available.

At Autonomys, we are incorporating both methods to create _modular_ data domains with over 20+ GBPS throughput. Stay tuned for more details on how this design unfolds.