Running IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) locally, on a Raspberry Pi for example, is relatively straightforward. You can even deploy an IPFS node to a cloud provider without much difficulty. We wrote about doing this as part of having a remote node that syncs with Pinata as your persistence layer. This is a great solution, but what if you want to run IPFS nodes on the scale that Pinata does?

There are two popular IPFS scaling solutions—IPFS Cluster and Elastic IPFS. Each offers different ways to manage IPFS nodes at scale. Let’s walk through the key differences and explain why Elastic IPFS, the technology used by Pinata, is the superior choice for cloud-native scalability.

Understanding IPFS Scaling Challenges

IPFS is designed for content-addressed storage, making it ideal for distributed and immutable data storage. However, managing large-scale deployments comes with challenges:

• Ensuring redundancy and persistence across multiple nodes.
• Efficiently distributing content for high availability.
• Dynamically scaling infrastructure to handle fluctuating demand.

Both IPFS Cluster and Elastic IPFS address these challenges but take fundamentally different approaches.

What is IPFS Cluster?

IPFS Cluster is an orchestration tool that enables multiple IPFS nodes to work together as a coordinated unit. It provides a way to manage pinning and replication across nodes, ensuring content persistence and redundancy.

How IPFS Cluster Works

• Uses a consensus algorithm (CRDT by default) to track which nodes store which content.
• Supports custom pinning strategies, such as setting a specific number of replication nodes.
• Provides manual control over content distribution within the cluster.

IPFS Cluster Pros & Cons

✅ Ensures redundancy with controlled content distribution.

✅ Useful for managing a static set of IPFS nodes.

✅ Open-source and self-hosted, allowing for customization.

❌ Requires manual node management.

❌ Limited scalability since nodes must be predefined.

❌ Cannot dynamically scale with demand like cloud-native solutions.

What is Elastic IPFS?

Elastic IPFS is a cloud-native, dynamically scalable implementation of IPFS. Unlike IPFS Cluster, it abstracts node management, allowing for seamless auto-scaling and high availability.

How Elastic IPFS Works

• Designed to integrate with cloud infrastructure, allowing for on-demand scaling.
• Dynamically adjusts storage and processing power based on real-time usage.
• Provides high availability without requiring users to manually manage nodes.

Elastic IPFS Pros & Cons

✅ Scalable by design, automatically adjusting to demand.

✅ Reduces operational overhead by eliminating manual node management.

✅ Ideal for enterprise-scale applications with fluctuating storage needs.

✅ Enhances uptime and availability with cloud-based fault tolerance.

❌ May not be suitable for small, self-hosted setups.

❌ Requires cloud infrastructure, which might not align with all decentralization goals.

Key Differences: IPFS Cluster vs. Elastic IPFS

Why Pinata Uses Elastic IPFS

At Pinata, we prioritize speed, availability, and scalability, which is why we leverage Elastic IPFS for our infrastructure. We see more than 40 million uploads to IPFS every month and need to serve those uploads to the tune of multiple petabytes of data transfer each month. Elastic IPFS enables us to offer a high-performance and reliable IPFS experience without burdening users with manual cluster management. Our approach ensures:

• Fast and seamless storage scaling as user demand grows.
• Reliable uptime and fault tolerance with cloud-based resilience.
• A frictionless experience for developers looking to integrate IPFS without complexity.

Final Thoughts

Choosing between IPFS Cluster and Elastic IPFS depends on your specific needs. If you require fine-tuned control over pinning and a self-hosted setup, IPFS Cluster may be the right fit. However, if you’re looking for cloud-native scalability, high availability, and effortless management, Elastic IPFS is the clear winner—and it’s why Pinata uses it to power seamless decentralized storage solutions.

Ready to experience the power of Elastic IPFS? Explore Pinata’s platform today and start building with the best in IPFS technology!