ArDrive Introduction

If you have made it this far, you probably know a little bit about what ArDrive does, but let's take a deeper dive to see the power of this Web3 application.

ArDrive is an application that is built on top of the Arweave network and encompasses what Web3 is all about - privacy, control of data, ownership and an alignment between users and developers.

Before we get there here is a quick intro video about ArDrive:

ArDrive and Arweave

As we have looked at Arweave in the last lesson a natural question arises, how do we get our data onto Arweave’s permanent data network?

Well, Arweave is not easy to get your data onto and that is why ArDrive was created – to allow individuals and organizations to get their most important files and web pages onto the Arweave Network and take advantage of permanent data storage.

And with any online storage application you are accustomed to being able to manage and file your documents into a system that you like with a degree of privacy - this is what ArDrive does for Arweave. It organizes it!

ArDrive brings the following to the Arweave network:

Privacy - encrypted private files that only you can access
Ease of use - if you are a computer developer you can probably get your files on the Arweave Network, but for the rest of us we need some help
Filing System - Catalogue and organize your permanent files into drives and folders so you can find and manage them
Sharing - share your private files with only those you choose; or setup drives to easily share with the world
Metadata fields - add in custom metadata to your files so you categorize them and prove ownership. This is very useful for digital goods such as NFTs.

What makes ArDrive different from existing cloud storage options?

We agree that the world does not need another Dropbox or Google Drive. What we need is a different solution to storing data that puts the control back in the hands of the users.

As we have mentioned, the Web3 aspect of ArDrive allows it to be quite different from the other storage apps you are used to. It still has many of the great Web2 features, however it has added the following new Web3 aspects: