Autonomys Network utilizes a unique consensus mechanism known as Proof-of-Archival-Storage (PoAS). Introduced by Subspace Labs in 2021, PoAS uniquely integrates blockchain consensus directly with permanent data storage, distinguishing Autonomys clearly from other decentralized storage approaches. Unlike traditional consensus models relying on token holdings (Proof-of-Stake) or computational power (Proof-of-Work), PoAS leverages physical SSD storage space as its foundational economic and security resource.

How PoAS Works

In PoAS consensus, network participants — known as “farmers” — store provably unique segments of the blockchain’s historical data. Farmers dedicate disk space to store these cryptographically verifiable segments. The more historical blockchain data a farmer commits to storing, the higher their likelihood of earning block and vote rewards. This economic model directly aligns farmers’ incentives with maintaining data integrity and enhancing overall network security.

Key Components of PoAS

• Archiving: Archiving ensures blockchain data is securely and permanently preserved. Farmers store segments of blockchain history, each uniquely identifiable via cryptographic hashes, guaranteeing verifiability and resistance to tampering. Data undergoes automatic erasure-coding and is replicated across multiple global nodes, significantly enhancing redundancy, resilience, and fault tolerance. Through archiving, Autonomys secures cryptographically verifiable historical records within a decentralized network, reinforcing PoAS’s commitments to permanent data availability and integrity.
• Plotting: Before actively participating, farmers must “plot” their storage. This plotting process involves generating cryptographic proofs, known as commitments, through a computationally intensive procedure that securely binds specific segments of blockchain history to the farmer’s allocated disk space. Plotting creates cryptographic evidence ensuring data uniqueness, enabling rapid authentication and verification by the network. This process safeguards against data duplication and manipulation, effectively preparing and securing each farmer’s contribution for active participation.
• Farming: Farming represents farmers’ active engagement in the consensus process. Farmers continuously monitor the network for opportunities to propose new blocks, with the probability of selection directly tied to the quantity of blockchain history stored. Upon selection, farmers produce cryptographic proofs based on their plotted commitments, which other network nodes validate. Successful validations result in block acceptance and reward distribution, economically incentivizing farmers to maintain substantial, high-quality storage capacity and aligning their interests directly with network security.
• Proof-of-Time (PoT): Complementing PoAS, Proof-of-Time ensures fixed intervals of real-world time between block proposals, preventing adversaries from retroactively rewriting blockchain history. PoT employs iterative evaluations of a cryptographic delay function — specifically repeated AES-128 encryption — that ensures sequential processing resistant to significant acceleration by advanced hardware. Specialized nodes known as Timekeepers manage these computations. Timekeepers are dedicated nodes equipped with high-performance CPUs solely responsible for performing PoT evaluations and distributing outputs. They release intermediate checkpoints, enabling farmers to conduct rapid, parallel verification, enhancing both network efficiency and security.

Security and Fault Tolerance

The security model underpinning PoAS is tightly linked to data redundancy and decentralization. Autonomys achieves robust fault tolerance through automated erasure-coded data replication across globally distributed nodes. The more storage farmers collectively pledge, the greater the redundancy and resilience of blockchain data. This decentralized approach significantly reduces risks of data loss, corruption, or manipulation by any single participant.

Economic Alignment and Scalability

PoAS aligns economic incentives closely with data integrity and availability. Farmers are motivated to store the blockchain history, naturally expanding the network’s data capacity as participation grows. This scalability approach ensures proportional network expansion, avoiding bottlenecks typically observed in conventional blockchain systems.

Comparative Advantages

PoAS offers distinct advantages compared to other decentralized storage methods, which often depend on off-chain trust assumptions or manual replication:

• True On-Chain Storage: Data inherits permanence and security guarantees directly from blockchain technology.
• Automatic Data Redundancy: Continuous, automated replication ensures robust fault tolerance.
• Verifiable Integrity: Cryptographic proofs guarantee data authenticity, immutability, and resistance to tampering.

Practical Implications

Empowered by PoAS, Autonomys Network can support next-generation, high-throughput, low-cost decentralized applications (dApps). Developers benefit from accessible tools such as Auto Drive, which provides a user-friendly interface similar to traditional cloud storage platforms but with decentralized security guarantees.

In essence, PoAS positions Autonomys Network uniquely within the blockchain ecosystem by closely integrating consensus, security, and storage into a verifiably secure, economically efficient, and inherently scalable infrastructure.

To learn more about PoAS, visit the Autonomys Academy:
https://academy.autonomys.xyz/autonomys-network/consensus/proof-of-archival-storage

To join the Autonomys ecosystem as a Farmer, Operator, or Timekeeper visit:

https://www.autonomys.xyz/network-operators

About Autonomys

The Autonomys Network — the foundation layer for AI3.0 — is a hyper-scalable decentralized AI (deAI) infrastructure stack encompassing high-throughput permanent distributed storage, data availability and access, and modular execution. Our deAI ecosystem provides all the essential components to build and deploy secure super dApps (AI-powered dApps) and on-chain agents, equipping them with advanced AI capabilities for dynamic and autonomous functionality.

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